Death and the Maiden

De: Ariel Dorfman

Narrado por: John Kapelos, John Mahoney, Carolyn Seymour, Kristoffer Tabori

Suspense mounts when Paulina and her husband offer hospitality to a stranger. Paulina thinks she recognizes, in their guest, the man who tortured her in prison, and she subsequently takes him hostage to find out the truth.

A stunningly blunt and compelling play, Death and the Maiden explores brilliantly the issues of torture, power, vulnerability, ethics, and trust. An award-winning play by Chilean writer Ariel Dorfman, forced into exile in 1973.

©2009 L.A. Theatre Works (P)2009 L.A. Theatre Works

How did I miss this? A story for today.

So in the 70s I read "How to Read Donald Duck." Those were heady times when Latin America was peppered with dictatorships and we (some of us) thought that once this came to pass it couldn't ever be repeated. Yet here we are and the things fought against in the last World War seem to have survived, resurfaced, and while they might not (or might) be called dictatorships we have leaders and followers that surely emulate those figures we thought would appear never again. I too wonder as does Paulina, how can anyone's reaction to the insanity caused by the reckless disregard for the whole of humanity remain subdued? How does society contend with those that seek privilege and power at the cost of others' rights and lives? And I think that the answer is that we simply keep on building better societies. We know that the avaricious folks want it all for themselves but their hate will never be overcome by our hate. The struggle is to simply be more intelligent in building an inclusive society while thoughtfully identifying those opposed to equal human rights so that we stop repeating mistakes we should be learning from. Death and the Maiden is an excellent reminder.

Stage Directions Needed

have a pdf of the play open as you listen. the stage directions, in particular in the final 20 minutes are critical for your understanding of the play.

Timeless and Compelling Characters

I have read and seen this play many years ago. I just finished listening to this performance. It is well written and captures how inhumane acts of abuse can profoundly affect our lives with the remove of fiction. The characters are portrayed with depth; listeners reflect on The moral integrity of how the characters behave in complicated situations. I highly recommend this play.

Great !

I had to read this for school and it was actually very interesting and had me hooked! Listened to the entire thing in one session.

Death and the maiden

Excellent interpretation of the characters and narrator.
Outstanding soundtrack.
To be me first time using this app the results were incredible.

Strident

This story is full of conflict. When a woman thinks she recognises the voice of a man who raped and tortured her, she acts out her dream of revenge. However, the conflict is not only limited to the plot. The main female character, Pauline, not only berates her tormentor, she also berates her husband with a voice that grates on the listener very quickly. If you make it to the end you witness an interesting situation unravel, with a clever twist. But the author leaves the final solution up to the listener. Could have been named Misery if that name were not already taken.