The idea for recording some of the off-the-wall plays as podcasts came to me as I was struggling to find the money to put on a production of Thesps.  I had heard the term 'podcast', but didn't know what it meant.  I assumed that you would need an iPod to listen to these things - whatever they were.  But I was totally wrong!  An iPod is only Apple's name for an mp3 audio file player, and there are other things to listen to apart from music.  The BBC are producing radio output for download to any device which can play mp3 files, including your PC, and there are a lot of other people producing speciality radio broadcasts for the Internet as well.  I found that there were very few drama productions, so I decided that a medium which could do without costumes, sets, a theatre and marketing sounded like a distinct advantage! 

So I adapted Ripping Off Angels for the radio, and persuaded the Concept Players to help me put it on.  We rehearsed and recorded it very quickly, and it took about two weeks to edit it into the form you can hear here.  The adaptation into 6 downloadable-sized episodes isn't ideal, but as a first attempt, without the advantages of a proper recording studio, it's not bad.  Naturally, it's not the same without an audience, but I hope it gives you a feel for what the play is like in performance.

As soon as we had finished recording the play, the cast were anxious to know when we would do another one.  This enthusiasm was enough to spur me into creating Big Idea, which we recorded in November 2005, and which was edited over the Christmas holidays, ready to be uploaded in January 2006. The podcast version encouraged us to put on a live performance of Big Idea, which went down so well with the audiences that it encouraged us to try to get the play published.  Lazy Bee Scripts were sufficiently impressed to make us an offer to publish in July 2006, and the play is now available for performance - full details from them.

The next play to be produced as a podcast was Prima Donna.  We made plans for the recording sessions, plotting our way around the availability of our cast members and their busy lives.  This time, we recorded some of the music and singing 'live', so this podcast really broke new ground for us. 

Prima Donna is now available, and we hope that it will prove as successful as the previous plays.

I hope you download the podcast versions of the Off-The-Wall plays, and enjoy them as much as we enjoyed putting them together!