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Orra

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Tragedy
Chapter: 5 | Listen: 1

Considered by her contemporaries a playwright “second only to Shakespeare,” Joanna Baillie was one of the most critically acclaimed writers of the Romantic Era. The Plays on the Passions, first published in 1798, stands as her undeniable magnum opus: a multivolume series of tragedies and comedies exploring the overruling passions of the mind. Orra: A Tragedy in Five Acts, which comes from that series’ third volume, is Joanna Baillie’s haunting meditation on fear and madness. It is gothic melodrama par excellence. Set in fourteenth century Switzerland, Baillie’s play skillfully intertwines psychological horror with early feminist thought. Orra, in love with Theobald, is exiled to a haunted castle in the Black Forest after rejecting a marriage proposal from her ward’s son. She is further threatened by the nefarious machinations of Rudigere, a pathologically jealous knight whose desire for Orra verges on obsession. Then there’s the castle itself, a dark and gothic abode that soon brings Orra to the brink of abject terror. Will Orra survive her expulsion into the Black Forest—or will she descend further and further into madness? ( ChuckW) Cast list: Orra: Availle Theobald: ToddHW Rudigere: Tomas Peter Glottenbal: Craig Franklin Hughobert: Roger Melin Hartman: DrPGould Maurice: Larry Wilson Eleonora: Eva Davis Cathrina: Sonia Franko: Nemo Urston: RecordingPerson Alice: Leanne Yau 1st Servant: Sandra Schmit 2nd Servant: TJ Burns 1st Outlaw: Owen Cook 2nd Outlaw / Soldier: David Olson Vassal: Joseph Tabler Attendant: Victor Villarraza Stage Directions: Chuck Williamson Editor: Chuck Williamson [chương_files]

Marion de Lorme

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Tragedy
Chapter: 5 | Listen: 2

Marion de Lorme is a play about a famous French courtesan with the same name, known for her relationships with the important men of her time. (Kristingj) Cast list: Marion de Lorme: Kristin Gjerløw Didier: KHand Louis XIII: Ted Delorme Marquis de Nangis: ToddHW Marquis de Saverny: Beth Thomas L’Angely: John Burlinson M. de Laffemas: davidpr Duke de Bellegarde: AnttiV Marquis de Brichanteau: Joseph Tabler Count de Gassé: Peter Tucker Viscount de Bouchavannes: Jennifer Fournier Chevalier de Rochebaron: ToddHW Count de Villac: alanmapstone Chevalier de Montpesat: Owen Cook Duke de Beaupréau: alanmapstone Viscount de Rohan: DrPGould Abbé de Gondi: MaryAnn Count de Charnacé: David Purdy Scaramouche: Leanne Yau Gracieux: Jennifer Fournier Taillebras: AnttiV Councilor: Jennifer Fournier A Lackey: Lydia A voice: Jessie Yun An usher: Anna Simon Captain of the district: David Purdy Dame Rose: Melanie T First Workman: Melanie T Second Workman: ToddHW Third Workman: AnttiV Guard 1: MaryAnn Guard 2: ToddHW Guard 3: David Purdy Halberdier: Jennifer Fournier Musketeer: Leanne Yau Registrar: Leanne Yau The Jailor: Lydia The Turnkey: Anna Simon Town Crier: Leanne Yau Narrator: Michele Eaton Editing: linny. [chương_files]

Bacchae (Solo Version)

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Tragedy
Chapter: 3 | Listen: 3

Euripides’ Bacchae tells of Dionysus, the God, come to the city of Thebes, there to drive mad those who refuse participation in his ecstatic rites, sing and dance on the mountainside and worship him as God. A family tale as well as a sacrificial rite, in it Dionysus drives his own aunts mad and lures his cousin, Pentheus, cross-dressed as a woman, to a humiliating death at his own mother’s hands. An extraordinarily beautiful, utterly terrifying tale. (Summary by Tony Addison) [chương_files]

Seven Against Thebes (Way Translation)

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Chapter: 2 | Listen:

