Benny And Hitch concentrates on the turbulent relationship between the director and his often first choice composer, Bernard Herrmann. They worked together on an unbroken stretch of eight films from 1955 to 1964 and the composer also contributed to the TV shows made concurrently.
‘Your choice, your experience’: TREE CONFESSIONS – Camden Fringe (Online Show)
Written by Jenny Lyn Bader and narrated by Kathleen Chalfant, Tree Confessions is a 34-minute audio show which most recently streamed as part of the Greater Manchester Fringe.
‘Lovely hybrid between audiobook & theatre experience’: KISSES ON A POSTCARD (Online Show)
Streaming in two versions, a concept album at two hours available for free, and a four hour one for purchase, Kisses on a Postcard is an episodic piece which can be enjoyed in short bursts between 20 and 40 minutes each.
‘There’s enough here to keep the listener enthralled’: THE MACHINE STOPS (Online Show)
In The Machine Stops E. M. Forster unusually abandons his general milieu of the genteel classes and takes a look at a supposed future – the theme of connection, however, is still very much in evidence as he examines a world that is literally falling apart.
‘Empathy & connections appear in the most unexpected places’: FRAGMENTS – Brighton Fringe (Online Show) ★★★★
Developed by Broken Silence Theatre for the digital segment of the Brighton Fringe Festival, Fragments is a triple bill of short audio plays celebrating playwrights from Sussex and the South East of England. Covering topics such as doubts and pressure, belonging and loss, each of the plays gets under the skin of the raw emotions that are seldom candidly talked about in public.
’An interesting addition to the audio theatre scene’: FIZZY SHERBERT (Online Show)
All three of the short plays that feature in Fizzy Sherbet’s audio series centre on writer/performers who, not unnaturally, bring a depth of emotion to their own work.
‘Deals with some important issues’: MY BOY DANNY (Online review)
New online theatre material keeps popping up all the time – or at least it eventually comes to my attention which amounts to much the same thing; this latest one did so by a somewhat circuitous route. My Boy Danny played at this year’s recent Camden Fringe as an online stream, but I managed to muddle the dates and therefore missed it.
‘The monk playing an electric guitar is a more recent invention’: THE YORK MYSTERY PLAYS – BBC Sounds (Online Review)
It is not with a little sense of surprise that I found myself yesterday experiencing my 800th online production which is the subject of this review. Back in April 2020 I, probably along with the vast majority of people, was only expecting the virus problem to last a matter of weeks and yet here we are and here I am still reviewing daily after 535 days.
‘Layers of meaning’: LOVE BEYOND THE ZOO — BBC Sounds (Online review)
During the 20th century, absurdism and surrealism surfaced in literature to make pertinent points about human nature and ‘the real world’. Prime examples include Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis and by George Orwell’s Animal Farm. In both cases, anthropomorphism features – a state of affairs that is tonally ‘taken for granted’.
‘Indulge in your inner child and open up your imagination’: LOVE BEYOND THE ZOO – BBC Sounds ★★★★ (Online review)
Indulge in your inner child and open up your imagination to unlikely possibilities with ‘Love Beyond the Zoo’ – it’s not just a fictional story but also a fable which makes us question what it really means to be free.
‘Literal shivers down the spine’: FALLING IN LOVE WITH MR DELLAMORT (Online review)
Any new musical must bring cause for celebration, and so I approached this one with some interest. First planned as a stage production and billed as “the world’s first theremin musical”, Falling in Love With Mr Dellamort has now resurfaced as a three episode podcast directed by Ella Jane New, and with orchestrations by Lena Gabrielle.
‘Entirely compelling’: THE MASTER BUILDER – BBC Sounds
Radio 4’s version of The Master Builder adapted by David Hare based on Torkil Heggstad’s translation takes a firmer line on the central character and the consequences of his poisonous behaviour, adding a fresh and topical perspective without overtly disrupting or rerouting Ibsen’s purpose.
‘Intriguing listen’: MAKING MASSINGER – Salisbury ★★★★
New audio play Making Massinger by Simon Butteriss is filled with drama and intrigue but feels as though it could use a little editing in places.
‘Deeply engaging’: DARLING – Written On The Waves (Online review) ★★★★
Tabby Lamb’s audio play Darling effortlessly uses the adventures of Peter Pan to explore what it means to grow up and discover who you really are through a queer perspective.
‘Nothing is fixed for ever, not even the Never Never’: Jo Tyabji directs Darling for Written on the Waves
Written by Tabby Lamb and starring David Hoyle, Darling is the latest instalment from the second season of 45North’s Written on the Waves audio play series and examines what it’s really like growing up inspired by the boy who never did. Kirsty Herrington caught up with director Jo Tyabji to find out more.
‘Concentrate on the actual experience which is thoroughly enjoyable’: KNOT – Darkfield (Online review)
Simply called Knot, this is a three-part play which requires the listener to be at a specified (though general) location at a certain time, then to connect to an app and let Darkfield do the rest.
‘Farcical fun all the way’: The Three Musketeers… attempted by Foolhardy (Online review)
Heavily promoted on the strength of Robert Lindsay’s involvement in the cast, this audio-animated adaptation of The Three Musketeers owes more to parody and pastiche than any serious attempt to translate the story into digital form.
‘Challenging preconceptions’: DARLING / A PASSION PLAY – Written On The Waves (Online review)
45 North’s audio play series Written On The Waves kicked off Season 2 with a trilogy Lifted a couple of weeks ago. This has swiftly been followed by a second play from one of the same writers and as it was reasonably brief I also thought I would go back to one of the pieces from Season 1 that I had yet to get round to reviewing.
‘Equally impressive’: SWEATBOX / BLIS-TA – Clean Break (Online review)
Although some theatres are tentatively reopening, the creative vigour of other companies like Clean Break is undimmed.
‘Pushing the boundaries of audio work’: LIFTED – Written on the Waves (Online review)
45 North’s second series of Written On The Waves has opened with a trio of short plays under the collective title of Lifted. They are performed by the writers themselves who are all relatively new voices.