[Note: If you're unfamiliar with Chatterbox Audio Theater, I encourage you to visit our website or read my introduction to the troupe.]
In a lot of ways, Chatterbox Audio Theater’s latest production is all about Memphis.
Dead and Gone is our Southern retelling of James Joyce’s The Dead, transplanted from turn-of-the-century Dublin to turn-of-the-century Memphis. While the characters and plot are largely unchanged, the new setting allows us to look at this classic story with fresh eyes.
In 1905, Memphis was as divided a city as Dublin (which was still under British rule when Joyce wrote The Dead). After being nearly wiped out by Yellow Fever in 1878 – 1879, Memphis experienced a population boom that included large numbers of rural workers and large numbers of freedmen, all lured to the city by the promises of industrialization. The resulting culture clash drove many whites to cling to Old South ideals. Racial tensions soared.
Dead and Gone is not explicitly about these tensions, but they are a constant backdrop to the story of an insecure Progressivist trying to endure his conservative family’s annual holiday party. Plus they are a nice parallel with the Nationalist/Loyalist tensions that underlie Joyce’s original. Listen for other Memphis touches as well, including mention of some local landmarks and historical events. Along the way, you’ll be pulled into a complex, funny, and ultimately heartbreaking story about the presence of the past.
Aside from its content, Dead and Gone is Memphis-centric in another important aspect: its execution. In addition to an extremely talented local cast and crew, the show relied on assistance and participation from many generous organizations, institutions, and individuals around town.
Thanks to Jerre Dye and Jenny Odle Madden, we were able to rehearse in the new Voices of the South space in First Congregational Church. Thanks to Bill Short, the recording took place in the Barret Library at Rhodes College. Chuck Taylor at Memphis Music / Yamaha Piano generously loaned us a digital piano — and Katherine, our musician, could not have been happier. I received insightful critiques of the script from Ed Frank, Curator of Special Collections at the University of Memphis’s McWherter Library; Barrett Hathcock, Assistant Professor of English at Rhodes College; and his colleague Brian Shaffer, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Professor of English at Rhodes, who also recorded a wonderful lecture on Joyce and The Dead. Thanks to Charlene Honeycutt and all the great folks over at 91.1 WKNO-FM, the show debuted over the airwaves in July.
So how can you hear it? Well, the next stop for our Memphis-based show is Albuquerque, New Mexico. KUNM-FM will be airing it on Sunday, August 16 at 7 pm CDT; you can stream the broadcast through KUNM’s website. A few weeks later, the show (along with Professor Shaffer’s lecture) will post to the Chatterbox website, and, like all our shows, will be freely available thereafter.
