The Tell-Tale Heart (radio)

The Tell-Tale Heart 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] “The Tell-Tale Heart” program from the Radio Tales series was an adaptation of the classic short story "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe.

Broadcast history

The Radio Tales production of “The Tell-Tale Heart” was first broadcast via National Public Radio on September 29, 1998. [National Public Radio: "NPR Quarterly Edition Fall 1998". NPR Marketing, Vol. IV, No. III] 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.] “The Tell-Tale Heart” program debuted on XM Satellite Radio on December 27, 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.] “The Tell-Tale Heart” was part of the third year of Radio Tales on NPR Playhouse. [National Public Radio: "NPR Quarterly Edition Fall 1998". NPR Marketing, Vol. IV, No. III]

Media

The Radio Tales production of “The Tell-Tale Heart” was published on audiocassette by Durkin Hayes Publishing Ltd in 1997 as a part of its “Paperback Audio” line (ISBN 0886469538), [ [http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/The-Tell-Tale-Heart-EDGAR-A-POE-Win-Phillips/9780886469535-item.html "Chapters.indigo.ca: The Tell-Tale Heart: EDGAR A POE, Win Phillips: Books"] Chapters.indigo.ca. Accessed October 11, 2008.] to precede the broadcast premiere of the program via National Public Radio. Since that time, the program 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 “The Tell-Tale Heart” program, have been available for download via the Audioville.co.uk web site. [ [http://www.audioville.co.uk/store/view.php?Id=526&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 11, 2008.]

Opening narration

Plot summary

The unnamed narrator is clearly in the middle of a confession as the story begins, vigorously objecting to being accused of insanity, yet happily admitting to the cold-blooded murder of an innocent old man. His filmy blue eye had tormented the narrator, and murder is naturally the only recourse to take. The story then moves backward in time to the week preceding the murder. At midnight each night for that entire week before the murder, the narrator opens the old man’s door, slips a lantern in and opens it carefully and noiselessly to shine a ray of light on the old man’s eye, which is always closed. Not wishing to kill the old man when the offending eye is not visible, the narrator waits until the next night and repeats the same operation again and again, until the night when the old man is awake and the eye is open. For a drawn out space of time, the narrator holds the light steady on that terrified wide-open eye, and it seems that the old man’s heart beat reverberates through the room. Then the narrator attacks the old man and smothers him to death with the bedding.

Once he is dead, the narrator dismembers the corpse over a tub and then slips all the pieces of the body under the floor of the old man’s room, replacing the floorboards perfectly. After this, two policemen ring the doorbell to the house and say that a neighbor heard a scream. The narrator happily shows the policemen around the premises, confident that they will find no sign of anything suspicious, and then sets up chairs in the old man’s room and makes casual conversation with them. But soon the narrator begins to hear a dull but steady reverberation, “such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton”, and the sound increases inexorably, although the policemen give no sign of hearing it. The narrator grows more and more agitated and upset. Finally the narrator can stand it no longer and shrieks out a confession, demanding that the policemen rip up the floorboards and see that the old man’s heart is still beating.

References

External links

* [http://www.audioville.co.uk/store/view.php?Id=526&ProductCategoryId=59 The Tell-Tale Heart Streaming Audio Excerpts 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 Full Series - Streaming Audio Excerpts]
* [http://www.xmradio.com/onxm/channelpage.xmc?ch=163 XM Satellite Radio – Information on the Sonic Theater Channel]