Dreams of Sumatra

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Dreams of Sumatra
Dreams-of-sumatra-cd-cover.jpg
Genre Comedy-drama
Running time1 hour 59 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 release1993 – present
Website http://www.zbs.org/
Jack Flanders chronology
Dreams of Bali
(1992)		Dreams of Sumatra
(1993)		 The Mystery of Jaguar Reef
(1996)

Dreams of Sumatra is a radio drama, produced by the ZBS Foundation. [1] It is the ninth of the Jack Flanders adventure series and the fourth (and last) 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 is approached by Louise Nettles, whose daughter, Jesse, has vanished whilst doing anthropological research in Sumatra. An exotic and unusual country where Islam has been integrated happily into a matriarchal society. Indranee, Jesse's teacher, helps Jack to investigate the Kabut, a secret society practicing ancient tribal magic. She also calls in another expert in tribal magic - a certain piano player called Mojo Sam. Together they must dodge the Bukittinggi Vortex, end of Ramadan fireworks and, most importantly, two factions of a dangerous organization engaged in an internal power-struggle, neither of which wants outside interference.

Anthropology is the scientific study of humans and human behavior and societies in the past and present. Social anthropology studies patterns of behaviour and cultural anthropology studies cultural meaning, including norms and values. Linguistic anthropology studies how language influences social life. Biological or physical anthropology studies the biological development of humans.

Sumatra island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands

Sumatra is a large island in western Indonesia that is part of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island that is located entirely in Indonesia and the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2.

Islam is an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion teaching that there is only one God, and that Muhammad is the messenger of God. It is the world's second-largest religion with over 1.8 billion followers or 24% of the world's population, most commonly known as Muslims. Muslims make up a majority of the population in 50 countries. Islam teaches that God is merciful, all-powerful, and unique, and has guided mankind through prophets, revealed scriptures and natural signs. The primary scriptures of Islam are the Quran, claimed to be the verbatim word of God, and the teachings and normative examples of Muhammad.

Notes & Themes

This story states that Jack publishes his adventures - Carlos Castaneda style - and thus is known to the world at large.

Carlos Castaneda Peruvian-American author

Carlos Castaneda was an American author.

Valeria Vasilevski has voiced multiple roles for ZBS, including the Maharini in Ruby 3, The Galactic Gumshoe, Part One: The Underworld, [2] and one of the Android Sisters in various Ruby Galactic Gumshoe stories. [3] The IMDB entry for Valeria Vasilevski credits her as the voice of one of the Android Sisters in a 1985 animated film by Bill Plympton called Boomtown. [4]

Bill Plympton American artist and director

Bill Plympton is an American animator, graphic designer, cartoonist, and filmmaker best known for his 1987 Academy Awards-nominated animated short Your Face and his series of shorts Guard Dog, Guide Dog, Hot Dog, and Horn Dog.

Quotes

Jack: "I have looked into the gaping mouth of that Vortex and there is no way in hell I'm going in there. Period. Savvy?"

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.

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.


"Production was made possible through grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support provided by Garuda Indonesia Airlines, Garuda Orient Holidays, the Indonesian Tourist Office for 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.

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 that Jack asks for his expenses be paid for.

Related Research Articles

Ruby the Galactic Gumshoe is the title character of a science fiction radio drama series by the ZBS Foundation, written by Thomas Lopez. The first series, Ruby: Adventures of A Galactic Gumshoe, was created in 1982. In each story, Ruby is hired to solve a metaphysical problem. New series have been released every few years, reaching Ruby 10 in 2018. Ruby is played by actress Laura Esterman.

<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

The Incredible Adventures of Jack Flanders is a radio drama produced by the ZBS Foundation and Meatball Fulton. It is the fourth of the Jack Flanders adventure series.

<i>Return to Inverness</i> ZBS Foundation radio drama story

Return to Inverness is a 2000 radio drama, the twelfth in ZBS's Jack Flanders series. The serial was written and directed by Meatball Fulton, as a sequel to the 1972 story The Fourth Tower of Inverness, the first in the series.

<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.

<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 ...

<i>Dreams of the Amazon</i> ZBS Foundation radio drama story

Dreams of the Amazon is a radio drama, produced by the ZBS Foundation. It is the sixth of the Jack Flanders adventure series and the first of the Travels with Jack sub-series. It combines elements of Americana and Old-time radio with themes of lost cities, jungle exploration and shamanism. It is a loose sequel to Dreams of Rio and while it is not necessary to have heard that story first it will help to understand some of the references.

<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 Bali</i> ZBS Foundation radio drama story

Dreams of Bali is a radio drama, produced by the ZBS Foundation. 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.

<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.

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.

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.

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

References

  1. ↑ ZBS.org link Archived March 5, 2010, at the Wayback Machine (Dreams of Sumatra)
  2. ↑ Finseth link (Ruby 3, The Galactic Gumshoe)
  3. ↑ Finseth link (The Great ZBS Data Collection)
  4. ↑ IMDB link (Boomtown)
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