A mysterious, troubled man, involved with two women, joins a strange cult called ‘Electricism.’ He is indoctrinated by its leader, Voltgen, arrested for sabotage and interrogated.
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Series: NPR Playhouse and WBAI
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Show Type: Drama
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Cast: Alan Hunter, Marilyn Casky, Barbara Sohmers, Arthur Miller, Brother Theodore, Mark Hammer, Joseph Palmieri, Clark Gordon, Larry Block, Richard Bauer, Tim Jerome, and Joe Frank
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Air Date: 03/04/1984
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Digital Audio Bit Rate: 128kbps
Steve Jordan –
To describe this work properly, it seems insulting to resort to cliches, but here are some that are relevant: It’s Film Noir without the film. Blade Runner meets Salvador Dali. By turns brow-furrowing, cryptic, cynical, and ultimately disturbing, the imagery it evokes is memorable and thought-provoking. Is it a cautionary tale of the future, or a scrapbook of a parallel world? I’d call this a masterpiece, a magnum opus, if I’d had opportunity to hear other work by Joe Frank and his various allies. A Tour of the City is familiar enough to seem real, yet bizarre enough to avoid being tedious. In many ways, it was like a visit to another country in that it made me stop and ask myself, “what makes the stuff I interact with every day – the people, the technologies, the power structure – seem ordinary…except for the fact that I deal with it, or ignore it, every single day?” Scored with music by Tangerine Dream, skillful sound design, and utterly credible voice talent, this is unforgettable theatre of the mind.