When NAC English Theatre Associate Producer Judi Pearl approached me about co-producing a series of radio plays, I was thrilled. My love for radio drama dates back to my teenage years, when I first tuned into CHUM Radio to listen to Theatre of the Mind.
What makes radio drama so captivating? For me, it's the enchantment of an imagined world created entirely by sound. Each voice conjures a unique face and figure for the character, and every sound cue adds to the scene in the listener’s mind. The narrative draws us in, inviting us to craft the visual tapestry that accompanies the sound.
Working with the Digital Experience and Design team at NAC, I've had the pleasure of co-producing numerous podcasts. Since launching our first podcast for Alberta Scene in 2005, we've grown a portfolio of over a dozen podcasts, with thousands of episodes. Yet, to my knowledge, the NAC has never ventured into radio plays—until now. It's a thrilling opportunity to break new ground.
To bring this vision to life, Martin Jones, Technical Director, Digital Programming, transformed the Hexagon Studio to accommodate up to four voice actors per episode. “The NAC Hexagon Studio was designed to be flexible and re-configurable for just this reason. We are able to accommodate video conferencing, interviews, musical recordings, and everything in between. This is the first time we've recorded a radio play and actors needed to stand, and be positioned as far away from each other as possible for better sound separation. We also dampened the sound reflections more than usual to create a warmer, closer sound.”
The recording was simulcast to the Atelier Shenkman Smith, allowing the playwrights, dramaturg and stage manager to follow along in real time. In the control room, the Hexagon team, together with sound designer Nick Di Gaetano and the three directors recorded each scene along with any necessary extra takes. Remarkably, each radio play was recorded in just three hours.
While Nick completed the editing, NAC designers were hard at work creating illustrations, developing the web feature, and preparing delivery platforms for the three inaugural radio plays that make up Irresistible Neighbourhoods: Volume One: Otttawa 2044 - Machines and Moss by Sanita Fejzic, Aquatic Lessons by Lily Polowin, and Proposed Development: 39 Storey Mixed Use Development with Multi-Level Retail and Dwelling Units OR The Cartographers by Kel MacDonald and Seth Thomson.
NAC Graphic Designer Dany Pépin was inspired by the project's themes to craft a distinctive illustrative style. “Being a storyteller myself, I wanted to approach these audio drama visuals like book covers. The covers need to be interesting without being too literal. I picked key elements of the story that inspired me and brought them together conceptually. For Aquatic Lessons, the key design element is a simple representation of a character’s traumatic memory. Navigating corridors and stairs and an encounter with a crow was the inspiration for the Cartographers cover. And finally, the duality of relationships toward the environment inspired the interpretative cover for Machines and Moss.”
For Judi, radio drama offers a unique lens through which to explore the pressing issue of the climate crisis in a less didactic, more imaginative way, inviting audiences to see themselves in the future worlds imagined by the playwrights.
Join us this September in the Fourth Stage for the live recordings of Walking on Water, the second volume of Irresistible Neighbourhoods, including live foley! Immerse yourself in a world where sound and imagination create limitless possibilities. Walking on Water podcast episodes will be released later in 2024.
