In this first-person radio exploration, a young woman makes her way through a series of interviews with extended family members in an attempt to better understand her father, a man of mystery, much charisma, and a questionable moral compass. I'm hesitant to say too much about what producer Phyllis Fletcher learns along the way because one of the most captivating things about this story is the sequence of perfectly-paced revelations that get dropped on us as the narrative progresses.

Fletcher talks to almost 20 different relatives during her quest, and she boils it all down to a half-hour radio story (I can only imagine how much tape must have ended up on the cutting floor). The result is a tight, fast-moving tale with a lot of twists, turns, and emotional highs and lows, seasoned throughout with interludes of vintage soul, rock, and Latin jazz music? Can you believe this piece was a debut effort? Really nicely done.

Now here's a little gem of a personal piece. Producer Phyllis Fletcher has put together a charmer - poignant, hopeful and funny - about her father who had 14 children with 13 different mothers. Fletcher goes in search of and connects with many of her siblings while we hear letters from her father read by her eldest brother. This is one provocative piece that begs questions about family life, relationships and the different paths a person can take. Although I could have done without the constant music tracks and let the piece breathe more, I would recommend this half-hour piece as a special for Black History Month, Women's History Month and definitely Father's Day.

The characters truly are wonderful in this piece. The production work is rich. There are many different voices, but each manages to stay distinct, and so the piece is very dynamic and achieves most of its power from these different voices. I was particularly surprised by how well the reading of Phil's letters worked - having a relative read them was really a much better idea than having an actor do it. It seems to add an amount of self-reflexivity to the production (by keeping it all "in the family") that so many of these kind of personal narratives seem to lack. Great work.

Take that old Temptations rock song "Papa was a rolling stone, Wherever he laid his hat was his home..." (was it the 70's?) and multiply it by 14, and you have an idea what this half hour is all about. Masterfully told, and at once disturbing, honest, and even inspiring, this is a powerful story. And an important one as well, giving real meaning to the words 'family' and 'grace'.