Summary: This week on the show we feature our summer sizzler - INFIDEL - the lush, medieval epic with a message for our times, penned by the great Roger Gregg of Crazy Dog Audio Theatre. INFIDEL is the story of two brothers - Sir Hugh of Beauvais and Sir Philip of Beauvais - who are drawn into the chaos of the Fifth Crusade, where the Church's political role has distorted its religious role. It is a world where the other is the infidel, the forsaken, and sympathizing with the other side is seeing as being against God. Into this world comes Sir Hugh, a gentler knight than his brother, and his experiences will shape a drama all about the clash of cultures, church and state, and the nature of war. A few more notes on this production: INFIDEL was originally a stage play by Roger Gregg produced by Graffiti Theatre Company in 1991. The play in which a cast of 4 actors played all the roles, was commissioned by the Irish third world development organisation Trocaire. The play was a response to what we now call the ‘First Gulf War’ in recognition of the old adage that those who do not learn the follies of history are condemned to repeat them. In the summer of 2005, RTE Radio 1 commissioned Crazy Dog to adapt and expand the stage play into a 4 episode radio series. The script was re-designed specifically to exploit the epic scope possible in the audio medium. The combination of the realism of the location recordings, vivid sound design, original music score and performances by some of Ireland’s leading voice actors, has resulted in an exciting and compelling audio-epic of clashing beliefs, war and compassion. Portions of INFIDEL were recorded on location in the stables, cobblestone courtyard, in the fields and with the horses at the historic Raleigh House near MacCroom, County Cork, Ireland. Studio portions were recorded in RTE’s radio drama studios. The prix Italia award winning sound engineer Mark McGrath recorded both the studio and location recordings. Location recordings were carried out with a portable Hard Disc recorder with a stereo microphone configuration. See our photo gallery for pictures of our recording process. The sound track music was crafted by Roger Gregg using keyboards and Arabic percussion and voice samples. The series was post-produced and mixed by Roger on Pro Tools in the Crazy Dog studios. Special thanks to the Vaughan family for their generous hospitality during our time spent at Raleigh House. Preceded by Episode 6, Part 2 of The Cleansed, where Maria stands in the way of two warriors pleading for peace... and a second chance.
