Review of The Masque of the Red Death from Markiewitz Audioworks

Edgar Allan Poe's famous metaphorical tale of death's inevitability is dramatically portrayed for the mind's stage by Markiewitz Audioworks. The symbolism of the story is brought to the forefront, and Prospero's hubris is the focus of this adaptation. This is not a "fun" or "enjoyable" story to hear, but it's not intended to be. Rather, it is a multi-layered allegorical work that tackles several sobering ideas that we as humans wrestle with.

Scriptwriter Jason Markiewitz's efforts to adapt this short story into the audio drama medium are quite admirable, considering that there is precious little dialogue in the original work. He takes the description-heavy prose and translates the themes and limited plot of Poe's work into an engaging script. Markiewitz manages to work a few near-verbatim lines and phrases from the original story into the dialogue of the script without becoming too expository, for the most part, and only briefly relies on narration.

In terms of production values, the sound design is quite good. There are only a few different environments represented in the production, and all of them feel fairly immersive and compelling. The music is serviceable and fitting as well. And while it does not affect the audio at all, I have to mention that the cover art by Jon Markiewitz is fantastic. In my opinion, some of the best cover art from an indie producer has come from this team, such as the art for Artaban and the Quest for the King and The Tell-Tale Heart, and this title continues the trend.

Actor Marc Biagi
Image Source: facebook.com/marcbiagiofficial

The performances of the cast, while not exceptional, are fairly good. The best showing is Marc Biagi as Death; he brings the perfect blend of sinister haughtiness and detached coolness to his portrayal. Writer and director Jason Markiewitz also takes on the actor role here and delivers a solid performance as the viceroy.

A successful adaptation, in my view, is one in which the original themes and intent of the source material are not lost under layers of the adapter's own ideas and interpolations, and can also stand on its own without the consumer having complete knowledge of the work on which it is based. I believe that this adaptation of The Masque of the Red Death achieves both of those.

Overall, Markiewitz Audioworks has taken this short gothic tale of only about 2400 words and limited dialogue, and produced a faithful audio dramatization that starkly exhibits the themes of Poe's cautionary tale in a compelling way. This half-hour audio drama is great for fans of Poe's work or anyone who is interested in deeply layered stories that tackle darker themes, even ones that might be uncomfortable to hear. While there is no strong language or explicit content in this show, we recommend it for older teens and up due to the themes addressed.

Cast & Crew:

Brennan Villados - Prospero
Jason Markiewitz - Viceroy
Jarod Wiggins - Magistrate
Marc Biagi - Mummer/Red Death
Arie Knyazev - Palace Guard / Party Guest
Tana Aivaz Colburn - Party Guest
Chad Eldridge - Party Guest
Deanne Farinha Eldridge - Party Guest
Lia Rose - Dancer Party Guest
Cover Art by Jon Markiewitz
Music Composed by Ross Bernhardt
Additional Music by Hayden Folker
Written/Sound Designed/Directed by Jason Markiewitz

The Masque of the Red Death releases on CD and MP3 on May 16, 2016. You can pre-order an autographed CD copy now for 20% off. Click here to order your copy through release day.

J.D. Sutter is the host and producer of the Audio Theatre Central podcast and editor of the blog. A lifelong fan of audio drama, he is an industry critic who has guest lectured and spoken at conferences on the subject. J.D. is also a voiceover artist, podcast consultant, and chair of the ATC Seneca Awards, the annual awards for the family-friendly audio drama industry.