Artistic Associate Chad Raines (Hindsight, Round Table, etc) composed and sound designed Saturn’s Return, a narrative podcast about loss, sacrifice, and ordinary magic. And now the project has won Best New Story-Based Production at the Audio Verse Awards. This story has kept us company on our morning commute all week long!
Listen wherever you get your podcasts
A Little About The Show
The people of Barthos are suffering. Not long ago, everyone had plenty to eat and plenty to trade. This was the time of the Great Prosperity. Rivers ran full of fish, crops grew without effort, and lifespans increased by decades. Then — with the disappearance of a very special prisoner — everything changed.
The prisoner was kept in a cell deep below the Town Square. Few have ever actually seen him, but he’s known to all as The Yellow King. The Yellow King had been captured so many years ago that some townsfolk doubt his existence.
Those who do believe in him also believe they owe their abundance to his confinement. Now that he’s gone, the rivers have run dry and the crops have died. People are alone. Starving. No one knows where to turn or who to trust. Their fortunes have flipped in the blink of an eye.
The residents of Barthos want answers — and some are willing to do whatever it takes to get them.
Adapted from the play Saturn’s Return, which premiered at Tompkins Corners Cultural Center in 2021.
Cast:
Karen Grenke as Frida Harcum
Jason Howard as Cornell Reece
Robin Kurtz as Tilly Harcum
Mark Lindberg as Inar Geld
Creative:
Writen by Chance Muehleck
Directed by Melanie S. Armer
Composer/Sound Designer: Chad Raines
Engineer: Nate Jasensky