Radio Drama Revival

Part 2 of 5 This week on the show we continued our feature of Tom Lopez's ZBS Foundation with the fast-talking galactic gumshoe, Ruby. Our feature: Ruby 5. The natives of the Awakening Archipelago turning their islands into a wacky world based on a story called The Land of Zoots. On one island they're growing feathers on everything, trees, buildings, fireplugs, even themselves. On another, they have created Bubblesville, where the inhabitants live in round rainbow colored bubbles that float about... But the strangest thing is, the Land of Zoots never existing as a film, play, or book, so how did it get into everyone's consciousness? Ruby goes island hopping to get to the bottom of this, encountering en eclectic (and eccentric) band of characters along the way. All this sizzles in the hot sauce of Tim Clark's wild Retro-Future Music. We've learned that ZBS is working on the penultimate and final Ruby - Ruby 9! - and will talk a bit about what the new program has in store in the coming weeks. First up, Chapter 6 of The Cleansed. We check in with John, Maria, and Luke, who drive their diesel-powered ATV to the edge of its limits, while in the depths of the sewers a dark shadow wraps around the

Part 1 of 5 This week on the show we feature the dazzling work of Tom Lopez's ZBS Foundation with the fast-talking galactic gumshoe, Ruby. Our feature: Ruby 5. The natives of the Awakening Archipelago turning their islands into a wacky world based on a story called The Land of Zoots. On one island they're growing feathers on everything, trees, buildings, fireplugs, even themselves. On another, they have created Bubblesville, where the inhabitants live in round rainbow colored bubbles that float about... But the strangest thing is, the Land of Zoots never existing as a film, play, or book, so how did it get into everyone's consciousness? Ruby goes island hopping to get to the bottom of this, encountering en eclectic (and eccentric) band of characters along the way. All this sizzles in the hot sauce of Tim Clark's wild Retro-Future Music. First up, Chapter 5 of The Cleansed, wherein the distant city of the Republic christens a new source of electricity, The Citadel. Radio Drama Revival - Episode 273

This week we wrap our third part of Six Suspects by Vikas Swarup, adapted by Ayeesha Menon and produced by acclaimed BBC Producer John Dryden. Vicky Rai, notorious son of a prominent Indian politician, shoots dead a waitress at a trendy Delhi restaurant. At a lavish society party to celebrate his acquittal, he is himself murdered. Who did it? We wrap this gritty and gripping Indian whodunnit. If you like more of John's work, hurry hurry to BBC Radio 4's website where you can hear his new drama, PANDEMIC for a few more days now, and also check out his own website at Goldhawk.eu. Prior to Six Suspects, we have our latest chapter of The Cleansed, wherein David, representing the Refuge, meets the clan master of the Dwellers, and John Prophet, Maria, and Luke make a getaway. Radio Drama Revival - Episode 272

In this jam-packed week, we have the 3rd chapter of The Cleansed, followed quickly by our 2nd chunk of Six Suspects by Vikas Swarup, adapted by Ayeesha Menon and produced by acclaimed BBC Producer John Dryden. Vicky Rai, notorious son of a prominent Indian politician, shoots dead a waitress at a trendy Delhi restaurant. At a lavish society party to celebrate his acquittal, he is himself murdered. Who did it? We get a bit more of this remarkable production, and then the real treat to chat with John Dryden himself. John, quite the globetrotter, tells us about his transition from a BBC Documentary reporter to dramaturge, and how journalism inspired him to create gritty, real-world inspired dramas recorded on location. We talk about his upcoming production PANDEMIC, which will be airing this week on BBC Radio 4. Radio Drama Revival - Episode 271

First things first this week - a farewell nod to Peter Bergman, founding member of the legendary audio comedy troupe The Firesign Theatre, 1960s America's answer to Monty Python. Their antics, multi-track madness and bitingly absurd satire imprinted the minds of a generation and transformed the concept of 'radio theater.' The Washington Post featured a nice tribute, as did NPR. The drama goes on. We feature the 2nd chapter of The Cleansed, give a shout-out to We're Alive, who continue to blow away all boundaries of what a podcast can and cannot do, and then move to our feature: Six Suspects by Vikas Swarup, adapted by Ayeesha Menon and produced by acclaimed BBC Producer John Dryden. Vicky Rai, notorious son of a prominent Indian politician, shoots dead a waitress at a trendy Delhi restaurant. At a lavish society party to celebrate his acquittal, he is himself murdered. Who did it? The Bollywood actress with a guilty secret; the American who came to India to marry his mail-order bride; the mobile-phone thief with big dreams; the tribesman on a quest to recover a stolen relic; or Vicky Rai’s mother, a corrupt politician who will do anything to cling to power? Recorded on location on the streets of Mumbai with an Indian cast. Radio Drama Revival - Episode 270

