On 3/25, Pacifica’s WBAI 99.5FM NYC will broadcast “The Aliens,” one of the few radio drama series to hit the US airwaves since the Golden Age of Radio ended in 1962. While the UK currently has hundreds of episodic radio dramas, this form of storytelling has been notably absent from the US since the advent of television.
WBAI is dealing with a different kind of “alien”. The show explores the idea that we are all aliens living in our own world based on the innumerable lines and boundaries we draw between us. The series looks at the intertwining lives of six twenty to thirty-somethings in today’s global society. The Aliens is centered around a couple, Lily and Tariq. Lily, a 28-year old marketing exec, whose mother is African-American and whose father is Caucasian of German descent, has a problem identifying with her mother’s heritage. Tariq, an early thirty-something artist, whose family is from Afghanistan, wishes Lily would embrace her African-American heritage and is unnerved by Lily’s pressure to get married.
The couple is connected to the rest of the “aliens” characters including the “Humanitarian” Noach, a Dutch aid worker in Afghanistan; the “Immigrant” Alejandro, a Mexican marketing professional of an illegal parents from living in New York City; “the drifter” Thayne, a British socialite traveling through Costa Rica; and Dingane, the South African “government worker”, whose new role and responsibilities at his job, ultimately alter his perception of his country and those that cross its borders everyday. As their stories unfold, different worlds collide and the characters are forced to examine the various geographic and psychological boundaries that exist between them.
Listeners can follow Thayne’s Twitter (twitter.com/aliendrifter) and join the discussions and post their experiences as “aliens” on the series website and blog (http://thealiensseries.com and thealiendrifter.blogspot.com).
This series created by WBAI’s new producer Barika Edwards, is compiled of six -1 hour episodes that features an international cast, writing and creative teams. Directors include HBO director, Wellesley Sayles, Brown University Alum, Laura Vitale, Stanislavsky ART/MXAT Alum, Barika Edwards, and Stephania Gambaroff. The Aliens will air Saturdays at 12pm beginning 3/27.
