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Broadway World reports that Gideon Media is launching audio drama adaptations of two Wallace Shawn plays directed by Andre Gregory who famously collaborated on the film My Dinner with Andre. Three audio drama’s from playwright Mac Rogers were also announced.
PRX will distribute all these shows.
“We’re thrilled to debut our slate of new shows with distribution support from PRX, who are known for supporting boundary-pushing audio creators,” said Gideon Media co-founder Mac Rogers. “It’s a particular honor for us to be bringing the work of playwright Wallace Shawn, long beloved by theatergoers, to a wider audience through the medium of audio.”
Here’s the rundown on each.
The Designated Mourner: Written by Wallace Shawn, Directed by André Gregory
Something’s happening in the country where Jack lives. There’s violence in the streets. Leaders are being replaced. Public life is transforming. The government is cracking down on anyone suspected of subversion. But Jack - consumed with his atrophying marriage to Judy, his corrosive envy of his famous poet-intellectual father-in-law Howard, and his disintegrating sense of self - barely notices. As the once-liberal society around him descends into authoritarianism, Jack plunges into his own parallel decline, a chilling abdication of everything he once valued.
Premieres June 25
Grasses of a Thousand Colors: Written by Wallace Shawn, Directed by André Gregory
In Wallace Shawn’s most disturbing and dreamlike drama, a doctor invents a groundbreaking nutrient intended to end world hunger. Instead it radically transforms the food chain, chemically disrupting animal and human bodies, leading to a global illness and outbreaks of disturbing behavior. Isolated from the worst of it by his wealth, the doctor loses himself in a series of tumultuous relationships with his wife Cerise, his mistress Robin, and his girlfriend Rose. A cat called Blanche, who leads him into an enchanted world of bizarre eroticism, also figures crucially in the drama. Premieres July 9
Give Me Away: Written by Mac Rogers, Directed by Jordana Williams
They call the spaceship that crashed in the Nevada desert “The Ghosthouse” because it screams - the screams of thousands of extraterrestrial political prisoners uploaded into its horrific mainframe. The only way to free them… is to transfer them into the bodies of humans willing to share their minds with an alien second consciousness. But who would volunteer for that? Graham Shapiro, divorced and adrift at age 50, is one of the first to raise his hand. Give Me Away follows Graham’s journey into a world of radical hospitality, one which will touch everything - and everyone - in his life.
Premieres July 16
Mac noted on Twitter that Give Me Away will be his first multi-season show.
Also according to Mac Rogers on Twitter, the following two audio dramas are Wallace Shawn play adaptations.
The Earth Moves: Written by Mac Rogers, Directed by Jordana Williams
People tune into Brent Ziff’s radio show to hear him make fun of losers. But tonight’s loser, Leo Short, is calling with a message straight from the bowels of the Earth that’s going to put everything Brent knows on shaky ground. The Earth Moves is a real-time dark comedy about how even the most unwanted schmuck can still make waves.
August 13 & 20
God of Obsidian: Written by Mac Rogers, Directed by Jordana Williams
You have to cross a bridge to get to Nathan’s house. Crossing in is easy. But crossing out - as Alice is about to discover - is almost impossible. God of Obsidian is a dark fairy tale about gaslighting which follows a woman desperately seeking the story that will take her back across the perilous bridge to freedom.