Audio books

Voice talent and co-producer and director Phil Dragash gives an introduction to The Jungle Book Soundscape Audiobook EP edition release.

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It is our distinct pleasure to present to you a new way to experience the story - a 'soundscape audiobook'. Word-for-word, this is not an 'adaptation' or 'radio drama'. This is a way to experience the book as if you are within the very pages of the tale. We hope you enjoy!

A Root and Twig Soundscape Audiobooks Production, 2022

This project was produced with generous funding provided through our Kickstarter backers during the spring of 2021. 

Directed by Phil Dragash and A.Y. Barker
Composed by Alexander Amadeo
Introduction script written by A.Y. Barker

Special Thanks to our Executive Producers - Jim Barker, Georgi Barker and Nathaniel Trainor.

Root and Twig's mission is to be a beacon of classic stories spectacularly done, helping the world remember its great storytelling heritage.

*Directors Note: This immersive soundscape preview experience contains very detailed sound effects in each chapter. For full enjoyment of the production, we recommend that your first experience of this story is through a pair of quality headphones or quality set of speakers without background noise interfering.*

Phil Dragash Introduction | The Jungle Book Soundscape Audiobook EP

The first of our season of Stand Up Tragedy Presents... that will showcase full length shows that we have showcased at our SUT Presents nights. These shows will make you cry until you laugh and laugh until you cry and demonstrate our intention to create a safe space to talk about unsafe things.

How To Be Fat by Mathilda Gregory was performed in July 2015 as a preview for it's Edinburgh run.

For more Mathilda go here: https://mathildia.wordpress.com

Follow her on twitter: https://twitter.com/mathildia

Content Note: Discussion of being a person with a fat body, including dieting, eating disorders and weighing.

Come and see our next Stand Up Tragedy Presents live at The Dogstar in Brixton on Thursday 18th February: http://www.facebook.com/events/1129825877029165/
 

SUT Presents - How To Be Fat

Chapter one of Robert Lous Stevenson's Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde.

The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde chapter 01

The unnamed narrator from Woking, England, begins by comparing the unsuspecting human population to the contents of a slide on a microscope, those contents as unaware of the beings observing them as the Earthlings are of the Martians with "intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic" who watch them as they go about their daily activities. He claims Mars is older than Earth and wonders why man—"so blinded by his vanity"—has failed to recognize for so long the probability of the existence of intelligent life on its neighboring planet. He observes that just as Mars is cooling as it ages and its inhabitants long for a younger, verdant world, so too must humanity face the same fate. Foreshadowing the destruction the aliens will bring, the narrator reminds readers of the cruelty that humans have also brought on their fellow beings, as when native Tasmanians were wiped out by British colonialists off the coast of Australia.

The narrator speculates on the superior intelligence of the Martians and claims astronomers, including Schiaparelli, have seen clues proving their existence. One such astronomer is Ogilvy, whom the narrator recalls invited him to an observatory to study Mars after another astronomer reported a dramatic explosion of gas on the surface of the planet, which seems to be directed toward Earth. The narrator observed a similar explosion as he watched through the telescope. Ogilvy doubted the existence of life on Mars and speculated the phenomenon may be related to meteorites or volcanoes. Many other people witnessed the phenomenon, which repeated itself at midnight over a total of 10 days.

The narrator marvels at how unconcerned the population was about the celestial events, including himself at the time, busying himself with his philosophical writing and learning to ride a bike. He pointed out Mars to his wife as they took an evening walk; all was "so safe and tranquil."

The War Of The Worlds Chapter 01

The narrator recalls the night "of the first falling star." Although he speculates many must have seen it, and indeed he himself could have witnessed it, he names three astronomers who note its descent, including Ogilvy, who hurries to its landing on Horsell Common. There he discovers a large cylinder in a huge crater created by its impact. The heat of the cylinder keeps him away initially, but he moves to get a closer look when he hears noises coming from it and observes that the end of the cylinder is slowly rotating. Ogilvy realizes the object is not a meteorite but something he assumes to be humanmade and connected to the occurrences on Mars. He becomes alarmed about the welfare of the inhabitants inside, but the extreme heat of the cylinder prevents him from offering assistance.

In distress Ogilvy runs to the nearby village for help but finds no one who will listen until he meets the journalist Henderson, and the two return to the crater but are still unable to help anyone inside the silent cylinder. The men return to the village, where Henderson sends a telegraph message about the event to London.

By 8 a.m. people have gathered around the crater, and the narrator learns about the "dead men from Mars" from the paperboy and proceeds toward Horsell Common to see for himself.

The War Of The Worlds Chapter 02

Chapter One of the classic novel by Herman Melville. 

Moby-Dick, or, The Whale is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship Pequod, for revenge on Moby Dick, the giant white sperm whale that on the ship's previous voyage bit off Ahab's leg at the knee. A contribution to the literature of the American Renaissance, Moby-Dick was published to mixed reviews, was a commercial failure, and was out of print at the time of the author's death in 1891. Its reputation as a "Great American Novel" was established only in the 20th century, after the centennial of its author's birth. William Faulkner said he wished he had written the book himself, and D. H. Lawrence called it "one of the strangest and most wonderful books in the world" and "the greatest book of the sea ever written". Its opening sentence, "Call me Ishmael", is among world literature's most famous. 

Ishmael, a sailor, describes a typical scene in New York City, with large groups of men gathering on their days off to contemplate the ocean and dream of a life at sea. He explains that he himself went to sea because, like these men, he was feeling a “damp, drizzly November in [his] soul” and craved adventure. Shunning anything too “respectable” (or expensive), he always ships as a common sailor rather than as a passenger.

Music by https://freesfx.co.uk

Moby Dick Chapter 01

The Jungle Book Soundscape Audiobook will be released for purchase in 2023.

Root & Twig's mission is to be a beacon of classic stories spectacularly done, helping the world remember its great storytelling heritage.

Official Soundcloud for the Audiobook Soundscape productions by Phil Dragash and A.Y. Barker.