Amusing Grace

Misfits Audio presents Amusing Grace. This is a full length play presented in five parts, five separate downloads. It was recorded at University of Toronto with a live audience in 2000, so we have something here that is almost 9 years old.

It's a play about two lonely old people who live in the same building and meet on the roof where they play Trivial Pursuit. This set up immediately brings to mind a very famous and successful play D. L Coburn's The Gin Game. It is unfortunate that Amusing Grace shares this immediate opening similarity, especially when it invites comparison with The Gin Game a very good and well known play.
Is it possible that Amusing Grace's Neville J. Bryant was unaware of The Gin Game? Or did he just see it as a situation he wished to explore in spite of the obvious similarity?

At any rate Amusing Grace is an entertaining, gentle listen. It features a very good and convincing leading performance by Hasel Dalgleish as Grace. Too bad she did not have a performer of equal ability in Jim Hooper as Danny. Hooper simply never comes off as a 78 year old man. His voice has too much of the tenor, not quite grow up, sort of Ira Glass sound. All in the head, nothing resonating in the old body which would have been nice to hear in this particular role. He is just too adolescent sounding. Not only that his readings too often sound like reading, are not felt. It is a shame because Hasel Dalgleish is so fine and deserved a much better sparring partner.

That said it is really a rather amusing listen. It is pleasant to spend some time with these folks on their rooftop. The scenes are framed by some very nice music by the play's author Mr. Bryant. It might have been good if he went ahead and made it a nice little musical play.
Anyway, it is all worth a listen and good to hear an amateur audio drama involved with issues, themes, more homebound rather than all the fantasy, and TV space opera stuff.

WBAI

Something is happening at WBAI.
It's a little hard to find out what.
Maybe some reader here will tell me where to go for info.
The station has been ailing for a very long time and is having a lot of trouble making money.
There is continuous factional infighting there that further poisons the atmosphere.
It is really too bad it has to be this way. Perhaps with the new shake-up a new day will dawn.
I like to listen to some of their stuff:
The Golden Age of Radio
Talk Back (occasionally)
Off the Hook
Doug Henwood
David Rothenberg
Moorish Orthodox Radio Crusade
The Positive Mind
Taking Aim

Stiles on your dials

The great New York East Village neighborhood blog E V Grieve has a nice piece today about long time NYC DJ radio personality Danny Stiles.
Check it out.

The Iceman Goeth

The Iceman Goeth recounts how Ian Holm has actually experienced the actor's worst nightmare more than once in real life in front of a full house.

This play by Steve Jacobi tells the tale through interviews with Holm and flashback dramatizations. This reviewer loves particularly loves The Iceman Cometh (obviously) which adds to the appeal since several lines from the great O'Neill play are included.

The play documentary is also little inconclusive feeling. Did Holm actually never appear on stage again, only on film, after the events of 1976? That is the implication.
The backstage gossip and banter is fun to listen to. It's is a fast paced interesting entertainment.
The Iceman Goeth: The Afternoon Play BBC Radio 4