Halloween is the perfect night for a ghost story, and on October 31st from 6pm – 7pm, WAMU-88.5 will air Lean & Hungry Theater’s radio drama of Shakespeare’s tale of suspense, murder and tragedy, MacBeth. The show will be heard on its main broadcast frequency (88.5 MHz) and will be streamed on the WAMU.org web site.
The adaptation, titled MacBeth in the 21st Century, was developed in collaboration with WAMU 88.5 producer Karen Munson. The one hour drama is set in an alternate 21st-century Washington, D.C. “This is a fast-paced retelling of MacBeth, combining the original Shakespearean text with techniques from popular radio shows of the past,” said Lean & Hungry Artistic Director Jessica Hansen. “We’ve used a War of the Worlds’ approach to the narrative – introducing newscasters to compress some of the plot points in modern language. “It’s a great way to usher in Halloween evening while doling out candy to the trick-or-treaters coming to your door,” she added.
The cast plays multiple contemporary and Shakespearean roles including Steve Beall as Banquo, Billy Finn as Malcolm, Jessica Hansen as Lady Macbeth, Andreu Honeycutt as Macduff, Jason McIntosh as Duncan, and Alex Zavistovich as Macbeth. Julie Garner, Luke Cieslewicz, Rebecca A. Herron and Karen Novack round out the ensemble.
Steve Murphy, an award-winning Washington, DC audio producer with both Grammy and Emmy award recognitions, provided the post engineering, and the original underscore was composed by Lean and Hungry Technical Producer Gregg Martin.
This is the fifth radio drama produced by the company, and the second one heard on WAMU. Last September, the NPR affiliate aired Lean & Hungry Theater’s adaptation of Twelfth Night on its HD-3 channel. The company has already recorded King Lear, The Winter’s Tale and The Merchant of Venice. In development for 2011 are Measure for Measure and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Fans can download the shows through iTunes and other sources, or collect them on CD. More information here.
Thanks for the great words. I’d like to add, please, that this production of The Scottish Play was co-directed by Kevin Finkelstein, who also did fine work as Feste the Jester in Lean & Hungry’s production of “Twelfth Night.” Kevin will be directing our upcoming production of Romeo and Juliet, which we are timing to Valentine’s Day, 2011.