Audio Drama Popular Again

Toby Lichtig at the Guardian blog has an interesting article, chock-full of links, about how the rise in popularity of podcasting might revitalise the art of audio drama.

Frederick Greenhalgh of Radio Drama Revival! thinks so. His blog, which began at the end of last year, includes a range of new radio dramas. He is based in the US, where audio theatre, he admits, is still an especially "small world" desperately in need of promotion; but he is convinced that things are changing. Greenhalgh runs Final Rune Productions and is dedicated to making this happen. He reminds us that that Orson Welles started in radio, and laments the current paucity of commercial radio drama in the US:

The popularity of programmes such as Sonic Theater on XM Radio and sites such as Dramapod also indicate a resurgence, though a quick look at the latter's main categories - Superhero, Dr Who, Star Trek - points to Greenhalgh's fears. He is enthusiastic about the more illustrious recent history of radio drama in the UK: "They actually think it's valuable to have written stories recorded and played on the radio for people. What's crazier, is that they PAY people to do it!"

Radio broadcasters in Ireland would do well to consider how they could use this revived interest in audio theatre to bring new drama to the Irish public.