Dreams of Bali

Last updated
Dreams of Bali
Dreams-of-bali.jpg
Genre Comedy-drama
Running time2 hours 5 minutes
Country of origin Flag of the United States.svg United States
Language(s) English
Starring Robert Lorick
Written by Thomas Lopez
Directed by Thomas Lopez
Recording studioUnited States
Original release1992 – present
Website http://www.zbs.org/
Jack Flanders chronology
Dreams of India
(1992)
Dreams of Bali
(1992)
Dreams of Sumatra
(1993)

Dreams of Bali is a radio drama, produced by the ZBS Foundation. [1] It is the eight of the Jack Flanders adventure series and the third of the Travels with Jack sub-series. It combines elements of Americana, Old-time radio and Sufism.

Radio drama dramatized, purely acoustic performance

Radio drama is a dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine the characters and story: "It is auditory in the physical dimension but equally powerful as a visual force in the psychological dimension." Radio drama includes plays specifically written for radio, docudrama, dramatized works of fiction, as well as plays originally written for the theatre, including musical theatre and opera.

ZBS Foundation, a small non-profit audio production company, was founded by Thomas Lopez in 1970 with a grant from Robert E. Durand as a working commune based on a donated farm in Upstate New York. ZBS stands for "Zero Bull Shit". The commune's purpose was to raise consciousness through media, specifically full-cast audio dramas. The foundation is "one of the most prolific producers of contemporary radio drama."

Jack Flanders, full name Jonathan L. Flanders, is the protagonist of a series of audio dramas produced by the ZBS Foundation. He is the creation of writer and sound artist Thomas Lopez and is played by actor Robert Lorick.

Contents

Plot

Jack travels to Bali to visit an old friend, Tiffany, and finds himself immersed in a saga of jealousy that extends down from the gods themselves to the mere mortals who fall under their spell. A spectral Balinese holy man helps Jack to become an avatar of Rangda, Queen of Witches in a dangerous attempt to save Tiffany from her plight.

Notes & Themes

In Midnight at the Casa Luna, Jack is reminded of another Casa Luna cafe he says that he visited while in Ubud, Bali - i.e. during this story. While Dreams of Bali does not mention that cafe, there is a Nani working at the Cafe Wayan. Both Nanis are played by Phoebe Moon but there is no recognition between the characters. The Casa Luna Nani is aware of the 'other' Casa Luna in Ubud and Sir Henry mentions that the cafe exists in many locations at once.

<i>Midnight at the Casa Luna</i> ZBS Foundation radio drama story

Midnight at the Casa Luna is a radio drama, produced by the ZBS Foundation. The two parts of the story were released individually in 1998 and 2000; part two has the title The Hungry Ghosts. It is the eleventh of the Jack Flanders adventure series, and combines elements of Americana and Old-time radio with metaphysical concepts such as Sufi wisdom and Tibetan Buddhism.

Ubud Place in Bali, Indonesia

Ubud is a town on the Indonesian island of Bali in Ubud District, located amongst rice paddies and steep ravines in the central foothills of the Gianyar regency. Promoted as an arts and culture centre, it has developed a large tourism industry.

Bali Province in Indonesia

Bali is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. Located east of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nusa Ceningan. The provincial capital, Denpasar, is the most populous city in the Lesser Sunda Islands and the second largest, after Makassar, in Eastern Indonesia. Bali is the only Hindu-majority province in Indonesia, with 83.5% of the population adhering to Balinese Hinduism.

Quotes

Made: "Only the bulging eyes and twisted fang of her mask can be seen."
Jack: "I think I once dated her."
Nani: "Her tongue hang out."
Jack: "Yeah, that's her."

Credits

Robert Lorick was a lyricist, actor, and writer, best known as a Broadway lyricist and for his work portraying Jack Flanders, the lead character in a series of ZBS Foundation audio adventures produced from 1972 until Lorick's death in 2016.

Aasif Mandvi American actor, comedian

Aasif Hakim Mandviwala, known professionally as Aasif Mandvi, is a British-American actor and comedian. He began appearing as an occasional contributing correspondent on The Daily Show on August 9, 2006. On March 12, 2007, he was promoted to a regular correspondent. He is the lead actor, co-writer and producer of the web series Halal in the Family, which premiered on Funny or Die in 2015, and an actor, writer and co-producer of the HBO comedy series The Brink. Mandvi is also the author of the book No Land's Man. In June 2019, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters Degree by the Macaulay Honors College after delivering the commencement speech that year.

Thomas Lopez, aka Meatball Fulton, is president of the ZBS Foundation and one of the foundation's founders. He writes and produces the ZBS Foundation's audio drama productions. When he was working in radio in the 1960s, Lopez took "Meatball Fulton" out of Rolling Stone as his nom de plume.

Environments and music recorded in Bali by Meatball Fulton.
Additional music and sounds (cremation, monkey chant, Balinese geese) recorded by Michael Stearns.

