I’ve been a fan of audio dramas and radio plays since I was a kid, so it’s a special pleasure to bring a script to life with immersive sound design and music.

I loved working with Z Space/Word for Word, director Rami Margron, and composer Marcus Shelby to build the sonic world of Percival Everett’s “wickedly subversive” story about symbols and their meanings.

“The Appropriation of Cultures”

For Aurora Theatre’s audio version of Lydia Diamond’s adaptation of Toni Morrison’s  The Bluest Eye, director Dawn Monique Williams gave me complete freedom to manifest the Southern/gospel/gothic sound I heard in my head.

“The Christmas Doll”

When suburban mom Harmony, aging hippie Leonard, and Black UC Berkeley student Brooke are thrown together by a shelter-in-place order, how do they build a new world together? Find out in this audio drama written by Bay Area playwrights Lauren Gunderson, Cleavon Smith, and Jonathan Spector and directed by Aurora Artistic Director Josh Costello.

“The Departure”

In 23rd-century Nueva New York, two of the last Caucasians — living exhibits in the Museum of Natural History — are freed by a sympathetic gift shop employee. Dustin Chinn’s play, directed by Mina Morita, cleverly explores American conceptions of race and ethnicity, representation, and the precariousness of social status.

“The Wedding”

This New Conservatory Theater production of Interlude, Harrison David Rivers’ story of a gay man who has returned home to live with his conservative parents, benefitted immensely from the presence of technical director Carlos Aceves, who also added a visual component to the final package. Here’s a sample.

Moongazing, a visual audiobook created by Sparlha Swa and Opie Snow, tells the story of River, an enchanted young woman whose tears bring music to life. Both an allegory of the soul and an Afrofuturist musical fairytale about the search for happiness, Moongazing pulls from African mythology, Buddhist psychology, and eco-spirituality. Experience all 13 chapters at moongazingstory.com.