The energy crisis is here! Well, at least in sound... With a humble thrill, I welcome you to debut of The Cleansed: Season 1. This post-apocalyptic audio epic picks up 15 years after the horrific events chronicled in the Pilot Episode. In the intervening years, David & Sam have build an off-grid stronghold called The Refuge, while John Prophet has continued his fight against the forces of chaos. Two youths, Maria and Luke, are out hunting one day, when a stranger gallops into their lives like a thunderstorm. The Cleansed will now be a weekly feature of Radio Drama Revival, expect a new podcast serial each week from now through the season finale on Halloween, 2012. If you're eager to here more than the sample today, you can this very moment purchase the full Episode 1 Director's Cut and get a scoop on other listeners! We go on to feature a podcast serial which serves as no small inspiration to our efforts with The Cleansed - Christof Laputka's The Leviathan Chronicles. We caught up with Christof on the phone for a few minutes to talk about some premium paid downloads of Leviathan, then go on to sample the goods. It's a jam-packed independent sci-fi extravaganza today! Radio Drama Revival - Episode 269 Links: Purchase The Cleansed, Episode 1 by FinalRune Productions Purchase The Ward by Leviathan Chronicles Purchase The Rogue Plague by Leviathan Chronicles

A blinding 14-inch snowstorm struck Maine on Wednesday, blitzing Radio Drama Revival host Fred Greenhalgh with the sensation that it muststill be winter and so, a good move to continue our "Sci-Fi February" celebration of original science fiction audio. And what a whopper of an episode we have today! We have an extended interview with audio great Dirk Maggs, whose production belt contains many notches - from comic bock audio drama adaptations of Spiderman, Batman, Superman and Judge Dredd, to the celebrated return of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and recent romps like The Adventures of Sexton Blake. Along it all Dirk has been committed to innovative with sound, trying to take a radio drama and enrich it with such lush sound effects and music that it truly becomes an "audio movie." We hear a few samples of what cinematic audio sounds like, then speak with Dirk about his love affair with audio, the nitty-gritty behind the production of some of his titles, the upcoming Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy stage show, and a hard talk on the craft of audio drama. Plenty of tips to tempt new producers in the art form! We also announce the launch of the new Great Northern Audio Theatre website, talk up our upcoming release The Cleansed, and share a review of the Radio Drama Reviews site put together by our comrade in audio, Captain Radio. Listen on! Radio Drama Revival - Episode 268 Links we promised you: Dirk Maggs' production company Perfectly Normal Productions Audible 30-day free trial offered by Radio Drama Revival Dirk Maggs titles available on Audible.com SFFAudio talks up Sexton Blake Dirk Maggs interviewed by Roger Gregg - GREAT in-depth information the craft of audio drama Dirk Maggs' production diary of working on the new Hitchhiker's series on BBC Radio 4

Now in his second regeneration, defrocked Time Lord The Minister Of Chance finds himself saddled with 'Kitty', an 'assistant' he apparently cannot get rid of - and perilously entangled in the court intrigues and military politics of a forest planet on the brink of war. Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann and Paul Darrow join Julian Wadham (The Iron Lady) and Lauren Crace (EastEnders) in an audio adventure that will take you to a spectacular world where science is heresy and magic is law... We feature the first of two episodes of this splendid, 'radiophonic' science fiction adventure which is vast in scope and rich in sound. The sheer scale of the production is amazing, with a star-studded cast and film-like score which transports you to other worlds in the way only audio can. After the show, we speak with Minister's writer, director, and producer Dan Freeman. Freeman talks about the genesis of this boldly original series, his decision to produce it independently and progress so far in getting fan-support to keep more episodes coming. Minister of Chance is running an IndieGoGo campaign and if you like what you hear, you can support it at: http://www.indiegogo.com/The-Minister-of-Chance Radio Drama Revival - Episode 267

