Memphis is home to a ton of creative talent in a huge variety of forms.   In fact as stated on this site, Memphis was selected as one of America’s Top 25 Arts Destinations by American Style magazine.  The city ranked 22nd based on the richness and variety in 2007.  It just so happens that in 2007, Memphis was the birth place of an audio theater group that produces live (yes, one take and broadcast) contemporary (not Old Time Radio shows) audio drama.  I have asked Bob Arnold to introduce Chatterbox Audio Theater here in his own voice.

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Think radio drama is dead?

Think again. Over at www.chatterboxtheater.org, you can hear more than two dozen works of contemporary radio drama—we now call it audio theater—most of which were produced right here in Memphis.

Some friends and I started Chatterbox Audio Theater because of shared interests in recording, writing, acting, and music. The project started small—the first five shows were produced in my living room—and has grown steadily ever since, with more than 19,000 unique visitors to our website since its launch on September 14, 2007. We’ve had hits from all six inhabited continents (maybe some Antarctic explorer will check us out soon), along with lots of great feedback from educators, sound professionals, and people who just like to listen to us while they jog, ride the bus, or work in the yard.

Unlike most contemporary audio troupes (not that there are many), Chatterbox doesn’t produce corny rehashes of Old Time Radio. Our shows comprise original works as well as new adaptations of classic literature; so far, we’ve tackled Melville, Verne, and Kafka, among others. We’ve created comedies, dramas, horror shows, children’s shows, live shows, and shows that stubbornly refuse to fit into any category. Our entire catalogue is available for free streaming or download from our website, and is also available through an RSS feed and through iTunes.

Chatterbox shows do share one important characteristic with Old Time Radio, however: as much as possible, they’re produced live, with simultaneous performances and manual sound effects. Our shows are not some Frankenstein-style creation, assembled from hundreds of polished, isolated takes. We rehearse as an ensemble and try to record everything in a single, uninterrupted sitting. And if we need the sound of a rainstorm, an alien creature, or a city street, our sound effects team does everything possible to create it right there in the room.

Why work this way when everything can easily be edited together later, and when there are scores and scores of pre-recorded effects available online? Well, in addition to being a lot more fun, we think it gives our work the immediacy—the urgency—of live theater.

Chatterbox started here in Memphis, though now our Artistic Director Kyle Hatley also produces shows in Kansas City. To date, we’ve worked with about one hundred people to create our productions. That’s one hundred voice actors, sound effects artists, musicians, writers, and directors, all giving freely of their time and talent. Yep, I said freely: as of now, nobody gets paid to do Chatterbox. It’s a labor of love from top to bottom.

I strongly encourage you to check out www.chatterboxtheater.org and listen to the entertaining, thrilling, poignant, hilarious, and thought-provoking work your friends and neighbors are creating. Even if you don’t have time to listen to a full show right now, take a minute to scan over our Cast and Crew page. You’ll see the names of performers from all of the area’s major theaters, as well as the names of teachers, dentists, college students, computer programmers, homemakers, and so on.

Perhaps the most impressive—and humbling—thing about Chatterbox is that it’s managed to bring all these people together. Not bad for a medium that most folks think of as dead.

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About Bob Arnold. Bob Arnold is the Executive Director of Chatterbox Audio Theater [www.chatterboxtheater.org]. He is a 2002 graduate of Rhodes College, and by day he serves as the Grants Manager for a Memphis area arts organization.  He lives in the Joffre area with a large cat.

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