AVIVA GREEN: THE REBIRTH OF BLEAK
A SERIAL RADIO PLAY BY MATT RIEGER
Remember Aviva Green? She had a shingle out on the other side of town, the quiet side, where you don't want to ask too many questions, but keeping your mouth shut can be its own reward. If you find yourself in a certain unfortunate situation someday, you might just find her number on your doorstep, and you might just call her up to help you locate a missing car, a painting, a person.
Check out Aviva Green: The Rebirth of Bleak, a serial radio play available to stream on the Curious Theatre Branch Bandcamp channel….
Matt Rieger wrote this series of short episodes in the noir tradition of the 1940s -- the CBS radio plays, the world of serial audio stories -- as a continuation of his stage play Crossing Aviva from 2018. His hard-boiled protagonist here assumes the role of a private investigator, but with a twist: her plight is more existential and somewhat obscured than the work of a traditional investigator... What's she really looking for? Matt conceived this project in summer 2020 as a way for his friends in the Curious Theatre Branch gang to keep going and make something together as the pandemic hurtled relentlessly on. We got together in small groups at Experimental Sound Studio to record it over a few days; we hung out in the backyard and chatted between scenes; we had a good time and remembered how much we liked working on things together. We lost Matt in October 2021, and we miss him immensely. It is a small comfort to get to share his work with you here. We thank you for listening.
Written by Matt Rieger
Recorded and mixed by Ralph Loza at Experimental Sound Studio
Music by Jenny Magnus
Cover art by Mac Modean
Cast:
Mike McKune - Narrator
Julia Williams - Aviva Green
Cat Jarboe - Salet
Kelly Anchors - Persephone
Nick Leininger - Mac Iavaroni
Matt Rieger - Ronny Block
Jayita Bhattacharya - Lieutenant Dunn
Vicki Walden - Ms. Boren, Young Officer, Taco Man
Paul Brennan - Nosy Neighbor, Haggerston
T-Roy Martin - Howard, Car Man, Attendant
Jenny Magnus - Kovacs, Bartender
Beau O'Reilly - Announcer
Released February 2022
