Marietta College Theatre major debuts play podcast

Live performances on November 22 and 23

by Gi Smith

Marietta, OH (11/22/2024) — The summer after his freshman year, Doug Bungard '25 bought a visual adventure video game called "AI: The Somnium Files" on sale. Though he wasn't expecting much out of the discounted game, something about the murder mystery genre sparked his imagination. He set out to create a play unlike any other that has been performed at Marietta: a live podcast presentation of the podcast.

"The Capsule Demon Murders is a near-future murder mystery story, in which dead bodies are inexplicably appearing on public display next to cards from a popular trading card game," Bungard said. "C.E.T.A. Investigators Leon Adler and Monty Warbler are tasked with finding out who is behind these murders and bringing them to justice."

On Friday, audiences will get a glimpse of Bungard's vision during the opening of the stage version of "The Capsule Demon Murders." Bungard has developed the play as a podcast and adapted it as a stage production. The stage version will run on Friday and Saturday (November 22 and 23) at 8:00 p.m. both nights. Tickets are $20 per person can be purchased at the door or online at https://mariettacollege.yapsody.com/event/index/829289/The-Capsule-Demon-Murders. Students, alumni, faculty and staff can attend for free.

Later, Bungard will release the full podcast play on Spotify, Audible and Apple Music.

Viewer discretion is advised due to the play containing talks of violence and strong language. This play is not recommended for children.

Paige Doseck '25, the Marketing Intern for the Theatre Department, said the podcast version utilized the Dreamweaver Recording Studio in McKinney.

"Two very important roles in the play podcast are the (Lead Ambient: River Perry '25) and the (Lead Underscore: Dallas Lacey '27) - the sound designers - because they have to create the world that this play takes place in through sound. They are creating images in the listener's mind by using sound," Doseck said. "So if the scene takes place on a street, they have to provide the sounds that you'd hear, like cars passing and honking horns and wind. They have to create that world for you."

Bungard, who is pursuing a BFA in Theatre-Performance, began creating the script during his sophomore year as a project for his Scriptwriting I class.

"After going on to complete the first draft of the script, I asked my advisor if the theatre would be interested in doing anything with the script," Bungard said. "The scale of the show was too big to realistically accomplish at our theater. However, the theater faculty later came to me with the idea of putting together a podcast version of my script, and I almost immediately accepted. Now, two years after I started this project, I've got a completed script and a phenomenally collaborative production, and I couldn't be happier!"

Jeremy Jusek '10, who was the visiting Poets & Playwrights Fellow, and Prof. Jason Half helped Bungard create his first script, and the entire Theatre faculty helped organize a full audio production and presentation of the script.

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