Enjoy this excerpt from Chapter 9, “The Man in Spectacles,” (Episode 3), featuring William Dennis Hunt as Professor De Worms. In this scene he trains Gabriel Syme to use his finger-tapping cypher to exchange secret messages.
Of course, in an audio play there is no way to use text or subtitles to read for the audience what messages are being exchanged in secret. For this adaptation, I decided to use a very quiet voice, performed as close to the microphone as possible, with fairly loud tapping sounds to remind the audience the communication is happening inside their minds. My favourite part of this gag is when Gabriel gets oddly excited about the word “lush,” setting up a comedy bit later when he nonsensically squeezes the phrase in as they confront Dr. Bull.
Bill Hunt passed away June 14, 2020, but his voice lives on in the memories of those who loved him and were impacted by his decades of stage presence in the Los Angeles theatre scene. My wife and I met him at the Glendale/Pasadena-based classical theatre A Noise Within, where he was a company member. We were privileged to see a few of his unforgettable performances, and Lana was able to play opposite him in the 2001 production of Bus Stop by William Inge.