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The Big Loop tagline is “Stories of finite beings in an infinite universe.” The characters’ stories flirt with horror and dark comedy. Credit: Courtesy of Brad Steinmetz

After exploring the realms of individual filming and the creation of a play on Zoom, the Department of Theatre, Film and Media Arts is trying its hand at audio drama.

The department adapted Paul Bae’s award-winning podcast “The Big Loop,” a character-driven horror and science fiction podcast, into a three-part audio drama performed by students. During the spring 2021 semester, students studied voice acting and audio engineering for the production, as well as Bae advising the cast and crew on how to adapt the podcast into an ensemble piece.

Bae, a British Columbia-based actor, now directs the Marvel Studios podcast. In a webinar with the department Thursday, Bae said he came up with the idea for “The Big Loop” — named one of “2018 Best of Apple Podcasts” –– while working on another project.

“When I started ‘Black Tapes’ (his fiction podcast), we did it in an attempt to get attention to our screenplay, which nobody was paying attention to,” Bae said. “You write something, put it out in the world, and it doesn’t go anywhere. Nobody was interested in reading another horror. So we came up with the idea of making an audio edition.”

Bae said he only recorded one or two takes and he was done, whereas in theater, there are many steps to go through, such as pitching and stage preparation. The first episode, “The Surrogate,” took three weeks to be completely finished — from writing to voice mixing — which Bae said is quick.

Although he never performed theater himself, Bae said “The Big Loop” makes the connection between podcasting and theater.

“In theater, we have to work to get the audience in the room, but once there, it’d be rude to leave,” Bae said. “But with podcasting, you really have to engage the listener, who is doing other things.”

Episodes of “The Big Loop” are meant to be listened to in quiet environments, Bae said, because louder environments, such as within a car, do not allow the listener to be plunged into the same mysterious atmosphere.

Varsha Babu, a first-year in theatre, auditioned last year to be part of the 13-person ensemble. As a new student keen on writing her own comedies, she said she was delighted to resume acting during the pandemic. 

Babu plays the role of Janet in the first episode of the series, “The Surrogate.” Janet narrates her own memories and her professional experience supporting people haunted by tragic accidents. The story subtly borders on both horror and the supernatural.  

Babu said participating in an audio drama pushed her boundaries in acting, because it meant working in a medium where she had to rely on only her voice to express emotion.

“It’s a very safe way to explore theater and art,” Babu said. “It’s just one person in a room all by themselves talking. So it was a very unique opportunity to present also very unique stories.”

Unlike Babu, Dominic Fleshman, a fourth-year in marketing, had the chance to perform in previous Ohio State theater projects. However, in “The Big Loop,” Fleshman said he figured out quickly that he would have to learn how to give his characters personality through only his voice. 

“It was really about understanding how each line could come across and using my voice to create these different characters,” Fleshman said. “I think that it definitely is allowing me to have more versatility as an actor.”

Rehearsals were held on Zoom last semester, and the whole ensemble met to record the series this semester in the basement of the Drake Performance and Event Center. Fleshman said each actor was recorded alone instead of with other actors. 

“That was definitely tough, but a very rewarding experience. Walking away from that recording session, I was done with the show in a sense, which was a weird feeling,” Fleshman said.

The first episode, “The Surrogate,” was released Thursday. All episodes are available on Soundcloud and the Department of Theatre, Film and Media Arts’ website.