Seven against Thebes is the third play in an Oedipus-themed trilogy produced by Aeschylus in 467 BC. The trilogy is sometimes referred to as the Oedipodea. It concerns the battle between an Argive army led by Polynices and the army of Thebes led by Eteocles and his supporters. The trilogy won the first prize at the City Dionysia. The trilogy’s first two plays, Laius and Oedipus, as well as the satyr play Sphinx, are no longer extant. When Oedipus, King of Thebes, realized he had married his own mother and had two sons and two daughters with her, he blinded himself and cursed his sons to divide their inheritance (the kingdom) by the sword. The two sons, Eteocles and Polynices, in order to avoid bloodshed, agreed to rule Thebes in alternate years. After the first year, Eteocles refused to step down, leading Polynices to raise an army of Argives (captained by the eponymous Seven) to take Thebes by force….The bulk of the play consists of rich dialogues between the citizens of Thebes and their king Eteocles regarding the threat of the hostile army before their gates. – Summary by Wikipedia [chương_files]

All for Love; or, The World Well Lost

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Tragedy
Chapter: 5 | Listen: 1

All for Love is widely considered to be John Dryden’s finest work, dramatic or otherwise. A tragedy written in blank verse, it retells the story of Roman general Marc Antony’s love affair with the alluring Egyptian queen Cleopatra and their eventual double-suicide. Compared to the more famous rendition of the tale by William Shakespeare, however, which is grand and hectic in terms of setting, Dryden chooses instead to focus in on the lovers’ last days in Alexandria as the threat of their defeat looms and their legacies are contested. The result is a swelling, elegant, emotional drama that perceptively considers such themes as loyalty and love, fidelity in marriage, the lasting endurance of friendship, and even the tenuous construct of masculinity. In short, it’s truly a gem of the Restoration repertoire. – Summary by Tomas Peter Cast List: Mark Antony: Tomas Peter Ventidius: Peter Tucker Dolabella: Phil Schempf Alexas: Dafni Ma Serapion: Alan Mapstone Myris: Chuck Williamson Gentleman 1: Mike Harris Gentleman 2: ToddHW Cleopatra: Beth Thomas Octavia: Sonia Charmion: Leanne Yau Iras: KHand Agrippina: Zoe Trang Antonia: Jenna Eleni Narrator: Rob Board Editor: ToddHW [chương_files]

Broken Heart

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Chapter: 5 | Listen:

The Broken Heart stands next to ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore as Ford’s most popular drama. All is not right in Sparta because of, as is typical in this era of tragedies, the issue of marriage. In brief, Penthea wishes to marry Orgilus, but her brother Ithocles gets involved and bans them from doing so. He forces her to marry Bassanes, an abusive brute who happens to be wealthier than Orgilus. Ithocles then realises what he’s done wrong and tries to get his friend Prophilus to marry Orgilus’s sister Euphrania. Ithocles himself wants to marry the princess of Sparta, Calantha, who chooses him over her current betrothed, her cousin Nearchus. Thus begins a shocking cycle of revenge and recrimination… with predictably grisly consequences. (Charlotte Duckett & ChuckW) Cast list: Amyclas, King of Laconis: davidpr Ithocles, a Favourite: Stuart Partin Orgilus, Son of Crotolon: Tomas Peter Bassanes, a jealous Nobleman: Hamlet Armostes, a Counsellor of the State: Mike Harris Crotolon, another Counsellor: Khaghbboommm Prophilus, Friend of Ithocles: LindaB Nearchus, Prince of Argos: alanmapstone Tecnicus, a Philosopher: tovarisch Hemophil, a Courtier: Anna Simon Amelus, friend to Nearchus: ToddHW Phulas, Servant to Bassanes: David Purdy Calantha, Daughter of Amyclas: Sonia Penthea, Sister of Ithocles and Wife of Bassanes: Charlotte Duckett Euphranea, Daughter of Crotolon, a Maid of honour: KHand Christalla, a Maid of honour: sawasawaya Grausis, Overseer of Penthea: Availle Groneas, a Courtier: K. Adrian Stroet First Servant: Availle Philema, a Maid of honour: Leanne Yau Stage Directions: Chuck Williamson Editor: Chuck Williamson […]

Wild Duck

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Tragedy
Chapter: 5 | Listen: 5

