| |
| Star Wars: Anthology | |
| Series Run | 2003 - 2004 |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Nathan P. Butler |
| Written by |
Nathan P. Butler (I-V) |
| Mixed by |
Nathan P. Butler (I-V) |
| Distributed by |
Rayzur's Edge Audio |
| Star Wars created by | George Lucas |
| Starring |
Richard Brookes |
| Episodes | 7 |
| Release Date(s) |
July 1, 2003 (I) |
| Library Running Time | 130 minutes |
The Star Wars: Anthology audio drama series is a collection of short audio dramas all set in the Star Wars Universe. The Anthology series is currently made up of seven audio dramas, all of which are produced by Rayzur's Edge Audio, with the sixth and seventh audio dramas produced in collaboration with Steve Fluharty's Ear Candy Productions.
The project began in May 2003 and launched with its first episode in July 2003 as a means of continuing to produce original Star Wars fan audio dramas, by series creator Nathan P. Butler and other interested creators, under one unified imprint.
While all of Anthology's tales are a part of the Rayzur's Edge Audio canon, and several stories tie into other audio tales, such as Second Strike and Nothing Changes, the tales within the Anthology collection do not connect to one another directly.
Doubts Cast[]
This episode of Anthology is an audio drama presentation of an original fan film script that Nathan P. Butler wrote back in 2001 for Pete Dixon as part of an intended series entitled Force Tales. When that project never came to pass, Nathan took the opportunity to turn the script into an episode for the Anthology series.
This story explores the concept of how to best "preserve the peace," from the perspective of one character, Malchik Raine, looking back on the day he learned that particular lesson.
Dreamscape[]
This episode of Anthology is an audio drama presentation of an original fan film script that Nathan P. Butler wrote back in 2001 for Pete Dixon as part of an intended series entitled Force Tales. When that project never came to pass, Nathan took the opportunity to enter the script into the first TFN Fan Films Scriptwriting Contest. The Dreamscape script won the competition, making it a logical step in the Anthology series.
For casting, Nathan called upon three individuals who had worked with Rayzur's Edge Audio on Second Strike and chose to portray his usual fan film role as Yoda and the role of the narrator himself. He then held open auditions for the parts of Harran Pahl and Jedi Master Jor Ti'lana, the father of Second Strike's Shista Ti'lana and former partner of Prevoda Vatil of Doubts Cast.
The Mob[]
This story explores the concept of the "mob mentality" and the accountability (or lack thereof) in such situations. This is in direct response to the concept of "socially-triggered" riots in American culture, such as the Watts Riots in 1968 or the riots in the wake of the Rodney King verdict.
Addiction[]
In all of Butler's fan production work, he has never had a chance to create a story about smugglers or pilots. Addiction is his answer to the latter, which brings us the story of an X-wing pilot struggling with one of our greatest social ills, drug abuse. The story is set in the context of an official inquiry (another setting Butler had not yet used).
Responsibility[]
In all of Butler's fan production work, he has never had a chance to create a story about smugglers or pilots. Responsibility is his answer to the former, cast amid a backdrop that should be very familiar to those living in the post-9/11 world.
The involvement of Matthew Gordon in Anthology also allowed this story to focus on the early days of Matthew's Second Strike character, Kal S'Darcis, making one of two prequels (including Nothing Changes) to that original fan audio drama.
No Way Out[]
This episode of Anthology is a special bridge between Sean Koury's Lawg Skrak fan fiction stories and the world of Anthology that converges with other fan projects by the Anthology series creator--a merging of the minds, so to speak. This episode also introduces the series' highly talented second mixer, Steve Fluharty.
In this episode, Lawg Skrak hunts dangerous prey on Holdenus and faces deadly obstacles in the form of, among other things, a certain Jedi Master last found by Anthology listeners on Angeelsk. Can even Jedi Master Prevoda Vatil face up to the infamous Lawg Skrak? And what of his prey?
To Overcome[]
To Overcome, written by Christopher Walker, is a journey through the mind of one young man as he struggles with many of the deeper things of life: service to country; family; death.
This is not a piece about the horrors of war, and makes no anti-war or pro-war statements except within the context of philosophy. Rather, this tale is about the personal journey of one young man.
Behind the Scenes[]
- Doubts Cast and Dreamscape were initially thought to be produced as fan films. Dreamscape was the winner of the 2002 TheForce.Net Fan Films Scriptwriting Contest.
- The Mob was meant to be an experiment in focusing almost an entire audio drama on the voice of one speaker. This experiment would later lead to an even more extreme example of this idea when Butler began producing the audio drama Solutide, an entirely "a capella" audio drama.
- Responsibility was originally meant to feature a new smuggler character. When it became known that Matthew Gordon was available to play a role, the choice was made to make the smuggler a younger version of Kal S'Darcis, so that Gordon could reprise his Second Strike role. This made S'Darcis the first character to make the crossover from one REA drama to another.
- No Way Out was written by Lawg Skrak fan fiction creator Sean Koury. Koury chose to integrate Prevoda Vatil from Doubts Cast into his story as a way of connecting it to other REA dramas.
- To Overcome thus far stands alone as the only audio drama with REA ties that does not directly tie into the rest of the REA continuity. That is not because it cannot, but simply because the story is so broad and leaves so much room for interpretation that it was never directly integrated during the writing of the Rayzur's Edge Audio Guidebook.