Jabberwocky Audio Theater

The English fairy tale of an enterprising young boy, a castle in the clouds, and some giants. It’s perhaps the best known of a series of “Jack Tales.” Rated AD-G for general audiences Contains a cruel and murderous giant, a conspiratorial and duplicitous giantess, and broken necks, which arguably might be the audio theater equivalent of villains falling from a great height. Click here for full show notes.

Given current events, we wanted to share some thoughts, especially with our friends and neighbors in the DC area. This was originally broadcast on WERA with Through the Looking Glass episode #8, “Jack and the Beanstalk.” Rated AD-G for general audiences Click here for complete show notes.

The classic German fairy tale of a brother, a sister, and a witch’s house in the deep, dark woods. Rated AD-G for general audiences Contains a fearfully evil stepmother, arguably prejudiced ideas about witches and their eyesight, and lots of candy whose cleanliness is debatable since it’s being used as building materials. Click here for full show notes.

A Danish fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen and the basis for the film Frozen. Rated AD-G for general audiences Contains robbers who kill secondary characters, threaten murder of the primary characters, and mysterious aging, which we’re pretty sure is symbolic in a Joseph Campbell kind of way. Click here for full show notes.

A Danish fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen and the basis for the film Frozen. Rated AD-G for general audiences Contains a hobgoblin who’s into Olympic-level mischief, mirror shards, roses, good witches, and very chatty crows. Click here for full show notes.

Bjorn and Bill talk about our upcoming 2020 season, including Through the Looking Glass and Quorum, and talk about how we’re figuring out how to do things when we’re all remote. Rated AD-G for general audiences We’re basically just talking. Click here for complete show notes.

An update for April 2020. We’re now less than a month away from being back on the airwaves! Rated AD-G for general audiences Click here for complete show notes.

An update for the Ides of March, which a special note about Shohreh Aghdashloo. Rated AD-G for general audiences Click here for complete show notes.

A brief note in February 2020 during our off-season. Rated AD-G for general audiences Click here for complete show notes.

Just a little note in January 2020, during our off-season. Rated AD-G for general audiences Click here for complete show notes.

For our final show of 2019, we do a reading of O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi,” performed by Kim Davenport. Rated AD-G for general audiences Unless this brings back bad memories of having to discuss this story in English class or you have a phobia involving combs, you should be okay. Click here for full show notes.

Washington, DC, September 2011. A city as renowned for pushing papers as for pushing deadlines. Where the machinery of American government fights tooth and nail against the encroachment of twenty-first century technology… clinging desperately to methods, communication styles, and entire industries rendered obsolete in the world beyond the Capital Beltway. Bicycle messenger Swipe is on the final delivery of her career — transporting a set of vital papers to a government office by a five o’clock deadline — before moving ahead with long-delayed wedding plans. But forces intent on interrupting that delivery quickly move to oppose her — as does one of her unprincipled courier competitors. Rated AD-PG, so parental guidance is suggestedContains multiple variations of someone being called an ass, one instance each of “son of a bitch” as well as “crazy bitch” and taking JC’s name in vain. Plus, misogyny, car crashes and related violence, and cold calculations that affect human lives. Click here for complete show notes

We conclude the very Victorian ghost story from very Victorian writer Elizabeth Gaskell in a way that will make you want to have a fainting couch nearby. Rated AD-G for general audiences We’re talking fairly standard Victorian ghost spookiness, and some likewise Victorian admonitions against youthful folly. Click here for complete show notes.

Celebrated Victorian writer Elizabeth Gaskell gives us a perfectly Victorian ghost story. Rated AD-G for general audiences We’re talking fairly standard Victorian ghost spookiness here: Long on family history, with chills lovingly curated. Click here for complete show notes.

Enjoy William R. Coughlan’s award-winning narration of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story “The Rats in the Walls” amid an immersive soundscape. Rated AD-PG, so parental guidance is suggested Deals with cannibalism, ancient evils, and includes an antechamber from Hell, so basically, it’s Lovecraft. Click here for complete show notes.

Enjoy William R. Coughlan’s award-winning narration of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story “The Rats in the Walls” amid an immersive soundscape. Rated AD-PG, so parental guidance is suggested It’s Lovecraft, so we’ve got the existential dread and humans behaving very badly covered. Click here for complete show notes.

We venture into the deep, dark woods that is our spooky anthology series with scary story told in countless versions around countless campfires across America: “Tailypo.” Then we switch to a very British ghost story: “The Open Window,” by Saki Rated AD-PG , so parental guidance is suggested Contains the implication that a human is eaten by a monster as well as British manners. Click here for complete show notes.

The celebrated Danish fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. Rated AD-G for general audiences Contains arbitrary and capricious prejudice, depression, ducks being shot, darkness, cold, but, also, a joyous discover of self. Click here for full show notes.

A version of the classic European fairy tale of a cursed daughter, a valiant prince, and taking “sleeping in” a bit too far. Rated AD-G for general audiences Contains ogres, attempts to eat children, and karmic justice. Click here for full show notes.

A version of an Estonian fairy tale taken from The Violet Fairy Book by Andrew Lang and featuring a peasant, his daughter, and the strange and mysterious forest of Tontlawald. Rated AD-G for general audiences Contains cruelty and oddity with stepmothers, doppelgangers, consequences, and transmogrification. Click here for full show notes.