Evcol Entertainment was established in 2008, as an off-shoot from The Okai Collier Company Limited [formed in 1994], and at that time primarily focused on theatrical productions, predominantly in the horror genre. In 2017 the company moved it's focus to Audio Dramas, and in December of that year recorded it's first production; The Raven.
Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's original poem, this new interpretation had Lady Elizabeth Woodruff as the protagonist, coming to terms with the loss of her love. The piece ran at The London Horror Festival and was then staged at The Etcetera Theatre, before the team went into the recording studio.
Next came Beyond the Time Machine, an original sequel to the book by H. G. Wells, which continues the time traveler's story when he is confronted with an ultimatum regarding the ethics of his time-travelling activities.
Immediately after completing 'Time Machine' work on Madame X began and writer / director Simon James Collier brought together a cast of ten to rehearse and record a re-working of the French classic. The audio play adaptation was made from the successful stage version produced at The Jack Studio Theatre in 2015 and directed by Omar F. Okai
Stepping aside slightly from horror, Sci-Fi and melodrama, the company then went on to record it's first musical production; Spooky Noises, which was based on a series of successful children's books. Richard Bates added music and lyrics to the piece and the production was recorded in London, in June 2018.
As the company was preparing its next studio piece, Bates and Collier turned to work-shopping another musical project; The Countess. Based on a story written in 1988 and subsequently published as 'Countess & Cabbages' in 1998, the story features a tyrannical Countess who has made the population of Zumbug Munchyville work down her deep, dark cabbage mine. Their only hope comes in the guise of 11-year-old Barry Braithwaite and a giant worm called 'Frankie'!
Following Spooky Noises, the company returned to the horror genre for it's next production; Box, starring Mitch Howell. Inspired again by Edgar Allan Poe, (The Pit & the Pendulum), this new interpretation had brilliant scientist and billionaire heir to his father’s eco-friendly multi-national conglomerate, Christophé Baptiste, kidnapped and held hostage by his captors in a subterranean prison. There, in this dark and dank dungeon he is relentlessly questioned and tortured, though even through his drug induced inquisition, he is still unsure as to what exactly his abductors want from him. Mustering all his strength and mental willpower, Christophé uses every ounce of his being to battle for his very survival.
2019 began with the rehearsing and recording of Skin, an original one-woman play starring Samantha Boffin. The story: A few months ago, London-based Vivian Shorewood decided to take a stand, albeit a small one, against world injustice, and began her attempt to readdress the balance. She selected one particularly offensive and repugnant individual, and after following a carefully executed plan she lured him into her trap, immobilised him, and brought him back to her cellar where she proceeded to… skin him! Skin follows the first night of her fight...
Sam was nominated for a One Voice Award [Radio - Drama - Best Performance] in 2020 for her role as 'Vivian' in Skin.
In addition to the recording of Skin and The Countess, in 2019 Evcol produced a 13 part adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula, and The Rise of Alex Avi, a 27 part original serial following the beginnings of a young super-hero!
The Rise of Alex Avi. To the outside world, Alex Avi had it all: he was born into a world of privilege and opportunity. However, things aren’t always as they seem, and from a young age life was a lot more complicated for the son of multi-billionaire industrialist Christopher Avi. On his tenth birthday, ‘terrorists’ broke into the Avi mansion and held the family to ransom. The Avi Corporation had put in place a policy of no negotiation should a hostage situation take place. Alice Regan, Deputy CEO, with aspirations of her own, ruthlessly followed this mandate to the letter, resulting in the death of Christopher Avi and his wife. The perpetrators, realising their plan was thwarted, escaped, but not before injecting Alex with the deadly synthetic XRF virus as an act of revenge, leaving him bound and gagged, lying in a pool of his parents’ blood.
In November 2019 we'll be producing The White Witch of Rose Hall, adapted from the successful stage play. Set in nineteenth-century West Indies, against a backdrop of the abolition of slavery, Voodoo, murder, betrayal and lust; The White Witch of Rose Hall is inspired by ‘true’ events of the time, of a love triangle between plantation owner Annie Palmer, her newly arrived English Book-Keeper Robert Rutherford and a young island girl named Millie.
