The Rainbow Tribe is a short BBC Radio 4 documentary about Josephine Baker and her family of 12 adopted children.
We hear a few old audio clips of Baker. We also hear from some of the children willing to speak in recent recordings made at a family reunion.
Baker adopts the children because she has reached a certain age and cannot produce her own. We don't really go into why it had to be so many and how is it possible to provide a quality family environment for so many. Wouldn't it have been easier on everyone had it just been 3 or 6 children rather than the 12? I think they are mostly boys too. The motivation of Baker seems to have been some sort of idealism, that she would build this merry Rainbow Tribe with all these children. It is the idea of the artist, the dreamer. Is the artist/dreamer a good candidate for motherhood, or is she just living out her ideal in spite of the effect that the process might have on others? Is it that she does it in such a grand way because she feels the power of her celebrity situation moving through her, controlling her decisions?
There are other mothers like this. There is Mia Farrow. I quick look at her Wikipedia page list 14 children with a mix of her own as birth mother and adopted. Is there something here beyond just a big heart? Is there something in the personalities of Farrow and Baker that make them alike in this way?
The Rainbow Tribe describes how Baker got herself in rather deeply, how she had to tour relentlessly to maintain The Rainbow Tribe and the castle where they all lived. We hear how she resisted the natural rebellion of the adolescent children and her desire to hide and deign the more sexually alluring aspects of her early career from them. We hear some of the boys, now men, speak. We are told that others do not want to speak. There are disgruntled, distant members in a lot of families. And these are exactly the ones who I want to hear from.
The program is available to Listen Again through Tuesday Nov 20. 2007 here:
The Rainbow Tribe
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Friday, November 16, 2007
The Dusty Show with Clay Pigeon
The Dusty Show with Clay Pigeon , OH My! What can I say about The Dusty Show?
It is a little odd.
There is a host (Clay Pigeon?).
The host does a good deal of talking.
He sounds like he is phoned in or has phone sounding compression on his voice. This gives the production an on-location sort of feel. He talks to some just folks types somewhere in America about their feelings about various things. He is a rather good interviewer of these just folks. Sometimes he plays music. The music is not phoned in. It is put together in some sort of studio. It is an easy but highly produced hour that often does a rather good job at providing interesting entertainment.
The show comes out of the long time "Free Form" New Jersey radio station WFMU. It is extensively archived on the page: The Dusty Show with Clay Pigeon.
It is a little odd.
There is a host (Clay Pigeon?).
The host does a good deal of talking.
He sounds like he is phoned in or has phone sounding compression on his voice. This gives the production an on-location sort of feel. He talks to some just folks types somewhere in America about their feelings about various things. He is a rather good interviewer of these just folks. Sometimes he plays music. The music is not phoned in. It is put together in some sort of studio. It is an easy but highly produced hour that often does a rather good job at providing interesting entertainment.
The show comes out of the long time "Free Form" New Jersey radio station WFMU. It is extensively archived on the page: The Dusty Show with Clay Pigeon.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Adrift
This is a free download from Theater of The Mindless.
Adrift is about 15 minutes long. It was recorded before a live audience. It is a recording of a live performance. There are several groups that present audio drama as live stage shows. I have never seen an audio drama performed so I don't understand the joys of this mode of entertainment. I understand that there are people who like to attend these things. There is money to be made by doing live performance. There is also the fact that it can be a useful promotional tool for the production company. For these reasons I am all for it. But I still have no interest in seeing an audio drama preformed. I just want it to go on in my mind. If I go to the theater I want to see people moving about and interacting with their bodies.
Anyway, Adrift is a document of a live performance. It almost also works as an audio drama. It might have worked if not for an actor who was clearly playing to the present house. I don't blame her. There they were in front of her. And when one performs on stage one projects so the audience can hear. So that is what this role of Doctor is like and since she is the first voice we hear and has such a critical role, it makes the whole production sound like it was poorly acted. Yet is wasn't or isn't. Others in the cast do a decent job of being audio drama actors stuck on stage. It's just that one inappropriate apple can spoil the bunch. If only the director had given her an opportunity to fix her performance later in the studio.
