Sonic Tales has Launched

Eastside’s fourth season of specially commissioned radio plays was launched with a boom (a sonic boom, get it? No? Well, someone should invent a cocktail, anyway), at Paddo RSL last week.

Radio plays have been neglected in recent years, but are being resurrected by Eastside because they are so stimulating, with their engaging characters and imagined landscapes, supported by appropriate music and creative sound effects. This Eastside initiative is benefitting a much wider community, with plans to share the plays with community radio stations around the country.

‘While many people in the 1940s and 1950s grew up with radio plays, their absence in recent times has left a creative gap in our theatrical framework. Eastside is aiming to correct this gap’ said Director of Production Gill Falson. ‘And because these radio plays are all written by Australians in recent years, they are a voice talking about our contemporary concerns.’

The radio plays are all short, running between about 10 minutes and 20 minutes, and cover a range of topics. ‘One of the first to go to air will be called Sex Ed. It is set in a classroom of young teenagers with the teacher trying to discuss sex education to their great mirth and embarrassment’ said Tegan Nicholls, the series producer. ‘Contemporary issues like this are worthy of the attention of playwrights, and have not been the subject of earlier radio plays because of the taboos of earlier years. These days we can talk openly about the issues and enjoy the humour in these embarrassing situations.’

Playwright Katie Pollock said ‘I am excited by this opportunity to create new plays for the modern audience. The creative process of listening to a radio play is so intimate and personal that it opens up many avenues for authors to deal with today’s world.’ Her play Contact will be part of the current series of Sonic Tales.

The plays have begun airing in the Friday Drive and Arts Monday programs, and will be available to listen to via podcast, after the conclusion of the primary season broadcast.

Tegan Nicholls, Gill Falston, Katie Pollock and Eric Gyors launch the season.