Isolation

Series
UnFictional
Original Broadcast Date
4/1/2014
Cast
Julian Barratt, Julia Davis
Format
Narrative Monologue, 22 minutes
Chronology
Preceded by:	A Life Well Lived
Followed by:	Sunken Ship
Stream for free

"I think if I was to trace back my, ah, present discomfort it would lead back to that day when I bought the suit from a charity shop."

Isolation is a radio program produced by Joe Frank and broadcast on KCRW's UnFictional Series. It originally aired on April 1, 2014.

Synopsis

2:00: A man (Julian Barratt) tells of buying a suit in a thrift store. A woman on the street, unknown to him, goes crazy at the sight of him, tears the suit off of him. It was her late husband's, given to the thrift store by her children, unbeknownst to her.

4:10: The man tells his thoughts: how he feels about the imprisoned animals at zoos, the people watching them; how he enjoyed it as a boy, riding the merry-go-round; how the zoo was once an empty crossroads, is now a metropolis.

7:30: The man tells of meeting women in the subway, then one in a museum, where he can't think of anything to say.

10:30: The man sings 'Isolation'.

14:40: The man followed a woman home from the subway. He acted strangely in her flat. He was sentenced to community service.

17:30:

Man: 'I'm very aware that I've reached a sort of point in my life where I feel angry and extremely violent. Almost like I could smash the table between us with my bare fist, blood spraying but over your face.'

Woman (Julia Davis): 'I can feel it smashing across me.'

Man: 'It's running down your cheeks, all over your front. You're covered in blood, my blood.'

Woman: 'My blouse is sodden.'

Man: 'Your nipples are poking through with the blood. They're absolutely dripping red.'

Woman: 'They're dripping red.'

18:00: (music)

18:30:

Woman: 'Imagine the waves crashing on a beach,. the foam shattering across the sand curling its way across your body, your torso, your bare naked torso. The waves are just embracing you. The sun's beating down on your face. Your hair is almost singeing in the sunlight. Your eyelids are really rusting, but it's very calming.'

19:00: (music)

19:20: The man and woman, apparently in a therapy session (he the patient), talk about whether his therapy is working, whether to go for a drink, which they do.

22:10: (music)

22:30: Apparently at the bar, he recounts jumping off the swing when he was 6. She suggests he make a show out of it.

24:20: (music)

24:30: The man recites some of 'The love song of J. Alfred Prufrock'.

26:10:

'Yesterday evening I was walking in the house in white, in the room, in the room, in the room. Monsieur Paul Poulon, Monsieur Paul Poulon, Monsieur Paul Poulon, in the room of the heart, in the room of the heart. In the room of the heart, in the room of the heart. Oh, ping-pong, ping-pong, boom-boom, boom-boom. Boof, ah,boof, boof.'

Legacy Synopsis

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• A lost man rides the underground in search of companionship, and therapy leads to unexpected places.
• Reading from T.S. Eliot "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

Music

• "Down and Out" - Boozoo Bajou (from Satta, 2001) | YouTube [4:09]
• "Isolation" - Julian Barratt (from Under The Covers, 2014) | YouTube [10:37]

Additional credits

• Mixed by Ray Guarna
• Special thanks to Michal Story.

External links

• "Isolation" streaming audio at KCRW

Available at https://www.joefrank.com/free_downloads/Isolation.mp3