Back in 2005 the Coen Brothers and Charlie Kaufman presented a double bill of live original audio plays under the title Theater of the New Ear. They brought along Meryl Streep, John Slattery, Steve Buscemi, Peter Dinklage, and a buncha other folks you may remember from their films or other indie classics. The Coens' offering was a meta-play with one half of the cast "watching" the other half on a TV show; Kaufman's was a bit more, well, in tune with his love for meta-meta-meta-meta goof-offery. I mean, consider his scene breakdown:
The Coens' play can be downloaded at the site above, or you can listen to both shows (via horrendously clunky streaming interface) at another site if you wish. While they don't request willing suspension of disbelief so much as outright demand disbelief be thrown out the window, they're still interesting listens when you have a chance and some of the live Foley is pretty groovy, too.
Yeah, it's definitely Kaufman-Brand "I'm Doing This Crazy Kinda Crap Cause I Can" writing and, well, it may work for you. If you enjoyed the crazy way Adaptation ended you might enjoy the way this one ends, Ouroboros-style (and stay away from the spoilers in the show description before you head in.)Scene One Elevator Scene Two Elevator, ten minutes later Scene Three Joe's Living Room Scene Four The "Kitchen," later that day Scene Five Offices of Rolling Stone magazine, 1969 Scene Six Engine room of an Argentinian freighter, 1943 Scene Seven The Void, Thursday, 6:53 EST Scene Eight Elevator, exactly thirty years later Scene Nine Joe's living room, midnight of the same day Scene Ten The Void, early morning Scene Eleven The eye of a hurricane, Easter Island, now Scene Twelve Elevator, one thousand years later Scene Thirteen A field of marigolds
The Coens' play can be downloaded at the site above, or you can listen to both shows (via horrendously clunky streaming interface) at another site if you wish. While they don't request willing suspension of disbelief so much as outright demand disbelief be thrown out the window, they're still interesting listens when you have a chance and some of the live Foley is pretty groovy, too.