Dramatic Works


Plays or dramatic readings in which I have played a part

1601: Conversation, as it was by the Social Fireside, in the Time of the Tudors by Mark Twain

All’s Well That Ends Well by William Shakespeare

As You Like It by William Shakespeare

The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov

Everyman, author unknown

NEW! Five O’Clock Tea by William Dean Howells

Florentine Tragedy, A and La Sainte Courtisane two fragments by Oscar Wilde

Lady Windermere’s Fan by Oscar Wilde

Little Eyolf by Henrik Ibsen

Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

Proposal, The by Anton Chekhov

Richard III by William Shakespeare

Seagull, The by Anton Chekhov

Tragedy of Macbeth, The by William Shakespeare

The Trojan Women by Euripides

Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Shakespeare Monologues

Even or Odd, the Nurse’s monologue from Romeo and Juliet Act I Scene III

Fie, Fie, Unknit That Threatening Unkind Brow from TheTaming of the Shrew Act V Scene II

Still in progress

Cinderella (a la Ibsen), by George Calderon (Mrs. Inquest)

Whittington and his Cat – a Drury Lane Pantomime. (Narrator)

hr

Back to top

hr

1601: Conversation, as it was by the Social Fireside, in the Time of the Tudors by Mark Twain
Running time: 19 mins

Please note: this recording contains strong language.

“1601,” wrote Mark Twain, “is a supposititious conversation which takes place in Queen Elizabeth’s closet in that year, between the Queen, Ben Jonson, Beaumont, Sir Walter Raleigh, the Duchess of Bilgewater, and one or two others … If there is a decent word findable in it, it is because I overlooked it.”

Spot the Ruth – three little parts in this. ;)

Back to top

hr


All’s Well That Ends Well by William Shakespeare
Running time: 2 hrs 52 mins

Despite its optimistic title, Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well has often been considered a “problem play.” Ostensibly a comedy, the play also has fairy tale elements, as it focuses on Helena, a virtuous orphan, who loves Bertram, the haughty son of her protectress, the Countess of Rousillon. When Bertram, desperate for adventure, leaves Rousillon to serve in the King’s army, Helena pursues him.

Back to top

hr

As You Like It by William Shakespeare
Running time: 2 hrs 23 mins

First Page – a small part, but mine own!

Back to top

hr

The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov
Running time: 2 hrs 1 min

The play concerns an aristocratic Russian woman and her family as they return to the family’s estate (which includes a large and well-known cherry orchard) just before it is auctioned to pay the mortgage.

Back to top

hr

Everyman author unknown
Running time: 51 mins

A Holy Day in 1495. Join the crowd streaming towards a temporary outdoor stage and be entertained (and maybe even instructed) by a performance of Everyman by the Guild of LibriVox Readers.

Back to top

hr

Five O’Clock Tea by William Dean Howells
Running time: 43 mins

A light-hearted romantic comedy in twelve short scenes, set during a tea party in the home of Mrs. Amy Somers, a widow who is courted by the ingenuous and delightful Mr. Willis Campbell. I had enormous fun playing Mrs. Somers and Martin Geeson is simply wonderful as Willis Campbell.

Back to top

hr

A Florentine Tragedy and La Sainte Courtisane, Two Fragments by Oscar Wilde
Running time: 56 mins

I play the faithless Bianca in A Florentine Tragedy, and narrate La Sainte Courtisane.

Back to top

hr

Lady Windermere’s Fan by Oscar Wilde
Running time: 2 hrs 6 mins

Lady Windermere’s Fan: A Play About a Good Woman is a four act comedy by Oscar Wilde, published in 1893. As in some of his other comedies, Wilde satirizes the morals of Victorian society, and attitudes between the sexes.

The action centres around a fan given to Lady Windermere as a present by her husband, and the ball held that evening to celebrate her 21st birthday. I play the dreadful Duchess of Berwick and enjoyed it immensely.

