When the pandemic shut down live theatre, we all assumed it would be back soon, in some form or other. It hasn’t been quite that simple. Odyssey Theatre cancelled their live shows in Strathcona Park the past three summers, but artistic director Laurie Steven has used the time to develop new forms of digital content. A recent fruit of her pandemic labours is a podcast series of dramas called The Other Path. It’s a set of five unrelated stories in which old fairy tales have been reimagined in a modern setting.
Image: Odyssey Theatre.
I asked Laurie what listeners could expect to hear in the series.
“As listeners, we enter a mysterious realm in our imaginations and meet characters with problems to solve. A girl in a group home is blackmailed by a youth worker, a young couple become porch pirates to pay the rent, a woman finds that everyone on her island has suddenly vanished, and another discovers that her best friend disappeared. We get swept up in adventures and caught in a web of magic when our characters’ quests lead them to tangle with mythical beings like ogres and witches. Each episode transports the listener to different worlds with artfully crafted music and sound. I’m hoping our audio dramas will be entertaining, ignite imaginations, and give listeners a new perspective on aspects of life that are meaningful to them.”
Chandel Gambles recording an episode of The Other Path. Photo: Odyssey Theatre.
The dramatic podcast format is very different from the commedia dell’arte plays that Odyssey is known for. I asked Steven whether she had wanted to do podcasts before the pandemic intervened.
“About five years before the pandemic, my goddaughter introduced me to her world of digital entertainment—vlogs, web series, and podcasts. I was fascinated and I could see a future with live theatre complemented by digital programming to reach new, younger, and more diverse audiences. I developed a lot of ideas at that time, but had no time or money to bring them to fruition. When the pandemic shut down theatres, I wanted to keep artists working and to continue to connect with audiences. So I launched our digital programming. We undertook online training, play creation, public readings, and the largest project in the history of the company: The Other Path podcast,” she told me.
“I thought it would be so much easier than our live shows—no sets, lighting, masks, costumes, choreography, or staging. What I didn’t realize is that you have all that in audio drama. The soundscapes, sound effects, stereo effects, music, and microphone effects all have to work together to create a rich three-dimensional space and moments of wonderment. And that meant that, as a director, I had to stage the whole show in my mind, translate that staging into an audio language, and write really detailed directions into the script. ‘He crosses the room to her’ doesn’t cut it. I have to say what kinds of shoes he has on, what the floor is made of, how long his walk is, and how the walk reflects the characters’ personality and emotional tone. I also had to learn a whole new way of listening to the world.”
Recording the episode “Heart’s Home.” Photo: Odyssey Theatre.
I’ve listened to the first couple of episodes of The Other Path and really enjoyed them. The first thing that grabbed me was the overall quality of the production and sound. From the narrator to the sound effects to the actors, you enter a completely different world made up only of sound. I loved the use of humour, too. The stories are serious, but the mood is light, and they appear to target a Gen Z audience.
Odyssey Theatre has taken another path with these podcasts, and it’s definitely worth strolling along with them.
The Other Path podcasts are available here or on your favourite podcast platform. Headphones are recommended to enhance the experience. You can listen to a preview here.
