Bye Helen

"Bye Helen” - an original audiodrama by Ace Kinkopf

Content Warning: this audio drama contains a scene with reference to suicide. If this may be upsetting or triggering to you, skip ahead at the [beep] sound to the timestamp. Listener discretion advised

DESCRIPTION

Bye Helen, written by Ace Kinkopf.

As me and my fellow seniors’ senior play, Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, was cancelled, the drama class as a whole decided to use the virtual learning experience as an opportunity to create an audio drama. We decided to focus on the current situation and explore different themes through that lens. My group focused on isolation and the impacts it can have on a person. We decided to focus on a high school senior as our main character, as the majority of the group contributing to the creative process were seniors. In some ways this was a make-up senior play for both me and Olive Weeks, as she was the main narrative voice and I was the only writer. I drew from the characterization we established as a group as well as my own experiences with isolation, depression, and anxiety to write this piece; a piece which I’m actually really proud of. All of the actors did a really good job, and the audio editing that Gabe Howland did really brought it all together in an incredible way. I hope you enjoy!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Janssen “Ace” Kinkopf, they/them, TNS class of 2020, I will be attending Oberlin College in the fall, majoring in biology on the pre-veterinary track. My internship before quarantine and everything was with Saint Francis Veterinary Hospital. I’ve been staying sane and passing the time during these strange times by knitting, playing piano and guitar, and cross stitching. I have two big rescue dogs, Louie and Max, and am in the process of getting a leopard gecko as an emotional support animal to come with me to college. In the long term, I’d love to open a veterinary clinic that provides free or discounted care to rescue groups and low-income pet owners. I’ve been at TNS since my freshman year, and am so grateful for that experience and all I have learned as well as the wonderful community TNS has given me.

CREDITS

Writing by Ace Kinkopf

DREW voiced by Olive Weeks

MOM voiced by Leigh Howland

NATHAN and BRADLEY voiced by Gem Moyo

DAD voiced by Gabe Howland

Sound Editing by Gabe Howland

Co-Writing by Olive Weeks, Leigh Howland, and Gem Moyo

Music provided by Serpent Studios

Music: Jokull (Piano Version) by Alexander Nakarada (www.serpentsoundstudios.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Music: Emotionalism by Alexander Nakarada (www.serpentsoundstudios.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Sound effects provided by SoundBible

Special Thanks:

-Leigh Howland

-Jeff Adler

-Amy Levin

-Horizon Theater

-Graham Childs-Goodwin

-Alison Hennessee

-Katie Cutts

-TNS Drama Class