The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society specializes performing original radio drama's, and adaptations of crime, suspense and horror radio drama's, broadcast during the golden age of radio, including classic tales from Lights Out, Suspense, Quiet Please, and more. Each show is performed in the style of a vintage radio broadcast, complete with commercials breaks, live sound effects, and eerie music.
The MORLS presents
“Better Living Through Science"
Join The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society for three short plays exploring technology past and future!
The Society presents three audio plays, performed in the style of an old-time radio broadcast, including vintage commercials and live sound effects. It’s an “entertaining and creepy homage to an era gone by” (Cherry and Spoon) brought to life by veteran Twin Cities performers Shanan Custer, Joshua English Scrimshaw, Tim Uren and Eric Webster “using their voices to paint a picture so vivid that if you close your eyes you can see the action in your mind's eye” (Stages of Minnesota).
“Watchbird” from Future Crash (live premiere)
Charlie manufactures Watchbirds; armed drones designed to detect and detain murderers before they strike. Will this new technology usher in an age of peace and harmony… or end life on Earth as we know it? An original script by Joshua English Scrimshaw based on the short story by Robert Sheckley.
“A Half Hour to Death”
from Better Living Radio Theater (1953)
A young girl is poisoned and her only chance of survival is… the telephone! Produced as a public service, Better Living Radio Theater presented dramatic stories celebrating America’s technological achievements.
“Minnesota, Magnets, and Murder” from The Minnesota Goodbye (premiere)
The 3M company is on the brink of releasing a new type of magnetic tape that will revolutionize the way people record sounds. But when one of the first tapes seems to have captured the sounds of a murder, Detective Raymond Lake is called in to crack the case. Can he solve a case in which he cannot trust what he hears? This brand new episode of The Minnesota Goodbye was written by Tim Uren and features Joshua English Scrimshaw as Raymond Lake!
Sunday March 19th
Bryant Lake Bowl Theater
Uptown Minneapolis
“Sorry, Wrong Number” from Suspense:
Lucille Fletcher’s famous radio play tells the story of a woman confined to her bed who overhears two men plotting a murder. First broadcast May 25th, 1943.
“Three Skeleton Key” from Escape:
Three lighthouse keepers battle a horde of rats in this classic story from French writer George Toudouze. First broadcast November 15th, 1949.
Thursday April 13th
Crooners Supper Club
NE Minneapolis
...an artisanal, old-school way of making entertainment. Shanan Custer, Joshua English Scrimshaw, Eric Webster and Tim Uren play a variety of hard-boiled stiffs and molls ...The conflicts are refreshingly simple and escapist. The fun is in watching these fine actors work almost exclusively with their voices … and to see them create a sepia-toned world with handmade sound effects.
DOMINIC P. PAPATOLA - Pioneer Press
...Their love for and knowledge of the genre is evident. I closed my eyes a few times during the show...because it's almost more chilling and thrilling to just listen and let your imagination create the picture of what's happening. But it's also fun to watch the performers, who all have such great retro radio voices, with inventive sound effect implements.
CHERRY AND SPOON
Shanan Custer, Joshua English Scrimshaw, Tim Uren, Eric Webster, and Joe Weismann have this down cold — not just the technical aspect, but the tone… Chilling as it might be to experience these tales alone in the dark, it’s much more fun to experience them with a crowd.
City Pages
If you want to enjoy what it was like to enjoy being an audience member during an old radio broadcast, then you can't do better than seeing this company do their show. They just keep getting better every year. These are well-chosen, authentic, radio scripts from the 40s and 50s with live foley and masterful voice acting.
Heather - Audience Member
Two old radio scripts come to vivid life through the talents of seasoned professionals who jump seamlessly through multiple sharply drawn characters, while simultaneously generating sound effects and live music, and seemingly having as much fun in the performance as the audience. This show is pure delight!
Patrick - Audience Member