Saturn's Return: Nerve Tank Media launches new audio drama based on acclaimed stage play

Saturn’s Return is a contemporary fable about loss, sacrifice, and ordinary magic, by the team that created the award-nominated mystery thriller “Dreamland.”

The people of Barthos are suffering. Not long ago, everyone had plenty to eat and plenty to trade. Rivers ran full of fish, crops grew without effort, and lifespans increased by decades. Then – with the disappearance of a very special prisoner – everything changed.

The story is spun by four crisscrossed souls. Each has their personal stake in the truth and each is desperate to know the full picture. Because in Barthos, what you believe is as important as who you listen to – and why.

Writer Chance Muehleck was commissioned to write the stage play of Saturn’s Return in 2021; the play then premiered at Tompkins Corners Cultural Center to enthusiastic audiences.

Says Muehleck, “Adapting this project for audio was the next logical step, given its themes and presentational style. I had a wonderful time collaborating with my Nerve Tank team, who understood the thorny questions I was asking.”

Cast features Karen Grenke, Jason Howard, Robin Kurtz, and Mark Lindberg. Composer and sound designer Chad Raines has worked at such venues as Soho Rep and HERE Arts, and director Melanie S. Armer is known for her immersive techniques that “command attention” (Exeunt Magazine).

All three episodes are available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other major platforms. Nerve Tank Media produced the fiction podcast Dreamland, which was nominated by the Audio Verse Awards for Best Audio Play of 2019. Founded by Melanie S. Armer and Chance Muehleck, NTM develops new work for stage, screen, and audio, and specializes in innovative approaches to storytelling.