The play is from an old comic book story. I'm wondering if perhaps accident man was speaking a little too distinctly throughout. Anyway. it's a very Quiet Please sort of thing and I like that genre so I would suggest this one is worth a listen. Besides, it's only 15 minutes. Here: Adrift
Adrift is about 15 minutes long. It was recorded before a live audience. It is a recording of a live performance. There are several groups that present audio drama as live stage shows. I have never seen an audio drama performed so I don't understand the joys of this mode of entertainment. I understand that there are people who like to attend these things. There is money to be made by doing live performance. There is also the fact that it can be a useful promotional tool for the production company. For these reasons I am all for it. But I still have no interest in seeing an audio drama preformed. I just want it to go on in my mind. If I go to the theater I want to see people moving about and interacting with their bodies.
Anyway, Adrift is a document of a live performance. It almost also works as an audio drama. It might have worked if not for an actor who was clearly playing to the present house. I don't blame her. There they were in front of her. And when one performs on stage one projects so the audience can hear. So that is what this role of Doctor is like and since she is the first voice we hear and has such a critical role, it makes the whole production sound like it was poorly acted. Yet is wasn't or isn't. Others in the cast do a decent job of being audio drama actors stuck on stage. It's just that one inappropriate apple can spoil the bunch. If only the director had given her an opportunity to fix her performance later in the studio.
The play is from an old comic book story. I'm wondering if perhaps accident man was speaking a little too distinctly throughout. Anyway. it's a very Quiet Please sort of thing and I like that genre so I would suggest this one is worth a listen. Besides, it's only 15 minutes. Here: Adrift
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Murder Unprompted
Here we have an actor who is also a sleuth. And why not, there are all kinds of detective shows. There is even one where the detective is Holistic.
But this Charles Paris thing is quite good. It really took off for me in the most recent, third episode of the four. This episode was very compressed, filled with good jokes, some drama, and even some sex. It was beautifully written and produced. A pleasure.
The show is very good with both mystery and comedy. I certainly don't know who killed the actor on-stage, but then again I'm not that much a fan of the genre and not that good at cracking the case. We will find out next week.
Murder Unprompted.
As for the Holistic one. It is sort of fun and is getting better but I prefer the Paris.
But this Charles Paris thing is quite good. It really took off for me in the most recent, third episode of the four. This episode was very compressed, filled with good jokes, some drama, and even some sex. It was beautifully written and produced. A pleasure.
The show is very good with both mystery and comedy. I certainly don't know who killed the actor on-stage, but then again I'm not that much a fan of the genre and not that good at cracking the case. We will find out next week.
Murder Unprompted.
As for the Holistic one. It is sort of fun and is getting better but I prefer the Paris.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Solo Behind the Iron Curtain
I watched The Man From Uncle and enjoyed it. But what did I know? I was a kid and on later viewing the show doesn't hold up so well.
Anyway this play has little to do with the show other than the fact that Robert Vaughn was the star of it at around the same time.
What we have here is the story of the production of the film The Bridge at Remagen in 1968. While on location in Czechoslovakia the film company found themselves witnessing the clamp down by the Soviets. Elements in the Czechoslovakian government thought they would change some things, open things up a bit, but the Soviet Union would have none of it, and stopped it.
The play is narrated by Robert Vaughn. He tells his own story. The play was written by Tracy Spottiswoode we can assume from the story Vaughn told her. It is an interesting story, and the narration does a pretty good job of setting the stage for the political stuff. The production then serves as a sort of political docu-drama about the unique position of being an American actor on a Soviet Block country at the time when the hammer comes down. Long time political activist Vaughn is not an ordinary movie/TV actor. He's a smart, informed man and his view of this episode in well worth a listen.
The play is far from a riveting drama, but quite good at what it sets out to do which is basically provide an interesting and somewhat vital history lesson of an important event.
It's too bad that they didn't get Bradford Dillman & Ben Gazzara to play themselves in the drama. That would have been even more fun.
There is some cool music.
The play can be heard at The Afternoon Play BBC Radio 4 page. It is available via the Monday button until Sunday Nov. 11, 2007.
Anyway this play has little to do with the show other than the fact that Robert Vaughn was the star of it at around the same time.