Sci-Fi February 2012 dazzles with yet another bonus-sized podcast which exposes the labyrinthian dangers and intrigue in HartLife NFP's vision of a near-future dystopia, Our Fair City. Join us as we burrow in earnest into the mysteries held within Our Fair City, Season One. Mid-way through our exploration, Fred interviews in-depth the top creative minds from HartLife NFP 's sizeable consortium of talent tapped to produce already nearly two full seasons of Our Fair City. PRODUCER: Hartlife NFP productions at OurFairCity.com. RATED: AD-PG Also, Radio Drama Revival's signature host, Fred Greenhalgh, at last returns from his extended holiday in magnificent South Africa, exhilarated, jet-lagged, and, it seems, needing a gauge or two reset. Our out-going guest-host, Captain Radio™, and Fred's stoic cat, Socrates, quickly sort out the problem and help Fred to get his groove back. Then it's time to teleport Captain Radio™ back to Aurala  where we learn quite an uncertain "welcome" awaits. So get set, Audionauts™, for another epic Radio Drama Revival extended-length special edition podcast as Sci-Fi February 2012 once more cruises the audio cosmos! [audio: http://media.blubrry.com/radiodramarevival/www.radiodramarevival.com/captradio/rdr-podcast266.mp3] Radio Drama Revival - Episode 266

Sci-Fi February 2012 continues as guest host Captain Radio™ unleashes a super-sized podcast that treats our fans to the full-length stylized hard sci-fi excellence of Brad Lansky and the Anti-STARC. Following that, we'll hear an extended on-location (what else?) exclusive interview, featuring our own roaming host, Fred Greenhalgh, and one of the creative masterminds behind Protophonic production's Brad Lansky sci-fi adventure series, Dieter Zimmerman, coming to you by recording from Cape Town, South Africa, where Fred's somewhat reluctantly about to wrap up his enjoyable and memorable extended vacation to head stateside once more. PRODUCER: Protophonic productions at Protophonic.net. RATED: AD-PG We'll also not only learn about the new Odyssey AudioWorks™ initiative to involve visually-handicapped talent in audio theater production, but we'll hear as well an actual advance preview scene from that outfit's planned upcoming 2012 full-length production of Josh Price's semi-autobiographical drama, My Saving Grace. PRODUCER: Odyssey AudioWorks™ at OdysseyAudioWorks.com RATED: AD-G. It's truly an awesome earful, so get ready, Audionauts™, for a Radio Drama Revival extended-length special edition podcast! [audio: http://media.blubrry.com/radiodramarevival/www.radiodramarevival.com/captradio/rdr-podcast265.mp3] Radio Drama Revival - Episode 265

We kick off our Sci-Fi February with Great Northern Audio Theater's fanciful anti-saga, Thwack That Dirigible!, performed before a live audience at last year's Mark Time Awards ceremony during the CONVergence CON for science fiction and fantasy media in Bloomington, MN. Brian Price of Great Northern Audio Theater, who directed this piece that was also produced by his frequent collaborator, Jerry Stearns, joins us after our feature to give us an update on the upcoming 15th Anniversary Mark Time Awards which will feature some very special guests. Brian also reminds producers they have till March 1st, 2012 to submit their sci-fi or fantasy/horror audio dramas for the competition by visiting the registration and information page at Great Northern Audio. Finally, we get a personal glimpse at how former Texas Gulf Coaster Captain Radio™ is getting along with Old Man Winter on Fred's rural Maine goat farm. Listen carefully and you'll hear an audio cameo appearance by Tanja Milojevic from Lightning Bolt Theater of the Mind. [audio: http://media.blubrry.com/radiodramarevival/www.radiodramarevival.com/captradio/rdr-podcast264.mp3] Radio Drama Revival - Episode 264

We conclude our series New Year, New Audio, as Captain Radio™ guest-hosts once more for Fred Greenhalgh traveling abroad in Africa. On tap for our feature is the Captain's own non-commercial redux of an episode from the very popular Old-Time Radio series, Challenge of the Yukon. Get ready for plenty of drama, intrigue, and action as your favorite Canadian Mountie and his furry, scene-stealing sidekick continue their relentless pursuit of lawbreakers in the days of the Yukon Gold Rush. [RATED AD-G] Sue Zizza of Sue Media and the National Audio Theater Festival returns briefly to help Radio Drama Revival honor distinguished audio dramatist Yuri Rasovsky who passed away last Wednesday, January 18th, 2012. [audio: http://media.blubrry.com/radiodramarevival/www.radiodramarevival.com/captradio/rdr-podcast263.mp3] Radio Drama Revival - Episode 263