The Wild Duck (1884) (original Norwegian title: Vildanden) is by many considered Ibsen’s finest work, and it is certainly the most complex. It tells the story of Gregers Werle, a young man who returns to his hometown after an extended exile and is reunited with his boyhood friend Hjalmar Ekdal. Over the course of the play, the many secrets that lie behind the Ekdals’ apparently happy home are revealed to Gregers, who insists on pursuing the absolute truth, or the “Summons of the Ideal”. Among these truths: Gregers’ father impregnated his servant Gina, then married her off to Hjalmar to legitimize the child. Another man has been disgraced and imprisoned for a crime the elder Werle committed. Furthermore, while Hjalmar spends his days working on a wholly imaginary “invention”, his wife is earning the household income. Ibsen displays masterful use of irony: despite his dogmatic insistence on truth, Gregers never says what he thinks but only insinuates, and is never understood until the play reaches its climax. Gregers hammers away at Hjalmar through innuendo and coded phrases until he realizes the truth; Gina’s daughter, Hedvig, is not his child. Blinded by Gregers’ insistence on absolute truth, he disavows the child. Seeing the damage he has wrought, Gregers determines to repair things, and suggests to Hedvig that she sacrifice the wild duck, her wounded pet, to prove her love for Hjalmar. Hedvig, alone among the characters, recognizes that Gregers always speaks in code, and looking for the deeper meaning in the […]

Tragedy of Macbeth

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Tragedy
Chapter: 6 | Listen: 2

Murder and madness, witches and war: Librivox presents a recording of Macbeth, perhaps Shakespeare’s best known tragedy. Macbeth, a general in King Duncan’s army, is given a prophecy by a trio of witches: he himself will become king. Fired by ambition and goaded by his ruthless wife, he murders Duncan and assumes the throne. More killings follow as Macbeth attempts to retain his crown, until he discovers that prophecies are not always what they seem. (Summary by Laurie Anne Walden) Cast: Duncan – Joshua B. Christensen Malcolm – mb Donalbain – Ellis Christoff Macbeth – Mark F. Smith Banquo – Simon Larois Macduff – John Lieder Lennox – Mirza Ross – Rosalind Wills Menteith, Son of Macduff, and First Apparition – David Lawrence Angus, Second Apparition, and Third Murderer – Annoying Twit Caithness, Lord, Sergeant, and Soldiers – David Nicol Fleance – Aaron Elliott Siward – Brian Edwards Young Siward, Gentlewoman – Laurie Anne Walden Seyton, Old Man – Paul Williams Lady Macbeth – Elizabeth Klett Lady Macduff – LC Hecate – Ruth Golding First Witch – Jennifer Stearns Second Witch – Kristin Hughes Third Witch – Charlene V. Smith Doctor – Eric M. Johnson Servant and Attendant – Anna Simon Porter – David Leeson Third Apparition – Fionn Jameson First Murderer – hefyd Second Murderer – Anna Roberts Messenger – Ezwa Stage Directions – J. M. Smallheer Audio edited by J. M. Smallheer [chương_files]

Cain: A Mystery

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Tragedy
Chapter: 3 | Listen: 2

Cain: A Mystery is Lord Byron’s retelling of the classical Biblical story from the point of view of its antagonist. Undoubtedly influenced by Milton’s Paradise Lost, Byron’s Cain is defiant and questioning. In trying to come to terms with the mortality humanity has been punished with, he comes face to face with Lucifer, who takes him to the “Abyss of Space,” shows him a vision of Earth’s violent natural history, and gives him a true understanding of death. Upon his return, a devastated Cain carries out the familiar end of his tragedy. Cain: A Mystery is a closet drama, a popular form for Romantic writers, where the script is not intended to be performed onstage, but rather read aloud with a small group. – Summary by Sarah Terry With the voices of: alanmapstone as Adam, Peter Tucker as Cain, Beth Thomas as Abel, Libby Gohn as the Angel of the Lord, Mike Cantrell as Lucifer, TriciaG as Eve, Mary Kay as Adah, Amanda Friday as Zillah, and narrated by Availle. [chương_files]

King Leir and His Three Daughters

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Tragedy
Chapter: 6 | Listen: 1

King Leir is an anonymous Elizabethan play about the life of the ancient Celtic king Leir of Britain. It was published in 1605 but was entered into the Stationers’ Register on 15 May 1594. The play has attracted critical attention principally for its relationship with King Lear, Shakespeare’s version of the same story. (Summary by Wikipedia) Cast King Leir/Second Watchman/Narrator: Algy Pug Skalliger: Caprisha Page Perillus: Todd The Gallian King/First Watchman: Alan Weyman Mumford: David Warner King of Cornwall: Greg Przywara Morgan: Alan Mapstone Servant/First Mariner: bala Servant/Second Mariner/Second British Captain: Phil Benson Messenger: Martin Geeson Ambassador: Elizabeth Klett Captain of the Watch/First British Captain: engineerdst Gonorill: Grace Ragan: Charlotte Duckett Cordella: Libby Gohn Nobleman: Arielle Lipshaw Audio edited by Algy Pug [chương_files]