What we have here is the story of the production of the film The Bridge at Remagen in 1968. While on location in Czechoslovakia the film company found themselves witnessing the clamp down by the Soviets. Elements in the Czechoslovakian government thought they would change some things, open things up a bit, but the Soviet Union would have none of it, and stopped it.
The play is narrated by Robert Vaughn. He tells his own story. The play was written by Tracy Spottiswoode we can assume from the story Vaughn told her. It is an interesting story, and the narration does a pretty good job of setting the stage for the political stuff. The production then serves as a sort of political docu-drama about the unique position of being an American actor on a Soviet Block country at the time when the hammer comes down. Long time political activist Vaughn is not an ordinary movie/TV actor. He's a smart, informed man and his view of this episode in well worth a listen.
The play is far from a riveting drama, but quite good at what it sets out to do which is basically provide an interesting and somewhat vital history lesson of an important event.
It's too bad that they didn't get Bradford Dillman & Ben Gazzara to play themselves in the drama. That would have been even more fun.
There is some cool music.
The play can be heard at The Afternoon Play BBC Radio 4 page. It is available via the Monday button until Sunday Nov. 11, 2007.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
The Woman from the North
Bernard MacLaverty's play takes us to a place and puts us in a position where we don't want to be. It this a horror tale, a suspense? Perhaps it has elements of both. Yet it is about something as common as growing old. In this, it is growing old and powerless. It is confronting a powerlessness when Cassie still feels that she has power, and deserves autonomy. She is sharp and observant. It's just that she forgets things. She only wants to live in her own home with her own things rather than this or another institution. But really she is one of the fortunate ones. Her son has a good job in computers and always a new car so he can probably put her somewhere nice if that is what needs to happen after this evaluation at this place where the doors are never locked and anyone can come in. Yes it will be a nice place if necessary, but does that lessen the horror of it all? I think not.
This play is quite, and rather interior, very effective and sad. I enjoy plays that face up to the issues of the elderly head on. And whatever will happen to me. . .?
The Woman from the North can be found on The Afternoon Play BBC Radio 4 page and is available through Wednesday Nov. 7, 2007. On the The Afternoon Play page click on the Thursday button.
This play is quite, and rather interior, very effective and sad. I enjoy plays that face up to the issues of the elderly head on. And whatever will happen to me. . .?
The Woman from the North can be found on The Afternoon Play BBC Radio 4 page and is available through Wednesday Nov. 7, 2007. On the The Afternoon Play page click on the Thursday button.
Fame and Fortune
Well, I listened to the first hour of this production. I never saw, " the television classic The Glittering Prizes" so I'm not revisiting my old friends from that show and didn't care about them enough when I met them while listening to Fame and Fortune.
I tried to care. I wanted to care. After all BBC Radio 4 is filling 12 hours of radio drama time and their two most interesting slots that often are occupied with adventurous drama, with this behemoth. I'm mostly a fan of anthology over serials so it makes me sad that we lose two very good anthology slots to this soap opera. It also causes concern about what the BBC has planned for the future of these two drama slots. Hopefully they will return to normal after this is over. I hope someone gets some joy out of all the time and effort put into producing Fame and Fortune. It's just not for me.
Apparently I'm not the only one in distress. Read the thread on the BBC Radio Four Message Board. There are several flames on Fame.
The Saturday Play
Fortunately I found alternative amusement watching The Who Amazing Journey movie last night on TV. It is worth a look for anyone remotely interested in that sort of thing.
I tried to care. I wanted to care. After all BBC Radio 4 is filling 12 hours of radio drama time and their two most interesting slots that often are occupied with adventurous drama, with this behemoth. I'm mostly a fan of anthology over serials so it makes me sad that we lose two very good anthology slots to this soap opera. It also causes concern about what the BBC has planned for the future of these two drama slots. Hopefully they will return to normal after this is over. I hope someone gets some joy out of all the time and effort put into producing Fame and Fortune. It's just not for me.
Apparently I'm not the only one in distress. Read the thread on the BBC Radio Four Message Board. There are several flames on Fame.
The Saturday Play
Fortunately I found alternative amusement watching The Who Amazing Journey movie last night on TV. It is worth a look for anyone remotely interested in that sort of thing.
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