The College Hill Independents that is!
Radio Drama Revival’s Fred Greenhalgh gives Audio Drama a boost in one of the more recent articles on the re-emergence of audio theatre with the growth of the Internet in a piece called Airwave Renaissance by Natalie Jablonski.
We have a little wince when we see words like “we forget there was a time when…” and “stirrings of life”, its good to see some people who haven’t had an interest in all things audio take a little notice.
But we think that Audio Drama has been off life support for a while, thank-you. The Sonic Society ranges from 30-40,000 listeners a week and ranging up towards the hundred mark, there’s a pile of people out there making audio drama. Sure we don’t hit youtube levels, but how many stage plays go viral? Or new painters?
While certainly there are some folks who reflect the old timey radio stylings, I’d say that modern audio drama has really upped its gain. Companies like Colonial Radio Theatre and Radio Repertory Company of America and Jim French Productions (companies that aren’t even mentioned in the article) have been doing quite well in the United States.
Someone wake the doctor, the patient has slipped out the door.
I feel very blessed to be on the ground floor of this latest, pardon the appropriation Fred, Revival of Audio Drama. I know Fred feels the same way. And while podcasting hasn’t exactly thrown pots of money in the direction of radio drama providors… it hasn’t made money for standard radio folks like the BBC, CBC, or other huge organizations. That’s not a limitation of the medium of audio drama, but rather the expectation of folks in the modern age of the Internet.
Our minor corrections aside, go read Airwave Renaissance yourself and tell us what YOU think.
After all, my grade 11 students haven’t listened to any audio dramas. Of course, they never heard of podcasts either, and were shocked to find out that some of their favourite kind of music was available for free on their I-pods.
It’s not so much Audio Drama that needs to hit the mainstream, but the idea of podcasting itself.