2020 will see the company developing and producing a number of productions including; Skin II: The Session and Skin III: The Final Incision. Skin II: It’s been four years since vegan serial killer Vivian Shorewood skinned the first of her sixteen victims in what she deemed a ‘boutique-culling’ of London's more undesirable inhabitants. Frustrated that her five previous psychiatrists haven’t truly been able to embrace or understand, and in some cases even believe her actions, she decided to make an appointment to see Dr. Martin Boyden, a respected expert in his field. ‘Skin II: The Session’ is their first meeting, which happened last Thursday at 11.45 am. The drama will see Samantha Boffin returning to reprise her role of 'Vivian', with Mitch Howell joining as 'Dr. Martin Boyden' and Georgie Montgomery as 'Rebecca'.
Completing the trilogy; Skin III: The Final Incision. It’s been nine years since vegan serial killer Vivian Shorewood skinned the first of her twenty-eight victims. She receives a call from Oakleaf Nursing Home, in Wollaton, Nottingham, where her mother, 84-year-old Hilary, has taken a turn for the worse. Hilary’s Care Worker intimates to Vivian that maybe she should pay her mother a visit, sooner rather than later. What Vivian doesn’t know is that Hilary has both something to tell her daughter, something she has kept a secret her entire life, and to ask of her one last request.
CAKE, starring Maggie Turner. 73-year-old retired Betty was absolutely overjoyed when she recently became employed as a taste-tester at The Marigold Meadow Organic and Gluten Free Bakery, after answering an advertisement in the Hillingdon Recorder. However, a couple of weeks ago she was given some news that will change everything...
Following CAKE, the company will record Adam Dechanel's Jekyll and Hyde: Corpus Delicti, based on the Robert Louis Stevenson classic, and adapted from the successful 2014 London stage production, with Wyatt Wendels reprising his role of Mr Hyde. The story: A lawyer tending to his Doctor friend's legal affairs at the London College of Hygiene and Tropical Diseases stumbles onto a series of horrifically dismembered corpses and takes it upon himself to assist the police in the hunt for the killer. As more students die and funding to the college is threatened, the race is on to solve the case before the body count increases. When links between the dead and his young American friend Dr. Henry Jekyll arise, the mystery takes an even more sinister turn. Is Jekyll next on the killer's list, or is there something even more horrifying afoot?
ON ANOTHER WAVELENGTH is a scripted anthology audio series from Evcol Entertainment & Clockwork Digital Studios. Consisting of a 20 episode first season. The second season of another 20 episodes is already in production. The series is produced by award-winning writer / producers Simon James Collier & Adam Dechanel. Each episode is the vision of a writer from across the globe. Each of the 20 stand-alone episodes have a running time of between five and twenty-five minutes. Featuring a different cast of actors and recording artists from London's stage & screen, the series title refers to the content of each episode. Ranging from horror to comedy, from thriller to science fiction, even drama to musical, some stories are wrapped up, some left unresolved... leaving the listener to find their frequency!
Brian's Last Musical, the third musical collaboration between Richard Bates and Simon James Collier. This will be an 8-episode drama, recorded in August 2022 for a 2023 commercial release. The story: Brian Wilts, a small-time London based ‘fringe’ theatre producer, has spent his entire working life scheming, dealing, begging and borrowing, sweet-talking, manipulating and schmoozing, pampering, massaging egos, promising ‘the world’, and skating on financial, ethical and moral thin-ice, suddenly has a rude-awakening one morning when he finds himself facing his own judgement day.
Other productions coming soon include: Mary Seacole in Many Lands, Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus and The Corruption of Dorian Day. Evcol will also produce the Towards the Light Fantastic Trilogy ['The Fight for Freedom', 'Journey to Jaipur' & 'The Miracle Cure'] as three stand-alone audio books, which will be released in early 2023.
Credits:
Created with images by O12 - "thunderstorm flashes flash" • Couleur - "watches old antique time indicating wind up" • darksouls1 - "dark gothic macabre"