Gladiatorial Editorial

Hi folks,

We hope you are all having a wonderful week. Here in the UK, summer is properly here and the sun is out - we can almost imagine the weather experienced by Gaius and co* (but not quite – it is still England!). 

At Rusty Towers, production continues on Cry Havoc, Neon Inkwell and The Magnus Protocol. Of That Colossal Wreck, the sci fi horror written by Sasha Sienna and Jonathan Sims and the first of our Neon Inkwell shows, has finished recording and now is into the editing process, and we’ve started the casting process for Welcome to Foster’s. Written by Imogen Cassidy, Welcome to Foster’sis set in an alternate version of Sydney, Australia where a small-time private consulting wizard and her new apprentice attempt to keep the business afloat by removing magical pests, dispersing restless spirits and tracking down a group of necromancers out to take over the world. Speaking of casting, we have now also begun the casting process for The Magnus Protocol and Jonny, Alex and our guest writers are well into writing episodes for season one now that the show bible and series outline has been finalised. We are not currently conducting open casting calls for any of our projects, but if that changes we will make a separate post.

Meanwhile, in some news from our Network, we are really excited to hear that Hanging Sloth Studios, creators of network show, Spirit Box Radio, are soon going to begin a crowdfund for a brand-new show. The Twelvelms Conspiracy will be a new fantasy mystery audio drama, created by Eira Major. Learn more about the show and sign-up for updates on the Twelvelms Indigogo page.

This week in Cry Havoc! Ask Questions Later it’s all fun and games as Cleopatra finally gets to discuss some politics and rehearsals start on Octavia’s play. As always, Knights and Nobles get this episode ad-free, 48-hours ahead of the public release on Tuesday. Meanwhile, our Friday bonus, Backstage, we take a deep dive into the most famous form of entertainment in Ancient Rome: gladiatorial games. Join host Lowri, plus director Amani Zardoe and historical consultant Emma Southon and they talk about the history and origin of the games, what actually happened in the arena and what life was like for a celebrity gladiator.

Here is our full schedule for this week:

Tuesday 27th June

ROME 6 – Blood Sports (Patreon) (4pm BST)

Thursday 28th June

ROME 6 – Blood Sports (Public) (4pm BST)

Friday 29th June

KNIGHTS+ bonus – Backstage: Gladiators (Patreon) (4pm BST)

* Although, if you listened to last Friday’s episode of Backstage featuring Cry Havoc’s historical consultant, Emma Southon, you’ll know that the period covered in Cry Havoc actually happened during winter in Rome, which would have been pretty cold. Some creative licence was therefore taken, and creator David K Barnes shifted the setting to a warmer time of year, to ensure certain jokes could still be made!

Have a good week all!

The Rusty Quill team