Playwright Kellie Powell makes minimal use of sets in order to refocus the dramatic tension of her works on the power of dialogue to express the more primal and integral of human emotions. AIR’s radio production of Bargaining further removes her work from the spatial limitations of the theater. Absent of the physical, but deeply in-tune with the reality of human emotion, this is an ideal arena for the play, where feelings, thoughts, and music reign supreme.

Bargaining is a drama of love and loss, exploring universally human themes of devotion, impermanence and forgiveness through the trope of immortality. When Ryan, 25, proposes to his girlfriend, Hannah, she shocks him by telling him that she has been 23 since the year 1954. Ryan’s love for Hannah leads him not only to believe her, but accept her offer to make him immortal, that they may keep one another company for the rest of eternity. The play traces their relationship with an attuned intensity that allows it to further examine notions of love and mortality.

Act 1 is 41 minutes. Act 2 is 37 minutes.

Kellie Powell – Writer
AIR, ARTonAIR.org – Executive Producer
Ava Rosenblatt – Director, Producer, and Narrator

Amanda White – Actress (Hannah)
Ross Iosefson – Actor (Ryan)

Shane Thorn – Composer

Additional Music:
Gotta Start Somewhere, performed by Bottle of Justus, written by Frank Powell
Finding Our Way in the Night, performed by The Mad Cowboys, written by Frank Powell
Opportunity, performed by Running from Right, written by Seth Gorden

Jeannie Hopper – Recording and Editing
Elliot Stapleton – Additional Engineering
Theo Cusick – Production Assistant
Caroline Carberry – Production Assistant

Special Thanks to Alanna Heiss, Beatrice Johnson, David Weinstein, Seth Gorden, Frank Powell, Free Sound Archive