A Class Reenactment

The town of Odyssey wants a radio drama about its founding, and flamboyant showman Edwin Blackgaard is determined to make it dazzling - even if that means swapping real history for sword fights, poison arrows, and executions. Eugene demands the truth, but Edwin's rewrite only mocks the town's founders instead. Meanwhile, Trent and Mandy are cast as a frontier husband and wife, and the teasing at school gets so bad that Mandy quits the play... and nearly quits the friendship too. Is what strangers think really worth losing a best friend? When Edwin finally listens to the real story - a blinded settler, the woman who wouldn't leave him, and the little valley they named Odyssey - he finds all the drama he was trying to invent. The broadcast is a triumph, Mandy returns, and even Edwin's harshest critic calls it his best work yet... though Edwin can't help wondering what that says about everything else.

Found on The Best Small Town Album 50 · 12 episodes

The run See every episode

0630 Chip off the Shoulder New foster kid Kelly and a still-simmering Connie collide when a school project goes missing at Whit's End, forcing both to face what it really takes to trust and forgive.

0631 A Capsule Comes to Town When a national radio program asks whether Odyssey is stuck in the past, the search for a century-old time capsule puts the town's memory - and its heart - to the test.

0632 Suspicious Finds When a magazine nomination for Best Small Town in America sends Odyssey scrambling to impress a secret inspector, the townspeople's frantic makeovers threaten to undo the very charm that earned the honor.

0633 License to Deprive the Washington family signs on to portray frontier settlers at a restored historic homestead, only to learn that living history is far harder than performing it

1 of 2 0634 Accidental Dilemma When a blog post blows Jason Whittaker's cover as a government agent, an old enemy with a score to settle sets a trap in Odyssey.

2 of 2 0635 Accidental Dilemma When the trail of a shadowy criminal leads straight back to Odyssey, Whit and his friends must outwit the Whisperer on their own home ground - where the price of victory may be higher than anyone expects.

0636 A Class Reenactment A pompous theater impresario is hired to dramatize Odyssey's founding for radio, but his flair for spectacle keeps colliding with the town's true story.

0637 The Forgotten Deed With Whit's End on the verge of reopening, a dispute over a time capsule uncovers a question about who really owns the land beneath it - and whether the shop can keep its faith at its heart.

1 of 2 0638 The Triangled Web A hometown reunion turns tangled when three old friends each plan a heartfelt conversation with the same woman on the same night.

2 of 2 0639 The Triangled Web A reunion in Odyssey turns into a tangle of competing romantic hopes when three men each plan their own perfect moment with Lucy, forcing everyone to decide what commitment really means.

0640 Rights, Wrongs, and Winners When two tied towns are challenged to prove their true heart, Odyssey's chance at the title gets tangled up with the surprise unmasking of a beloved comic book's secret creator.

1 of 2 0641 The Imagination Station, Revisited A curious kid sneaks an early ride in Whit's rebuilt Imagination Station and lands in Jerusalem during Jesus' final week, where a blind boy's hope draws her into events far bigger than she expected.

2 of 2 0642 The Imagination Station, Revisited A trip through an unfinished Imagination Station drops Kelly into the final days of Jesus' life, where she can only watch as betrayal and injustice unfold around her.

Featured characters

Minor characters & crew 7 more roles

7 supporting roles

Trent deWhite Corey Padnos Walter Shakespeare Corey Burton Horace McCalister Kendre Berry Duncan Banquo Will Ryan Wagon Driver Actor Unknown Bertha Gower Aria Curzon Wolfgang Gower Corey Padnos

Made by

Chris Anthony Host Nathan Hoobler Writer · Director Christopher Diehl Sound Designer Bob Hoose Producer Marshal Younger Producer Dave Arnold Executive Producer

The story

Read the full synopsis 2 min

Odyssey's Historical Society commissions Edwin Blackgaard to produce a radio drama about the town's founding, hoping it will impress the Best Small Town judges. Edwin accepts because theater critic Duncan Banquo has called his work unsophisticated. He intends to prove the critic wrong, even if history must be replaced with spectacle.

Marvin plays founder Horace McAlister, while Trent and Mandy are cast as the frontier couple Wolfgang and Bertha. Schoolmates already tease Trent and Mandy for studying and eating lunch together, so playing husband and wife embarrasses them. Edwin refuses to change the roles and orders them to behave like professionals.

Edwin's first script transforms Odyssey's founding into a wild tragedy filled with sword fights, poison arrows, executions, and other invented events. Eugene, representing the Historical Society, insists that the program tell the true story. Edwin rewrites it, but his new version mocks the real people instead of honoring them.

The romantic dialogue increases the teasing. Mandy decides to stop studying with Trent and eventually quits the play, believing distance is the only way to keep others from treating them as a couple. Connie asks whether strangers' opinions are worth losing a good friend. Mandy recognizes that the friendship matters more than the teasing and returns.

Shakespeare, Edwin's assistant, suggests that the historical documents may contain worthwhile material. Eugene finally tells Edwin the real account. Once Edwin listens, he discovers all the struggle, sacrifice, affection, and redemption he has been trying to manufacture.

In the finished drama, Wolfgang and Bertha stop at Horace McAlister's homestead while traveling toward Colorado. Wolfgang returns east to help his brothers in a battle, leaving Bertha with Horace's family. Months later, a letter reports that Wolfgang has been blinded and urges Bertha to continue west with another family.

Bertha stays. When Wolfgang finally returns, he tries to arrange another guide for her because he believes his blindness has made him useless. Bertha tells him that Colorado no longer matters; he is her best friend, and home has no meaning without him. They marry and settle near the McAlisters.

More families gather in the valley. When they name their community, they choose a word suggesting beauty, adventure, and a place everyone should see. Apart from a later spelling change, the settlement becomes Odyssey - a community of people whose lives have overcome an old reputation for being a stinking swamp.

The broadcast succeeds because Edwin finally trusts the true story. Duncan Banquo arrives afterward and calls it the best work he has ever seen Edwin do. Edwin celebrates until he realizes the critic's wording may also mean Banquo has seen and disliked his earlier productions, sending him chasing after clarification.