Captain Radio™  once again guest-hosts for vacationing Fred Greehalgh as we continue our series New Year, New Audio, which challenges you to step outside your past listening routine, to try something different for you. When you come across something new for you that you really like, share with others about it, so they can broaden their horizons as well. Last week we featuree the first of a two-part docu-drama, There Is A Field, adapted by Marie Tueje from Jen Marlowe's play of the same name. This poignant audio drama explores the life of youthful Aseel Aslih of Arrabeh, Israel. Aseel strove to find a healthy personal identity and peaceful purpose in life while coping with the stark political realities still faced by Palestinian citizens of Israel. We continue this week with Part 2. After recovering from the shock of her brother, Aseel's, death, his older sister, Nardeen determinedly seeks answers to the many questions the tragic incident poses for her family as well as their entire community of Palestinian citizens of Israel. We are very pleased to have as our interview guest for this episode Marie Tueje  who produced this audio drama adaptation by Jen Marlowe of Donkey Saddle Projects, an award-winning documentary filmmaker, human rights advocate, author and playwright. [RATED AD-PG-13 for some strong language] [audio: http://media.blubrry.com/radiodramarevival/www.radiodramarevival.com/captradio/rdr-podcast262.mp3] Radio Drama Revival - Episode 262

Captain Radio™  hosts once more for vacationing Fred Greehalgh as we continue our series New Year, New Audio, which, yeah, kind of dares you to step outside your past listening routine, to try something different for you. When you come across something new for you that you really like, share with others about it, so they can broaden their horizons as well. Last week we enjoyed satirical short-shorts from the new "Rythmical Ravings and Rants", or RRRants, consortium of modern UK troubadors. This week we flip the theater mask to feature the first of a two-part docu-drama, There Is A Field, adapted by Marie Tueje from Jen Marlowe's play of the same name. This poignant audio drama explores the life of youthful Aseel Aslih of Arrabeh, Israel. Aseel strove to find a healthy personal identity and peaceful purpose in life while coping with the stark political realities still faced by Palestinian citizens of Israel. We are very pleased to have as our interview guests for this episode Jen Marlowe  of Donkey Saddle Projects, an award-winning documentary filmmaker, human rights advocate, author and playwright for There Is A Field as well as Aseel Aslih's younger sister, Siwar Aslih, calling in all the way from Haifa, Israel. [RATED AD-PG-13 for some strong language] [audio: http://media.blubrry.com/radiodramarevival/www.radiodramarevival.com/captradio/rdr-podcast261.mp3] Radio Drama Revival - Episode 261

What a wild and eventful week for us here in Alfred, Maine (Fred's hometown). Fred's life is a furious pile of boxes bags and wires as he and Amy gear up for a five week trek to one of the most dynamic and intriguing countries of the world, South Africa. While there, Fred hopes to connect with some of South Africa's varied audio drama lovers and record sounds of curious critters from local baboons to the hippopotamus (from a distant, he assures us). So what to do with Radio Drama Revival programming for that period?  In hopes to keep the same quality podcast productions flowing. Fred had even come up with an exciting new theme for the first set of 2012 programs, New Year, New Audio, to challenge all of us to try out audio drama genres and troupes not on our personal "short list", then to share any genuine great new finds in production and talent with others to get them interested in doing the same or in listening for the first time to modern independent audio drama.  But as time grew short for his trek, this mini-series did not seem fit to happen. Just when he'd reconciled himself to substituting OTR re-runs of Baby Snooks and The Alan Young Show, serendipity struck with sweet vengeance. By insane coincidence, a recent yardsale find (a gorgeous one-of-a-kind hardwood cathedral OTR radio and phonograph) turns out to coince-accidental-and-destructionally be the powerful and noisy secret Auralan Resistance teleportation device. Next thing you know, our own Captain Radio™ was standing before me, dusting himself off, wondering what to do for a whole month while the "radio" recharged. And you know it, dudes: Fred made him an offer he couldn't refuse ... try as he might! So, while Fred's away soaking up sun in South Africa, our own Captain Radio™ will be hosting Radio Drama Revival while shoveling snowed-in driveways and learning the gentle art of milking cantankerous Maine goats twice daily in sub-zero wind chills.  We can't tell you how much this thrilled the native Texan.  No, seriously, we can't. To get our New Year, New Audio series off on appropriately eccentric footing, we open with three clever and satirical sketches cooked up by the fun patchwork of "unusual" poets, songwriters, and storytellers now part of the UK's Rythmical Ravings & Rants (RRRants) non-profit consortium of modern troubadours. Visit festivals with a curmudgeon's trained eye, turn a committee meet inside out, and carefully deflect observation while discoursing with talking critters, all this week on one of the most action-packed and fun Radio Drama Revival episodes ever! [audio: http://media.blubrry.com/radiodramarevival/www.radiodramarevival.com/captradio/rrrants-are-good-for-the-soul.mp3] Radio Drama Revival - Episode 260