"Thanks to the National Endowment for the Arts, Garuda Indonesia Airlines, Garuda Orient Holidays, the Indonesian Tourist Office of North America, and Aerowisata Hotels."

National Endowment for the Arts

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. The NEA has its offices in Washington, D.C. It was awarded Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre in 1995, as well as the Special Tony Award in 2016.

PT Garuda Indonesia (Persero) Tbk is the national airline of Indonesia. The airline is headquartered at Soekarno–Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, near Jakarta. In 2014, it was announced that the airline would be rated as a 5-star airline by the international airline review firm Skytrax. The air carrier was previously known as Garuda Indonesian Airways.

Travels with Jack

All of the installments in this sub-series are entitled Dreams of ... although there are two others with a similar title - Dreams of Rio and Dreams of the Blue Morpho - which are not part of it.

<i>Dreams of Rio</i> ZBS Foundation radio drama story

Dreams of Rio is a radio drama, produced by the ZBS Foundation. It is the fifth of the Jack Flanders adventure series, and combines elements of Americana and Old-time radio with themes of lost cities, jungle exploration and shamanism. It immediately precedes but is not part of the "Travels with Jack" adventures, each of which is entitled Dreams of ...

Dreams of the Blue Morpho is a radio drama, produced by the ZBS Foundation. It is the thirteenth of the Jack Flanders adventure series and the first of the Travelling Jack sub-series. It combines elements of Old-time radio with psychic phenomena, supernatural beings and energies.

Each story involves Jack being approached by a beautiful woman who asks for his help. In three of them he is sitting in a restaurant, eating alone, when this happens. The fourth (Dreams of Bali), while it begins with a strange dream concerning food, starts after Jack has already accepted the invitation and been flown out.

These are the only stories in which Jack asks that someone cover his expenses.

Related Research Articles

The Fourth Tower of Inverness is a 1972 radio drama, produced by the ZBS Foundation. It is the first of the Jack Flanders adventure series, and combines elements of Americana and Old-time radio with metaphysical concepts such as past life regression, Sufi wisdom, Tibetan Buddhism and shamanistic communication with the natural world.

<i>Moon Over Morocco</i> ZBS Foundation radio drama series

Moon Over Morocco is a 1974 radio drama, the second in ZBS's Jack Flanders series. Originally broadcast as fifty twelve-minute episodes, the serial was written and directed by Meatball Fulton.

<i>The Incredible Adventures of Jack Flanders</i> ZBS Foundation radio drama story

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<i>Dreams of India</i> ZBS Foundation radio drama story

Dreams of India is a radio drama, produced by the ZBS Foundation. It is the seventh of the Jack Flanders adventure series and the second of the Travels with Jack sub-series. It combines elements of Americana and Old-time radio with themes of Sufism, Hindu mysticism and poetry.

<i>Dreams of Sumatra</i> ZBS Foundation radio drama story

Dreams of Sumatra is a radio drama, produced by the ZBS Foundation. It is the ninth of the Jack Flanders adventure series and the fourth of the Travels with Jack sub-series. It combines elements of Americana, Old-time radio and Sufism.

<i>The Mystery of Jaguar Reef</i> ZBS Foundation radio drama story

The Mystery of Jaguar Reef is a radio drama, produced in 1996 by the ZBS Foundation. It is the tenth of the Jack Flanders adventure series. It combines elements of Americana and Old-time radio with themes of pirates and aliens.

Somewhere Next Door To Reality is a radio drama, produced by the ZBS Foundation. It is the fourteenth of the Jack Flanders adventure series and the second of the Travelling Jack sub-series. It combines elements of old-time radio with psychic phenomena, supernatural beings and energies.

Do That In Real Life? is a radio drama, produced by the ZBS Foundation. It is the fifteenth of the Jack Flanders adventure series and the third of the Travelling Jack sub-series. It combines elements of Old-time radio with psychic phenomena, supernatural beings and energies.

The Eye of Van Gogh is a radio drama, produced by the ZBS Foundation. It is the sixteenth of the Jack Flanders adventure series and the fourth of the Travelling Jack sub-series. It combines elements of Old-time radio with psychic phenomena, supernatural beings and energies.

Orchids and Moonbeams is a radio drama, produced by the ZBS Foundation. It is the seventeenth of the Jack Flanders adventure series and the first of The Fantastic Voyages of Captain Jack Flanders sub-series. It combines elements of Old-time radio with psychic phenomena, supernatural beings and energies.

The White Castle is a radio drama, produced by the ZBS Foundation. It is the twentieth of the Jack Flanders adventure series and the fourth of The Fantastic Voyages of Captain Jack Flanders sub-series. It combines elements of old-time radio with psychic phenomena, supernatural beings and energies.

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References

  1. ZBS.org link Archived March 5, 2010, at the Wayback Machine (Dreams of Bali)