The Curiosity Cabinet has announced it will be premiering a new radio drama, “Axeman,” on Friday, June 25, 2021, at 7:00 pm EDT.

The drama is a companion piece to the Cabinet’s “Home” (2020), written by Bea Goodwin and scored by the Curiosity Cabinet’s founder and Artistic Director, composer Whitney George. “Axeman,” like its predecessor, was penned during COVID lockdown. Taken together, the two radio plays connect with earlier health crises by dramatizing stories from both the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic and the turn of the century Tuberculosis epidemic.

George and Goodwin’s latest work relates the story of the mass hysteria that arose in New Orleans after the Spanish Flu pandemic when a jazz-loving murderer pens an op-ed in the city’s newspaper, the Times-Picayune. In his editorial, the murderer instructs every resident to play jazz to spare a life.

“Axeman” stars actors Shabazz Green, Geoff Pictor, and Mikayla Petrilla along with Curiosity Cabinet members pianist Edward Forstman, percussionist Joe Tucker, double bassist Evan Runyon, and guest artist tenor saxophonist Andrew Hadro. The radio drama was recorded and mastered by Evan Tyor. “Axeman” will be available for free streaming here. Donations are encouraged.

The Curiosity Cabinet also announced new leadership appointments to the female-run arts organization founded by George in 2009.

Bea Goodwin has been named to the position of Director of Development. She will take the helm of the Cabinet’s strategic plan, which includes a deep commitment to producing works by under-represented communities and female-identifying artists. Goodwin, a librettist and stage director, is a frequent collaborator of George’s, having most recently worked together on Goodwin’s opera “Princess Maleine,” along with the set of radio dramas.

Flutist Lindsey Eckenroth will also join the Cabinet’s leadership team as the new Editorial Director. Eckenroth has collaborated with George since the Cabinet’s inception. Her most recent work with the organization includes “Solitude and Secrecy” at Pinch Studios, where the Cabinet is currently a resident ensemble.

The Curiosity Cabinet champions interdisciplinary programming by promoting new works that invite participation in an immersive drama of sounds, images, and gestures. The Cabinet seeks to offer its audiences opportunities to indulge in the pleasures of spectacle, in the fun of looking, as well as listening, and in the disorientating effects of satirical subversion.