Wednesday, September 30th, saw the locally produced podcast Redshift put on a free, live performance of their craft at the Phoenix Theater in Minneapolis.
Airing on the Fancy Pants Gangsters network, the crew of REDSHIFT perform science-fiction themed radio plays in the spirit of the classic radio shows of the 1950’s.
The live performance was a two-act show. The first half was a reading of THE COLLECTOR by David Bruns, which aired during their just-concluded 6 episode inaugural season. Filled with a slow-burning plot, THE COLLECTOR focused on a down-on-his-luck conman who has been recruited by a shadowy organization to “collect” a diverse group of individuals for an as-yet unknown reason. Things took a startling turn when the curtain figuratively dropped for intermission.
The second show was a piece that I was surprised to hear was in the public domain. THE SERVENT PROBLEM, by Robert J. Young, was a very clever piece of science-fiction storytelling. A true mystery involving a real estate salesman called to a nearly abandoned village. The salesman is tasked by his client to sell every single building in the village while the woman who hired him leaves for her new housing development. While out walking his client’s odd dog, Xenophilus, the real estate man makes a strange discovery. And the final reveal had this dog lover grinning ear-to-ear.
The crew of REDSHIFT are hard at work on their next season of shows. Titled CITIZEN-SCIENTIST CORPS, funds are currently being raised by a Kickstarter campaign.
Dan Malmon
