The Word from R4, September 2016

Friday 09/02 at Red Room @ TAF, R4 presented their latest production: “The Most Dangerous Game,” originally written by American author Richard Connell in 1924 and adapted since then for stage, screen and television.

This incarnation was read aloud by Pat Woods and Paul Batt, supported by recorded musical selections by Bernard Hermann, Scarlatti, Britten and others. Live sound effects enhanced the audience members’ experience.

In addition to portraying the characters of the evil General Zaroff and his hulking savage lackey, Mr. Batt energetically produced sound effects using his voice and ordinary household items.

Mr. Woods delivered an impressive performance- portraying the main character as well taking on the responsibility of Narrator. Mr. Woods, a native of the UK, aptly read the main character’s lines in an New York accent and switched back into his own way of speaking in order to narrate the story.

The evening was rounded out by members of Taipei Improv. They invited the audience to play some dangerous games of improvisation before and after the show. In addition, Karen Farley of KP Kitchen provided a dangerously delicious cake that looked like a checkerboard, complete with gummy bear game pieces.

Many thanks to the Red Room Volunteers who made it all possible.

Red Room RadIo Redux is also announcing an upcoming performance at TAF October 21
Three by Poe: Two stories and a narrative poem by the master of the macabre, Edgar Allan Poe.

“The Black Cat”
In this study of the psychology of moral disintegration through alcoholism, a murderer carefully conceals his crime and believes himself unassailable. Eventually, he breaks down and reveals himself, impelled by a nagging reminder of his unforgivable sin.

“The Raven”
Easily Poe’s best-known poem, it tells of the mysterious visit of a raven to a grieving lover. The raven further instigates distress with its constant repetition of the word “nevermore”. The poem makes use of a number of folk, mythological, religious, and classical references.

“The Tell-Tale Heart”
An unnamed narrator endeavors to convince the reader of his sanity, while describing a murder he committed. The victim was an old man with a filmy “vulture-eye”, as the narrator calls it. The murder is carefully calculated, and the murderer hides the body by dismembering it and hiding it under the floorboards. Ultimately the narrator’s guilt manifests itself in the form of the sound—possibly hallucinatory—of the heart of the victim still beating under the floorboards.

In the Red Room Radio Redux tradition, these Three by Poe will be read aloud and accompanied by live sound effects generated using ordinary household objects. Background music will further enhance the experience for the listening audience. In one special instance, during the reading of “The Raven,” the experience will be further enhanced by a painter rendering an illustration as the poem is read aloud.

by Ruth Giordano
Producer, Director, Red Room Radio Redux