THE PEOPLE WE HATE AT THE WEDDING

Narrator Dan Bittner and Khristine Hvam team up for an impressive performance involving alternating perspectives. Paul and Alice's half-sister, Eloise, is getting married, and they're prepared to hate everything about the wedding--just as they've hated everything about their perfect sister. Being rich and French, Eloise is starkly unlike them and their Midwestern background. The believable dialogue requires varying accents and cadences, but each internal voice is differentiated only by gender. This tactic highlights how similar the family members are in contrast to their warring words. Listeners will be moved by insults dripping with sarcasm and voices thick with pain--and just when it all feels too dark, comedy comes to the fore, and they'll laugh at the ridiculousness of the disputes. A.L.C. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2017]