Using XML, PHP and Festival to Produce a “Radio” Play

You play the play with two files: an XML data file that contains the play itself and a producer script in PHP. The XML data contains the cast list, the title and credits, a list of files to use for effects, and each character’s lines (the dialogue). The producer renders the play to an audio device according to the instructions in the XML data, which makes it easy to create a different play or edit the current one and play it with the same producer.

IBM Developerworks::Produce 60-second radio theatre with XML, PHP and Festival.

This is pretty crazy. An XML version of a script is feed to the Festival TTS engine resulting in a an audio file of the play. Some interesting ideas come to mind like automated newscasts, not to mention the revival of the radio drama as a techno art form.