Magick & Poison

MAGICK & POISON

PERFORMANCES

WOUB 2018 Audiobook
Release Date
2018
produced at
WOUB (AM) / WOUB Public Media
Radio-Television Communications Building
35 S College St. (at Ohio University), Athens, Ohio, USA, 45701

FULL CAST

INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERS
(In order of appearance)

PLAYED BY: KAREN M. CHAN
Host and narrator of the production.

PLAYED BY: CHRISTIAN T. CHAN
The narrator and tour guide of the show. He is the only character who speaks to the audience directly.

The Pied Piper is a traveling minstrel who has seen much of the world. He has regaled listeners with his mystical stories and has captivated emperors and serfs a like. He follows in the tradition of Homer and Aesop, spreading tales from place to place, and all who witness his work are mesmerized by it. Pied Piper is whimsical, clever and has a wondrous gift for rhyme. He is flamboyant, eccentric to an extreme, and displays these attributes proudly in his pied attire.

Some have pondered Pied Piper's sanity, for over the years, his stableness of mind has come undone to some extent. Perhaps, it has to do with Pied Piper’s flute, which was given to him long ago by the Devil on a lonely crossroad somewhere along the Silk Road. There, some say, Pied Piper made a pact with the old demon that benefited the piper with not only the gift to be an enchanting flautist… but also to have the power to bewitch with his exquisite gift of tongue.

By the time Pied Piper is visiting Fabula in 1199, he has not done any mischief to prove his part of a Devil’s contract, but Pied Piper will drink from the life-giving waters of Fabula and live a lengthy stay in this world, with his mind always weakening in its morals along the way.

In 1212, Pied Piper will use his gifted flute in a village in France to lead the children of that village on a crusade to the Holy Lands. The parents, beguiled by his music and charismatic rhetoric, will send their children out of the village with the Pied Piper while thinking no harm will come to their young. The children will never be seen again. In 1284, Pied Piper will strike a deal with the mayor of Hamelin, Germany to use his gifted flute to lead the rats out of the town and drown them in the Weser River. When Pied Piper successfully rids the town of the rats, the mayor and the townspeople refuse to pay the piper for the job. To get even, Pied Piper uses his flute-playing talent to lure the children out of town and down to the Weser River, where they are drowned also. Pied Piper disappears from history after this event, and, it is assumed, it is because Pied Piper has fulfilled his end of the Devil’s contract.

PLAYED BY: CHRISTIAN T. CHAN
Disguising itself as other entities to conceal its true identity, this creature is actually the Devil. It is the evil strategist and deceiver that lures humans into its schemes and takes their souls in the end. The Devil keeps a ledger of the souls it takes and uses its victories to guide it to its next victims. In its real form, the Devil is a beast that is abhorrent in its appearance. The Devil has no interest in stealing souls of the enchanted species on the earth, for the fae have no souls to take. All the same, the Devil forces its influence on the fae to help the Devil do its tasks. Its victims are enticed by this malevolent entity to make a contract, whether its victims are aware of the contract or not. The Devil then masterly proceeds through its clever plan until its victims have fell to its trickery, and then the Devil comes forth to its victims in its authentic beastly form when the payment is due.

PLAYED BY: MARGO TILLSTROM
Kora is a homeless poor young woman who must rely on thievery to get her food. She is naïve and falls into trouble because of this weakness. Kora is a curious and compassionate girl, although she tends to slightly lack in empathy. She is preyed upon by a defrocked holy man who takes advantage of her against her will. Later, the depraved holy man tries to kill her or at least cause the means to bring about her death. However, Kora is rescued only to end up marrying the Devil.

PLAYED BY: JOE BALDING
Once of an order of religious men who spread the light of the Gospel far and wide, the devoutness of Friar Merek darkened as his lustful cravings consumed him. He began to seek a way to satisfy his carnal appetite for the flesh, and found the means to gorge his salacious hunger through a deal he made with the Devil. For half of the friar's lifetime, the Devil heaped upon him an abundance of opportunities to glut his sensual desires even down to the most lewd acts that are too repulsive to describe. Still, the friar wanted even more to the point that he would force the worst of his lecherous depravity upon an innocent girl.

PLAYED BY: JIM PARSONS
Having made a contract for his soul, Faust wanted to gain all the knowledge that he could take in and to win the love of the young woman Gretchen that he so desired. This the Devil made with Faust giving him twenty-four years to pursue his aspirations. He was granted access to all knowledge and the ability to learn quickly. He also caught the attention of Gretchen who also wanted him. Through his pursuit for knowledge, Faust also became very wise. This allowed him to appreciate the great love that he shared with Gretchen. When Gretchen died, the love they shared remained unbroken and Faust’s heart kept the fulfillment that Gretchen’s love has given him. He spent the remainder of his years pursuing more knowledge, doing acts of kindness from what he had learned, and thinking extraordinary thoughts when in the comfort of the study in his home. He no longer feared what the Devil would do to claim his soul when the time came, for he had experienced the greatest wonders that life could give him.

PLAYED BY: CELESTE PARSONS
Gretchen is a peasant girl that Faust has fallen in love with. She gets to know Faust and finds love with him as well. Together the two experience a love that is rarely reached by others. When Gretchen dies, her heart is so filled with compassion and warmth that she is taken to Heaven. There she pleads for Faust to be forgiven for his deal with the Devil because Faust’s love was pure, and Faust never used that which he gained from the Devil’s deal for any ill purpose.

PLAYED BY: TIMOTHY S. KLUGH
A hard working proprietor in the town, this shopkeeper sells fruits and vegetables in the marketplace. He is frustrated by thieves who steal his products when he is not looking. The shopkeeper becomes so frustrated by this that he eventually becomes willing to make a deal to keep his unsold products secure.