This tale of revenge is broken into two parts over at Radio Drama Revival and produced by Lifehouse Theater on the Air. It is also an abridged version, which means there are a lot of things cut out, or glossed over too quickly, to get a real sense for the characters. All the problems I have with part one stem from that one fact. The first part jumps a lot and you don’t get invested with any of the characters. The scenes are short and sporadic, which makes the story feel more like a thriller and less like classic literature. I feel this adaptation doesn’t do the source material justice.

Part two is much better. Once all the setup of part one is out of the way, the story really gets rolling and feels more like a tale of revenge, rather than a series of unfortunate events that revolve around the theme of revenge. Another plus when comparing part 1 to 2 is that the thriller pacing slows down and feels more appropriate. There’s a “fall from grace” archetype that gets fleshed out. Which in the first part, just feels tacked on. That tiny Cambellian theme got me more invested in the story, because I wasn’t sure if the protagonist would give up on revenge.

It’s amazing what the simplest things can do to engage an individual in a story.