Graphic – FunGraphix.com | Theme music – Shane Lamb
Title: The Secret of Donotalado (from the Knightime series)
Producer: “William”
Production Company: The Hazardous Players
Type: Comedy
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 15-20 minutes each episode
Rating: AD-G*
Availability: Free to Listen – The Hazardous Players
Greetings, Audionauts! Captain Radio here with a review of KnightTime’s The Secret of Donotalado, from The Hazardous Players, made possible by RØDE Microphones.
Too seldom do we see natural entertainers emerge from party antics as bonafide stars. When it happens, they tend to be delightful absurdists. Witness Steve Martin’s party shtick, The Great Flydini and Victor Borge’s classical grand piano party gymnastics both placing often among Top 100 Comic Routines.
Educated artist, turned realist carpenter, “William” in like manner delights in excavating his childhood of listening QUI-ET-LY (so his parents wouldn’t hear) to late night radio dramas and finding ways to foist that experience on his son and easily recruited accomplice, Sam.
Sam’s 10th birthday party proved a turning point for “William”, who loved to create “seriously complex” treasure hunts. A series of concealed outdoor audio players, when found, gave young partiers “Where next?” clues embodied in the pre-recorded voices of ancient knights. When family and friends heard the clues afterward, “William” found himself surrounded by instant fans, urging him to unleash these marvelous characters into broader realms.
Once “William” also realized that he shared “a hidden aptitude for odd voices and a secret desire to act” with Comic CON buds “Lewis” and “Justin”, the trio launched, in his words, a quest “to pool our talents, to overcome our insecurities, and to construct a fantasy world both epic and absurd,” major emphasis, of course, on the last.
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Aimed at “children” young and old, the KnightTime series of audio dramatic chapter books takes Audionauts to medieval Udenland and the farcical exploits of buffoonish but able agéd survivor, Sir Cottington, his more genteel “Sancho Panza” straight man, Sir Bratwurst, and their long-suffering genius curmudgeon guardian dragon, Nigel, who, though perhaps the most “grounded” character in the KnightTime universe, has his moments:
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In The Secret of Donotalado, scheming young King Theodor, seeks to rid his court for at least a year of the bungling, naturally interfering duo of Cottington and Bratwurst:
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That’s about it on plot, folks. As it goes in Life, often it’s not the destination but the journey that counts. Recalling situation antics characteristic of creatives Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, and Monty Python, the knights’ subsequent harrowing, comical picayune adventures through weird, enchanted landscapes, replete with magical plants and creatures, fills up the score card pleasingly.
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While online, be sure to enjoy “William’s” warm and very amusing artwork as well as entries in the clever Professor Flannagin Henchwood’s Guide that catalogs and further details magical flora and fauna encountered in KnightTime.
Listen to the KnightTime audio dramatic chapter book, The Secret of Donotalado, at HazardousPlayers.com.
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Captain Radio.com Reviews originate on the Radio Drama Revival podcast. Subscribe to free weekly downloads of more top-notch, independently-produced modern audio drama from around the world at RadioDramaRevival.com.
Until next time, Audionauts, this is Captain Radio™, signing off!
[audio: http://media.blubrry.com/radiodramarevival/www.radiodramarevival.com/captradio/captain-radio-the-secret-of-donotalado-extended.mp3]Captain Radio™ Reviews The Secret of Donotalado from the Hazardous Players
* Rating based on the Audio Drama Directory Ratings System.
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