Old form, new frontiers – The Soundcastle at the Shortwave Radio Theatre Festival
“Every sonnet, scream, and prayer? All the rainstorms and symphonies sitting still for centuries, hidden deep in silent stone…”
“Can you just imagine all the voices lost to history?”
In her new radio play The Soundcastle, Sarah Emtage explores what happens if a tree falls in a forest and somewhere, rather than someone, is around to hear it. It’s an extremely creative interpretation of how sound builds and brings life while using the conventions of fictional adventure and broadcast. Directed by Becky Bridger for the Shortwave Radio Theatre Festival, we follow cousins Magellan (Francesca Pang) and Gadget (Douglas Connors) as they break into this mysterious mecca of a sonic record.
Sound sets the story before it has even begun. The first feeling that is being transmitted is a sense of complete eeriness, interrupted by the stirring of nature where the forest becomes what’s familiar. Falling footsteps hint to the quest at hand, until Magellan quips: “I think we’re live. The light means it’s recording, right?”
By now, listeners can understand that what we’re hearing is being recorded in the name of documentation. Most of the world building lies entirely through conversation, through the way Magellan and Gadget interact with the landscape and each other. The rest is made up of the playground of noises the ‘Soundcastle’ offers to possibility.
It’s an inviting narrative device that allows creativity of its storytelling in both content and form, which the team has clearly had fun with. Wind, a propane burner, a pet chicken—the cacophony is called for and sound designers Jeremy Kerr and Matt Rogalsky have ensured that what you’re hearing for this half hour is packed with intention, because that’s all you have to work with. The unique combinations of sounds and situations are well-paced, and keep your brain engaged on this auditory adventure.
Radio has never been more available to meet the desires and demands of performance at a distance. We understand the internet as the final-frontier of distanced performance, but instead of moving forward, why shouldn’t we move back? Airwaves are accessible through radio, cars, computers, phones—anytime anywhere anyone can be. As a communicative form, its familiarity and wide use connects a significantly wider audience across geographies and generations. A revival of an old form with new voices, The Soundcastle is a personal and playful take on what it means to be heard.
Presented by The Cellar Door Project and CFRC 101.9, and running until November 7, 2020, The Shortwave Theatre Festival is a free week-long festival of radio drama featuring a series of plays created and featuring Kingston-based artists.