I just listened to your radio play online by very cleverly following your link to BBC and downloading Realplayer and then going to timeanddate.com to calculate the time difference.
It was great. Just thought I'd say so, along with lots of others, I'm sure. I felt very part of it, listening and imagining. My dad always listened to "The Shadow" while falling asleep when I was a kid, and I'd listen too, drifting off to 'who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men...the Shadow knows.' And I sat there today feeling like a wise kid, which is rather difficult to pull off as an adult. Thank you for it, and Dave McKean too for the lovely piano music.
At the risk of being a real pest, I wrote a longer "I think this" about the play at http://www.jasminembla.webeve.com/. I assure you at least four more people will go listen to the play once they've read it (yeah, spouse, sis and parents).
Thanks again,
Jasmine.
I really liked what you wrote about it (or at least, it was what I was hoping people listening to it would experience) and I'll pass on your appreciation for the music to Dave.
For the next month people can listen to Mr Punch at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/radio3_aod.shtml?radio3/thewire. (It's about an hour long -- and I don't think you need RealPlayer for it.) I have no idea whether we'll be able to ever get it out on CD or any more permanent form, so if you're curious, you'll probably want to check it out while it's available.
(And Mr Punch was a Guardian "Pick of the Day" at http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv_and_radio/story/0,,1429198,00.html -- courtesy of http://www.holycow.com/dreaming/)
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It looks like the Hobbit-sized people were indeed a new species of human, and not just a dwarfish version of the regular kind: http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/science/story/0,12996,1430393,00.html.
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Just in case you haven't seen it, a mystery from up Glasgow way:http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/34553.html Happy working,Emilio Englade
A doggy suicide bridge. How utterly Fortean...
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Hi Neil! Thought you might be interested in a review of "Two Plays for Voices" on the SFFAudio website:http://www.sffaudio.com/2005_02_01_sffaudio_archive.html#110961440615910433 All my best,--Scott
Thanks a lot. I think the main reason why both the two plays worked so well (and why the CD won an Audie Award) was each had great casts, and a terrific producer/director in Brian Smith, who let me do my own adaptations of my stories. (Just as Lu Kemp let me adapt Mr Punch myself.) I love audio stuff, probably more than any other medium: it's like comics, except it does it all in your head...