Welcome to The Big Smoke Variety Show!

Back in 1861, the phrase “silly season” was coined to describe that sleepy stretch of summer when there wasn’t much real news to report, and newspapers filled their pages with wonderfully oddball stories instead. So, we’ve done the same—bringing you another double dose of mythical tales perfect for long summer evenings.

In this week’s Silly Season we have two Stories You Haven’t Heard. These are timeless tales, reimagined and beautifully performed by the wonderful Scott Brooksbank.

First, we travel to Brazil for a magical folktale about a lonely princess, a sea monster with a kind heart, an impossible dress, and the forgotten promise that, some say, still echoes through the waves today. ‘Dionyssia, or Why the Sea Moans’ is a story of friendship, memory, and the strange sounds that shape our world.

Then we journey all the way back to Ancient Greece for Aristophanes’ ‘The Frogs’ where the god Dionysus embarks on an absurd adventure into the Underworld in search of the perfect playwright. Along the way there are croaking frogs, theatrical rivalries, mistaken identities, terrible disguises, and plenty of comic chaos, all wrapped around a surprisingly thoughtful exploration of why stories matter.

So whether you’re listening to the waves, following the croaking of frogs into the underworld, or simply enjoying a quiet summer evening, remember: the real silly season isn’t in the newspapers anymore… it’s right here on The Big Smoke Variety Show.

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Chapters

(00:00) Intro & Show Menu

(01:00) Dionyssia, or Why the Sea Moans

(10:24) The Frogs

(25:46) Outro

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Credits

Hosted & Executive Produced by Kevin Bennett

Produced & Edited by Alex Graham

Original Music by Giles Terera

Music arranged and played by Joseph Atkins

Stories You Haven’t Heard written and performed by Scott Brooksbank