Mysteries on the radio

ocogdill — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:34:55 +0000

Audio drama may not be the biggest venue for writers, but it’s one more source of good stories.

Imagination Theater’s Fourth Annual Audio Drama Script Writing Contest again has drawn a good number of writers with stories to tell.Naturally, several of the winners submitted mysteries.

Here are the winners of the annual radio drama contest.

1st Prize: The Phil Harper Award: “Holy Relics” (Supernatural Mystery) by L. Alan Gutierrez.

2nd Prize: “The Mutts” (Mystery) by John S. Fitzpatrick

3rd Prize: “Junior” (Humor) Evan C. Purcell

Honorable Mention goes to:”The Mendenhall Treasure” (Mystery) by John S. Fitzpatrick”A Heavenly Price” (Science Fiction) by Mike Murphy”12:30″ (Horror) by Mike Murphy

Prizes include production of the first and second prize winners, subscriptions to Mystery Scene Magazine, Script Magazine, AudioFile Magazine and books and CDs.

For more information on radio drama, visit these sites: Harry Nile, Sherlock Holmes on the radio, and radio mysteries.

When mysteries and theater collide

ocogdill — Sun, 10 May 2009 14:43:05 +0000

I know I am dating myself here, but the first play I saw that had a strong mystery element to it was Sleuth, during its first round on Broadway. It was in the year 19—- (what, you think I am going to say?). It also was my first experience with Broadway and my first visit toNew York City.Sleuth was an epiphany for me – allowing me to see that deft plotting and subtle clues could be translated to the stage. (At least that is what I believe I thought; I was pretty young at the time.)What Sleuth did was give me a lifelong respect for good mystery plays. Frankly, there are not a lot out there but the ones that succeed work well.(For the record, the musical Curtains worked; Agatha Christie’s long-running The Mousetrap does not.)So it was with much skepticism and a bit of apprehension that I attended a recent performance of Jeffrey Hatcher’s Murderers, currently at the nationally known Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, Florida. Murderers runs through May 23 at the Asolo.Hatcher’s (Tuesdays With Morrie) Murderers is a sly trilogy about three people who never expected to become killers, but did.Murderers is set in a fictitious Sarasota retirement community, but the play can be appreciated no matter where you live. The three “murderers” are a 50something man who marries his girlfriend’s mother so the younger couple can avoid estate tax; a woman whose husband’s old love moves into their retirement community; and a manager at the retirement community who hates the way some of the residents are treated.The three characters’ monologues are witty, reminiscent of the kind of tongue in cheek work that Donna Andrews, Elaine Viets , Jeffrey Cohen and Harley Jane Kozak write.The Asolo’s actors are first-class, and the play hinges on professional actors. Lesser talents would not get the nuances of Murderers.Mystery fans would find much to like in Murderers. If it is done in a regional theater near you, I would love to hear your comments.While I am not a theater critic, I am married to one who is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association, whose recent conference was in Sarasota, Florida. The conference is a wonderful excuse sample an area’s best theater; in the past the conference has been held at Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Francisco and Chicago, among other locales.PHOTOS: Bryan Torfeh, top, Mercedes Herrero, bottom, in Murderers. Asolo photos

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Mysteries on the radio

When mysteries and theater collide