Director’s Notes: Episode 264 - Duet

I’m always excited to write for James Urbaniak. As I’ve mentioned here on the Patreon before, he and I used to do a podcast together that he performed (Getting On with James Urbaniak), and writing for his voice was my foundation in podcast and monologue writing. He has such a distinct style and delivery that just “hearing” his performance of different lines and ideas in my head as I’m writing shapes what the script becomes. He’s a true collaborator (whether we’re actively making something together or I’m just imagining his voice in my mind), and we’ve co-written many things over the years since those early days—screenplays, larger scale audio dramas—but going back to the roots of writing a simple monologue for him to perform is something that brings me a lot of joy. 

Of course, this episode isn’t actually a monologue. I initially thought it would be a purely Leonard Burton script, but when I started writing it, Cecil’s voice jumped in there first. I realized the story wasn’t just about Leonard being resurrected to do radio broadcasts for the Labyrinth but also Cecil’s unresolved feelings about his dead mentor. Some smart writer-y person said that most stories are about a central relationship between two characters (I think it was Craig Mazin, who co-hosts the great screenwriting podcast Scriptnotes), and it’s something I think about often. So instead of one monologue, it became two parallel monologues—a conversation between people who can’t hear each other and aren’t talking to each other, but are still tied up in some kind of cosmic communication. 

As I write this note, I’m just returning from visiting Los Angeles, where I was able to get together with both James Urbaniak and Joseph Fink for dinner one night—super special, since we’re rarely all in the same room together. I’ve been lucky to have people like James and Joseph as creative partners in my life, and have grown so much through working with them. I started out as a very insular creator, which I think a lot of us do, but have come to understand that who you are as an artist can be driven by “central relationships” too—the people you collaborate with and who inspire you. 

-Brie Williams

March 15, 2025

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