In this anxious age, Theater of the Midnight Sun (TOTMS) offers some relief with entertaining sci-fi/fantasy audio dramas for the fun at heart. Though some episodes in this anthology series do contain their fair share of earth-shaking drama and suspense, in the end TOTMS is really just a big frothy cocktail of catastrophe, cliffhangers, and comedy – Two parts Asimov, one part Arthur C. Clarke, with a jigger of early Spielberg, a splash of satire, and a sprinkling of Monty Python.

The audio-drama tales in TOTMS are kaleidoscopic, taking listeners from the depths of Hell (under new management and with a cheery makeover!), to the strange outer realms of a “lovesick” alternate dimension, to a bio-engineered land of pyromaniac dragons and chain-smoking unicorns, to a carbon-dating lab facing down Doomsday thanks to something the size of a spaghetti noodle.

TOTMS not only touches on big new ideas but is more intimate in its storytelling, and is topped off by wall-to-wall music that gives each episode its own charming “cinematic” style. A small warning too: We are a novice cast of friends and neighbors, very much amateurs, but as DigitalBeat said in its 5-star review “The disclaimer is that the performers have never acted before. Don’t believe it!” This is because we try our hearts out – in the hopes of making the best shows possible… So that is Theater of the Midnight Sun, a labor of love that offers fun, refreshing science fiction, mystery, and fantasy adventures to those in need of a respite in this uneasy era. All of it ad-free.