Stephen Crane's Dark Brown Dog (radio)

“Stephen Crane’s Dark Brown Dog” is a program from the American radio anthology series Radio Tales. The anthology series adapted classic works of American and world literature for the radio. The series was a recipient of numerous awards, including four Gracie Allen Awards from the Foundation of American Women in Radio and Television (in 2004, [ [http://www.awrt.org/press-releases/2004/Press_Release_%20Announce_Winners.pdf "AWRT Press Release"] AWRT.org. Accessed March 21, 2008] 2003, [ [http://www.npr.org/about/press/030402.gracie.html "NPR Productions Win Gracie Allen Awards"] NPR.org. Accessed March 21, 2008] 2001, [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20011126020253/www.awrt.org/awards/2000GracieWinners.html "2001 Gracie Allen Award Winners"] AWRT.org, as indexed by the Internet Archive at Archive.org. Accessed March 21, 2008] and 1998, [Hear Here: "Tales by American Masters". AudioFile Magazine, pg. 8, Feb/March 1999, Vol. 7, No. 5.] ) a New York Festivals WorldMedal, [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20050207122048/http://www.newyorkfestivals.com/res/pdf/2004RPwinners.pdf "2004 Winners, Radio Programming and Promotion, New York Festivals"] NewYorkFestivals.com, as indexed by the Internet Archive at Archive.org. Accessed March 21, 2008] and a Golden Reel Merit Award. [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20010802161539/www.nfcb.org/2001reelsinfo.html "NFCB Announces 2001 Golden Reel Award Winners"] NFCB.org, as indexed by the Internet Archive at Archive.org. Accessed March 21, 2008] “Stephen Crane’s Dark Brown Dog” was an adaptation of the short story, “A Dark Brown Dog” by Stephen Crane.

Broadcast history

The Radio Tales production of “Stephen Crane’s Dark Brown Dog” was first broadcast via NPR on January 18, 2000. [National Public Radio: "NPR Quarterly Edition Winter 2000". NPR Marketing, Jan. - March 2000, Vol. VI, No. I] The program encompassed one half-hour installment that was distributed to NPR member stations as part of the NPR Playhouse cultural series. Since November 28th, 2002, the entire Radio Tales series has aired in reruns on the Sonic Theater channel (163) of the XM Satellite Radio service. [ [http://www.xmradio.com/onxm/features/sonictheater.xmc "Sonic Theater"] XMRadio.com. Accessed May 22, 2008.] “Stephen Crane’s Dark Brown Dog” debuted on XM Satellite Radio on September 20, 2003.

Production information

The program was produced and script edited by series producer Winnie Waldron, who also served as the on-air host. [ [http://www.winifredphillips.com/wp_bio.html "Winifred Phillips Official Site: Biography"] Winifredphillips.com. Accessed May 19, 2008.] Composer Winifred Phillips created over twenty-eight minutes of music for the program, and also performed as the featured actress. [ [http://www.mninter.net/~jstearns/nprPH.html#top "NPR Playhouse - January - March, 2001"] MNinter.net. Accessed March 21, 2008.] “Stephen Crane’s Dark Brown Dog” was part of the fifth year of Radio Tales on NPR Playhouse. [National Public Radio: "NPR Quarterly Edition Winter 2000". NPR Marketing, Jan. - March 2000, Vol. VI, No. I]

Media

The Radio Tales production of “Stephen Crane’s Dark Brown Dog” has been available in numerous formats and venues, including burn-on-demand CDs manufactured and distributed by MP3.com [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20031129193548/artists.mp3s.com/artists/33/npr_radio_tales.html "MP3.com: Radio Tales"] MP3.com, as indexed by the Internet Archive at Archive.org. Accessed July 15, 2008.] and Ampcast.com. [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20060212003627/http://www.ampcast.com/music/25229/artist.php "Ampcast.com: Radio Tales"] Ampcast.com, as indexed by the Internet Archive at Archive.org. Accessed July 15, 2008.] Beginning in 2005, programs from the series, including “Stephen Crane’s Dark Brown Dog”, have been available for download via the Audioville.co.uk web site. [ [http://www.audioville.com/store/view.php?Id=568&ProductCategoryId=59 "audioVille | Stor>>Fiction | Radio Tales | Download Audio Books, Podcasts and more in MP3. Comedy, Fiction, sport, news, science, drama."] Audioville.co.uk. Accessed October 5, 2008.]

Opening narration

Plot summary

A small child encounters a little dark brown dog wandering on its own on a street corner, a short length of rope tied around its neck and trailing behind it. The child and the dog have a friendly first meeting, after which the dog follows the child home to his apartment building. The child uses the rope to drag the dog up many flights of stairs. On reaching the child’s apartment, the rest of the family examines the dog in disapproval, but the child loudly defends the animal from all insults. The father arrives, in an evil temperament, and decides that if everyone else in the family doesn’t want to keep the animal, then they should certainly keep it. Thus is the little dog adopted into the family.

Not that this is a particularly good thing, at least in regards to the dog’s welfare, for the family greatly enjoys abusing the dog, throwing objects at him, and underfeeding him. The child protects his new friend as much as he is able, and the dog grows to love his new master with sublime devotion. At one point, when the child is hurrying to protect his friend from the flying objects hurled at him by the rest of the family, the child is mistakenly hit in the head by a coffeepot. Afterwards the family is more careful about how they abuse the dog, and for the most part refrains from striking the animal while the child is present.

One day, when the father of the family gets particularly drunk, he returns home and begins throwing around the furniture, cooking utensils, and his wife. At this moment, the child and the dog return from one of their outings. The child knows his father’s history of violence well enough to dive under the table, but the dog isn’t as fast on his feet. The father grabs the dog by a hind leg, swings him around his head several times, and launches him out a window. The entire neighborhood bears witness to the dog’s journey through the air, at the end of which the dog crashes on the roof of a shed and rolls down into an alley. Wailing, the child hurries down the stairs (his small size forcing him to descend the staircase backwards, one step at a time, while holding each step above as he goes). Later, the family finds him sitting on the pavement next to the dog’s body in the alleyway.

References

External links

* [http://www.audioville.com/store/view.php?Id=568&ProductCategoryId=59 Stephen Crane’s Dark Brown Dog Streaming Audio Samples on Audioville]
* [http://www.radiotales.com/ The Official Radio Tales® Web Site]
* [http://www.audioville.co.uk/store/view_productcategory.php?Id=59 Radio Tales Streaming Audio Samples on AudioVille]
* [http://www.xmradio.com/onxm/channelpage.xmc?ch=163 XM Satellite Radio – Information on the Sonic Theater Channel]