In Place and Out of Character > Comments > "Review of In Place and Out of Character"
Piece Comment
Commenter Profile
- Geo Beach
- Username: geo
- Location: Anchorage, AK
- Joined PRX: Sep 06, 2003
Piece Information
- "In Place and Out of Character"
- Summary: Audio Portraits of three refugee families living in New York City
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Review of In Place and Out of Character
Geo Beach
Posted on July 26, 2005 at 10:34 PM
"In Place and Out of Character", despite Will Sorrell's interspersed narration, seems "in character", but "out of place". The three vignettes deliver great personality on the part of the refugees, but the package isn't assembled in a way that ultimately inhabits a place with listeners.
The disconnect is a genetic legacy – these three 9-minute profiles were originally created to be accompanied by photographs and live theatre, in which milieu they would perform much differently.
Fine work by producer Emily Feder & crew, and wonderful audio, but somehow in this raw format it's not radio, it doesn't translate. There's not the storyline and direction we need to turn this from chatter on the subway to conversation from new real people we're meeting.
That said, Abibatu Hadiatu's segment has so much music in her words, it could nearly be played as song. And overall, the elements are professional and compelling enough that we can look forward expectantly to Feder's work produced specifically for broadcast.