Consequences

On this episode, two stories produced for the BBC Radio 3 series, Between the Ears, a program that highlights unusually produced and thought provoking radio features. For their 20th anniversary, they featured a series of radio pieces that was based on an old parlor game called Consequences. It's a little like the road trip game Mad Libs, but instead of parts of speech, the game asks for a list of story elements: a man's name a women's name, where they met, what he said, what she said, etc, concluding with the phrase, "and the consequence was…."

The multi-award-winning radio production company Falling Tree Productions commissioned five producers, including UnFictional's Bob Carlson, to create innovative radio works on loosely based on five of the Consequences elements for Between the Ears. On this episode of UnFictional, two stories from the series.

He Said / She Said

Married couple Melanie Hoopes and Ed Herbstman tell the story of their move to New York where Ed enrolls in the Police Academy. Meanwhile, they think they've lucked into a fantastic Brooklyn apartment with cheap rent, until they meet their landlord; a legendary New York detective who insults them, invades their privacy, and puts them at risk. Melanie and Ed love every minute of it.

Produced by Bob Carlson and Wendy Dorr. Thanks to Alan Hall and Eleanor McDowall.

You may remember Melanie and Ed from a previous episode of UnFictional featuring their story of an epic search for a small dog.

And the consequence was…

Three interwoven stories that reflect on the histories that the scars and marks on our body tell. A man is forever changed by incident he doesn't even remember, a small boy surveys the wear and tear on his body, and woman wears her emotions on her skin.

Steve Urquhart has been producing radio – and more recently sound art – for around twenty years. He creates short-form and long-form features for BBC Radio 4 (where he is also a continuity announcer) and BBC Radio 3. He has won several Sony Radio Academy Awards for his pioneering work with National Prison Radio in the UK, and he trains various students, including prisoners and ex-offenders, in radio production skills. Steve is also a musician whose sample-based compositions have been released commercially.

Both stories on this episode were a Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 3. You can hear all the stories from the Consequences series here.

Banner image: Tina Carlson