Yuletide greetings dramatites! We’re delighted to share with you a 2008 retelling of a treasure from the golden age of radio, Norman Corwin‘s “The Plot to Overthrow Christmas,” revamped for you by our good friend Richard Fish.
This 35 minute romp of rhyming verse introduces us to Nero, violining in hell, and co-opted into a plot to assassinate Santa Claus. Except Santa Claus is not all as it seems, and sometimes the cold can do more to warm the heart than the flames of hell…
We give time to celebrate the spirit of Christmas (and please, I hope you laugh as much as I did during the section about the congressional body in hell) and also think about the passing of audio great Norman Corwin, who passed to the next world this year at age 101. His work is as heartwarming about Christmas and as indicting of the odious as it was 73 years ago.
We also have a very special review from comrade Captain Radio, who reviews a suite of retellings of A Christmas Carol – the new Blackstone Audio production (with sound design by We’re Alive‘s co-creator Shane Salk), Quicksilver Radio Theatre‘s, Voices in the Wind and even Lifehouse Theater. It is indeed a classic tale! And the Capt’s splendid review gives you tastes of the range of them, from the rich and embellished, to the spare and haunting.
Finally, we launch a new donation program – FinalRune Fivers (won’t you consider donating $5 to this show?) – and give a special shout-out to our friends at the Wireless Theatre Company. Their ever increasing library of top-notch audio drama this year features some fantastic Christmas radio plays.
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In the second part of 
The writing of James Joyce is as much known for how challenging it is to decipher as for its portraits of humanity in a difficult world. Its hard enough to find audiobooks of his work (could you imagine a single-voiced reading of Ulysses?), and it seems that most audio dramatists have steered clear.
