WFIU has partnered with Starrynight Productions to adapt a full-cast audio play from Florence Engel Randall’s A Watcher in the Woods as part of the celebration of the eclipse in Indiana. The program will air Sunday, April 7 at 6pm on WFIU.

A Watcher in the Woods features the talents of Barbara Rosenblat (The Boy and the Heron, 2024 Academy Award Winner – Best Animated Feature, Orange Is the New Black), Sophie Aldred (Doctor Who), Bonnie Bogovich (Marvel Snap, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic – Resurgence), Deva Marie Gregory (Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, A Ghost Waits), among others.

Brought to you by the creative team behind WFIU’s The Ernie Pyle Experiment and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, writer/director Russell McGee (Big Finish Doctor Who Audio Plays) and producer/actor Michael Brainard (All My Children) are working collaboratively with an amazing cast of actors to produce A Watcher in the Woods. After the initial broadcast on WFIU, the production will be distributed by Starrynight Productions.

A WATCHER IN THE WOODS SYNOPSIS:

Jan had felt it the very first day, walking up to the door of the old house. She had known the watcher was there as they knocked and waited for old Mrs. Carstairs to come. And the little old woman, glancing at the woods, had known it was there, too. No one wanted to discuss it, certainly not mom or dad. Then mirrors were mysteriously broken, the TV began to transmit strange images, seven-year-old Ellie began hearing strange songs and receiving even stranger messages, and what did it all have to do with the solar eclipse? Jan couldn’t explain it, but she was afraid. It hadn’t been easy for Jan, moving to this new town and starting a new school when she was almost sixteen. Meeting Mark seemed to make it better, but would he believe her if she told him about the watcher—a watcher in the woods?

CAST LIST:

Heidi Mikac                             Jan Carstairs

Deva Marie Gregory               Ellie Carstairs

Aiden Denehie                        Mark Fleming

Emily McGee                           Kate Carstairs

Eric Olson                                Paul Carstairs

Barbara Rosenblat                  Mrs. Aylwood                        

Angie Hickman                        Mrs. Fleming

Bonnie Bogovich                     Mrs. Thayer

Sophie Aldred                         The Watcher

Loop Group: Eric Doades, Ellise Chase, John Pierce Kraft, Nick Krohn, and Liz Rishell.

All other parts portrayed by the loop group and members of the cast.