Oct. 28 - June 30, 2021
All-audio, full length, not serial
“I had started something that I wasn’t going to let the organization stop. Partly because my kids deserved a chance. And partly because they were going to settle a lot of scores for me and a few million other people … someday.”
A perfect slice of Octavia E. Butler’s incredible storytelling, written in 1970 at the Clarion Writer’s Workshop, this science-fiction short story gem serves us the familiar, extraordinary, diabolical, and triumphant. It’s a story that makes one hunger for more of Ms. Butler’s work, her words, and a future, as yet, unwritten.
Why We Chose This Story: A classic from a master of her genre, Childfinder is an origin story unto itself and a precursor to so much of Butler’s writing. We believe it is the perfect introduction to the thrilling digital season ahead!
Review: The Seattle Times says: “It is much more than a reading of Butler’s tale… Clever sound design that translates the sound of breaking glass, an actor’s distressed grunt and the sound of a loudly beating heart puts you right in the middle of the action. Nuanced voice acting connects you intimately to complex characters in the audioplay’s 33 minutes.” Read more here.
THE CAST
Faith Bennett Russell (she/her): Barbara
Ayo Tushinde (she/her): Eve
Maya Flory-Barnes Salas (she/her): Valerie
Brandon JonesMooney (he/him): Jordan
Maya Michelle Russell (she/her): Jessie May
Nicholas Japaul Bernard (he/him): Ensemble
Jon Stutzman (he/him): Ensemble
THE ARTISTIC TEAM
Octavia E. Butler: Author
Shermona Mitchell (she/they): Adapter
Gin Hammond (she/her): Director
Michelle Chesley (she/her): Rehearsal Stage Manager
Kyle Thompson (he/him): Sound Designer
Leanna Keith (she/they): Theme Composer and Performer
Ben Radin (he/him): Technical Director/Sound Engineer
Dan Schuy (he/him): Production Manager
Zenaida Smith (she/her): Assistant Production Manager/Casting Associate
“Like the miraculous discovery that the beloved book you’ve read a dozen times has an extra chapter you’ve somehow never noticed.” —The Los Angeles Review of Books
“One of the finest voices in fiction—period. . . . Butler casts an unflinching eye on racism, sexism, poverty[,] and ignorance and lets the reader see the terror and beauty of human nature.” —The Washington Post Book World
The play is performed through arrangement with the estate of Octavia E. Butler. All rights reserved.