Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Lexington’s Adventure Theatre, like all other closed theaters, has been challenged by the pandemic.
Forced to close, and with no idea when it might reopen, the theater has had to turn from live performances at places like Leeds Center for the Arts, Loma’s and others throughout the region to radio as its way forward.
In this short interview, with little editing, Adam Sovokoplas describes how both scriptwriters and fans can stay involved with one of the region’s newest theatrical organizations.

BM: What is Adventure Theatre?
AS: Adventure Theatre is a multifaceted provider of theatrical entertainment co-founded by Adam and Lindsey Sovkoplas in 2018.
We believe that life is an adventure made better by theater, and our goal is to provide you with entertainment that fits your needs while exceeding your expectations.
Our first production was a Halloween murder mystery dinner theater event in October 2018, and we have continued producing murder mysteries every other month until August 2019, when we began producing shows monthly.
We work with paid actors and playwrights throughout Central Kentucky.
Open auditions are welcome year-round using the “Join the Cast” link on our website at AdventureTheatreKY.com.
Adventure Theatre is exploring branching out in other types of dinner theater, and in the near future, we hope to begin producing full-length plays and musicals.

BM: Why have you gone to requesting monologues and other theater pieces appropriate for radio? Is this to be a permanent program or only to get through this period of the coronavirus?
AS: In addition to our live performances, Adventure Theatre manages a public radio show called “Backstage with Adventure Theatre.”
Typically, we interview two or three theater companies a week about what is happening in the community.
With the theatre community shutting down due to the coronavirus, there have been no upcoming shows to interview about, and our ability to interview people has been restricted.
After reaching out to Mark Royse at RadioLex to discuss options, we settled on opening up the program to accept recordings of monologues and scenes contributed by actors from around Kentucky.
We see this as an opportunity to give our actors a chance to perform some of their favorite works from the safety of their home and to give our audience members a chance to enjoy theater and literature even while they are unable to attend a live production.
In addition to monologues and scenes, Adventure Theatre is also looking to produce other works on the radio program such as our recently aired recordings of “The Time Machine” and “The War of The Worlds” recorded by Paul Manning and “Prometheus Bound” recorded by Adventure Theatre.
We are still looking for contributors for upcoming radio programs. You can record using your phone or computer, but please follow the guidelines below.
— Monologues and scenes must be suitable for public radio. Some foul language is OK (we will bleep it out), but if your content is deemed not suitable for public radio, it will not be included.
— Keep monologues/scenes from two to 10 minutes in length.
— You can use your phone or computer to record your monologue but make sure you are in a room with little or no background noise (including refrigerators, air conditioners, fans, etc.)
— Follow this format for proper crediting: Introduce yourself, introduce the play and playwright (or book and author) from which your monologue/scene is taken, introduce the character(s) and give some context or backstory surrounding your monologue/scene. Deliver your monologue/scene, and at the conclusion, say, “Thank you for listening,” or something along those lines.
— Share your sound file via Google drive, Drop Box, Facebook Messenger or email at Backstage@AdventureTheatreKY.com
— There is no submission fee nor will authors or performers be paid. This is simply an opportunity for playwrights and performers to stay creatively involved during this period of staying Safe at Home.
If you would like to participate in a dramatic reading of a full-length play for radio, reach out to us at Backstage@AdventureTheatreKY.com.
Once theaters in the region reopen, we will return to interviewing members of the community and highlighting upcoming events, but we will also continue to air radio plays and dramatic readings of public domain works and those for which we have been given permission to produce or can afford the licensing.

BM: Where can your program be heard?
AS: You can listen to our program from anywhere in the world every Monday at 8 p.m. on RadioLex.us or using the RadioLex app, and if you miss a show, they are archived on SoundCloud with RadioLex.
If you would like to support our efforts to bring our community theatrical entertainment or sponsor one of our upcoming projects visit AdventureTheatreKY.com or email us at AdventureTheatreKY@gmail.com.

Bill McCann is a playwright, poet, flash fiction writer and teacher who writes about arts events and personalities. He can be reached at wmccann273@gmail.com.