Back to top

hr

Little Eyolf by Henrik Ibsen
Running time: 1 hrs 52 mins

Henrik Ibsen’s 1894 play Little Eyolf tells the story of the Allmers family: the father, Alfred, his wife Rita, their crippled nine-year-old son Eyolf, and Alfred’s sister Asta. As the play begins, Alfred has just gotten back from a trip to the mountains, and resolves to spend more time with his son, rather than on intellectual pursuits. Asta is romantically pursued by Borgheim, an engineer, while the cracks in Alfred and Rita’s marriage gradually reveal themselves. The family receives a visit from the Rat-Wife, and are never the same again. (Hehe, I tend to have that effect on people.)

Back to top

hr

Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare
Running time: 2 hrs 32 mins

Generally considered one of Shakespeare’s problem plays, Measure for Measure examines the ideas of sin and justice. Duke Vincentio turns Vienna’s rule over to the corrupt Angelo, who sentences Claudio to death for having impregnated a woman before marriage. His sister Isabella, a novice nun, pleads for her brother’s life, only to be told that he will be spared if she agrees to relinquish her virginity to Angelo.

Back to top

hr

The Proposal or The Marriage Proposal by Anton Chekhov
Running time: 32 mins

For once not an old battle-axe, I play the part of Natalya Stepanovna in this one-act comic farce about marriage. It’s very funny.

Back to top

hr

Richard III by William Shakespeare
Running time: 3 hrs 29 mins

Richard III is an early history play probably written and performed around 1592-93. It is the culmination of Shakespeare’s earlier three plays about Henry VI, and chronicles the bloody career of Richard, Duke of Gloucester. As the play opens, the Wars of the Roses are over, King Edward IV (Richard’s brother) is on the throne, and all is ostensibly well. The problem? Richard wants to be king – and he’ll stop at nothing to realize his ambition. (Summary by Elizabeth Klett)

Back to top

hr

The Seagull by Anton Chekhov
Running time: 2 hrs 7 mins

The play dramatises the romantic and artistic conflicts between four characters: the ingenue Nina, the fading leading lady Irina Arkadina, her son the experimental playwright Konstantin Treplyov, and the famous middlebrow story writer Trigorin. Guess who plays the faded leading lady…

Back to top

hr

The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Running time: 2 hrs 12 mins

Who else but Hecate, the bad, bad witch…

Back to top

hr

The Trojan Women by Euripides, translated by Gilbert Murray
Running time: 1 hrs 43 mins

Euripides’ play follows the fates of the women of Troy after their city has been sacked, their husbands killed, and as their remaining families are about to be taken away as slaves… and it gets worse. A happy little tale. :roll: I am, predictably, old Hecuba.

Back to top

hr

Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov
Running time: 1 hr 52 mins

Uncle Vanya (subtitled “Scenes From Country Life”) is a tragicomedy by Anton Chekhov. It is set on the failing country estate of a retired professor, Serebrakoff, who returns after a long absence with his beautiful young wife, and throws the household into confusion. Rivalry, unrequited love, illicit romance, and attempted suicide are the result, punctuated throughout by Chekhov’s sad, wistful humor. (Summary by Elizabeth Klett)

Back to top

hr

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Running time: 4 hrs 25 mins

The timeless story of the Wizard Of Oz. Follow Dorothy as she leaves Kansas for Oz on a cyclone. She meets many strange, and wonderful people and creatures along the way, including the wicked witch. Guess who. :twisted:

Back to top

hr

Shakespeare Monologues

Even or Odd, the Nurse’s monologue from Romeo and Juliet Act I Scene III
Running time: 2 mins 35 secs

Fie, Fie, Unknit That Threatening Unkind Brow from The Taming of the Shrew Act V Scene II
Running time: 3 mins 41 secs

  • Visit Internet Archive page to listen online, to download other file formats, and to see other readers’ recordings in this Collection.

Back to top

hr

One Comment on “Dramatic Works”

  1. Drama page updated – at last « RuthieG's CataBlog Says:

    October 23, 2010 at 11:08 am

    [...] have at last updated the Dramatic Works page here, and I am quite surprised at how many plays I have taken part [...]

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out / Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out / Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

%d bloggers like this: