A Fragment of Life

A four-part, three-and-a-half hour, full-cast audio drama, adapted from Arthur Machen’s short novel from 1906.

You can listen to it free through audiobook retailers and subscription services: Barnes & Noble (Nook), BingeBooks (login required to view), Libro.FM, Kobo, Walmart, Google Play and Chirp.

Arthur Machen (1863-1947) uniquely blends folk horror, psychogeography and spiritual discovery. A Fragment of Life weaves these around a love story: a young husband and wife who begin to notice weird, dark forces crowding around their banal 1890s suburban existence, forcing them to question whether there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in their philosophy.

Voices

Close-up of a young man with short brown hair and light green eyes, wearing a dark sweater, looking directly at the camera with a neutral expression.

Will Henry | Edward Darnell

Will Henry is an actor and voice artist. He trained at Mountview and has produced a range of commercial and heritage voice work, and audio drama. Will has been working with Minimum Labyrinth since 2013 and is well-known to anyone who has dared to penetrate The Thin Veil of London and Doin’ The Lambeth Walk (Oi!). He played six different characters in Bluebird.

A man wearing sunglasses standing outdoors on a sunny day.

Phil O’Donnell | Wilson

Phil is a filmmaker and musician. He is a long-time Minimum Labyrinth collaborator. Phil played the Vicar and George Mallum in Bluebird. He is still, at the time of writing, banned from Pontins.

Close-up portrait of a woman with shoulder-length brown hair, hazel eyes, and a neutral expression.

Carli Fish | Mary Darnell

Carli Fish is an actress, writer, and voice artist. She plays Jules in the audio drama podcast Jules & James, and Raven/Ophelia in The Amelia Project. Carli co-writes, performs, and produces the comedy podcast, Fish & Robinson’s Laughter Compendium, as one half of One-Eared Dog Productions. She won Best Actress at the Durango Film Festival 2022 for her lead role as Eve in her debut feature film Ferryman.

Close-up of a man with short hair in the Tardis.

Alasdair Mackenzie | Redman

Alasdair is the ‘Fifth Beatle’ of Minimum Labyrinth. It is unclear what happened to the third and fourth. He has photographed many Minimum Labyrinth events and, having providing classified military information for Rendlesham, is still a fugitive. Alasdair played the Prosecution Barrister in Bluebird.

Close-up portrait of a woman with short, wavy brown hair and blue eyes, wearing a denim shirt, against a green background.

Rebecca Crankshaw | Marian Nixon

Rebecca Crankshaw was recently a proud member of the BBC Radio Drama Company, having won a Norman Beaton Fellowship in 2021. She narrates audiobooks and is the voice of villainess Zeera Voss in Blake’s 7 (Big Finish). On stage Rebecca has appeared in many London venues, including the Southbank Centre and Above the Stag. She has also appeared at the Barn in Cirencester, at VAULT festival, and is particularly proud of her work with LGBTQ+ company Outbox Theatre. Television credits include Doctors and Coronation Street. Rebecca played Valerie Gimmingham and other characters in Bluebird.

Two men wearing headphones sitting at a desk with a keyboard, in a room with a blue tool organizer and various supplies on the wall and shelves.

Adapted, directed, engineered, narrated, edited and produced by Robert Kingham

Rich Cochrane | Robert Nixon

Music

A black and white photo of a man with short hair, wearing a striped collared shirt, looking slightly to the right and speaking.

Simon Pitchforth

Simon potters around in his bedroom studio in Jakarta making classically-tinged ambient music under the name Bel Verticale (which can also be found here). He also makes seamless hour-plus mixes of ambient choonage.

Black and white portrait of a young man with shoulder-length hair wearing a black shirt, against a plain background.

Dennis Moen

Dennis Moen is a Norwegian-born media composer, producer and arranger. He has composed for short films, acted as musical director in theatre, played synthesiser and guitar in pop bands, and produced and co-written with pop artists. Dennis combines electronica, jazz fusion, nineteenth-century classical music and progressive metal.

Part 1

‘Forest’
Written and performed by R.A. Phillips
Courtesy of R.A. Phillips

‘Euston To Carlisle Train, 1974’
Written and performed by Jonathan Sharp
Courtesy of Jonathan Sharp

Creative Commons attributions

Main image: Marek Piwnicki

freesound.org: 21100267 alyssssssa angelkunev breezy200uk diarchangeli e0las eardrop earthsounds klankbeeld kosmoso laft2k jerkysynth jose-haliska macsounds1 nagwense pppbala rorhe ryding theneedle-tv uniuniversal

Black and white portrait of a man with a beard and mustache, looking directly at the camera with a subtle smile.

Ian Blake

Ian Blake has composed for theatre, film, chamber music, dance and public art projects. He won a Gold Disc and an ARIA nomination for his production and sound engineering. Ian has played bass, woodwind, and keyboard on the folk and world music scene (June Tabor, Pyewackett, the Mellstock Band) in venues from Alaska to Zanzibar.

A man wearing glasses playing an electric guitar in a recording studio.

R.A. Phillips

R.A. Phillips is a London-based singer-songwriter and instrumental performer, composing imaginative and experimental music based around concepts. With a wide range of influences from many styles of music he likes to create a mix of sounds, vibe and forms to let his music go wherever his inspiration takes him.

Part 2

‘Look Back At That Short Space’
Written and performed by Simon Pitchforth and Yusaf Khalil
Courtesy of Simon Pitchforth

‘Aunt Mabel’s Cottage’
Written and performed by The Heartwood Institute
Courtesy of Jonathan Sharp

‘I Did It Wu Wei’
Written and performed by Ian Blake
Courtesy of Ian Blake

‘In Vivo Messina’
Written and performed by Simon Pitchforth
Courtesy of Simon Pitchforth

A person with long hair, glasses, and a slight smile standing in front of a building with multiple windows.

Jonathan Sharp

Jonathan is a composer and sound designer. He writes for library and production music catalogues, with his work appearing on TV and film around the world. Jonathan releases experimental electronica as Jonathan Sharp, and more hauntological-flavoured music as The Heartwood Institute.

Part 3

‘Wave Chamber (Dirac)’
Written and performed by Simon Pitchforth
Courtesy of Simon Pitchforth

‘Matins’
Written by Ian Blake
Performed by Thomas Peter Laue
Courtesy of Ian Blake

‘Kern’
Written and performed by Ian Blake
Courtesy of Ian Blake

‘The Wild Hunt’
Written and performed by The Heartwood Institute
Courtesy of Jonathan Sharp

Part 4

‘On Savant Midi’
Written and performed by Simon Pitchforth
Courtesy of Simon Pitchforth

‘Between Now And Then’
Written and performed by Dennis Moen
Courtesy of Dennis Moen

‘Hemifacial Sail (Ravine Mix)’
Written and performed by Simon Pitchforth
Courtesy of Simon Pitchforth

‘Rose Ghyll – 1976’
Written and performed by Jonathan Sharp
Courtesy of Jonathan Sharp

‘The River Daughter’
Written by Ian Blake
Performed by Zoey Pepper
Courtesy of Ian Blake

‘Evensong Air’
Written and performed by Simon Pitchforth
Courtesy of Simon Pitchforth

‘The Burning Thames I Have To Cross’
Written and performed by Ian Blake
Courtesy of Ian Blake

‘Pathway 3’
Written and performed by Jonathan Sharp
Courtesy of Jonathan Sharp