Showing results by narrator "Alan Weyman" in All Categories

Richard Dudgeon, who has become an outcast from his puritanical family due to his religious apostasy, returns home on the death of his father. Much to everyone’s surprise, it is revealed that the father changed his will shortly before his death and has left the bulk of the estate to Richard. Now that he is lord of the manor, Richard asserts himself and declares his opposition to the colonial British authorities. Later, he is arrested by the British and sentenced to death but is rescued in the nick of time by a local militia commanded by Anthony Anderson, who, ironically, is a pastor.

By the witty author of the Jeeves and Wooster stories. The life of a simple dog is full of misunderstandings....

This collection contains Oscar Wilde's four best-known comedies: The Importance of Being Earnest; Lady Windermere's Fan; An Ideal Husband; and A Woman of No Importance. All of them satirize upper-class English society of the 1890s, dramatizing scandalous secrets, political and marital intrigue, and dandyish bad behavior with Wilde's trademark wit and wisdom.

Duke Vincentino, the ruler of Vienna, fears that under his mild sovereignty, the people may have become lazy and lax. He decides to “go over cover” in the disguise of a monk and appoint his deputy, Angelo, who is a reputed paragon of virtue, as temporary ruler. On assuming power, Angelo inaugurates draconian provisions regarding sexual propriety. One of the first victims of this new regime is young Claudio, who has impregnated his lover Juliet, and is accordingly sentenced to death.

This classic farce was first performed in 1892. Since the record-breaking initial run in London, it has been revived many times around the world in a variety of languages, and has also been adapted for a number of presentations on film. The play incorporates many of the features which have become standard in romantic comedies: a cross dressing central character, identity confusion, young lovers kept apart by parental influence and older lovers unexpectedly reunited.

King Claudius, when a young man, wrote a five-act tragedy which was damned, and all reference to it forbidden under penalty of death. The King has a son - Hamlet - whose tendency to soliloquize has so alarmed his mother, Queen Gertrude, that she has sent for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to devise some Court revels for his entertainment. Rosencrantz is a former lover of Ophelia, to whom Hamlet is betrothed, and they lay their heads together to devise a plan by which Hamlet may be put out of the way. Some Court theatricals are in preparation.

Thomas Love Peacock was a linguist, scholar and East India Company official. He had a wide circle of literary friends, including Coleridge and Shelley, and his early works were poems, some of a considerable length. In 1815 his first novel, Headlong Hall, was published, and between that year and 1831, he published a further five novels. His final completed novel, Gryll Grange, was written in 1860 and published the following year. Peacock also produced a number of articles on literary and historical subjects, and some other long poems, which have faded into obscurity.

Unlike Peacock's other novels, Maid Marian has a substantial plot, based on the romantic legend of Robin Hood. As is usual with Peacock, the violence is presented in a rather humorous fashion and the characters indulge lavishly in eating and drinking. Beneath the veneer of this well-known and innocuous narrative, Peacock finds ample opportunity to satirize the foibles of church and secular government.

The Swedish playwright August Strindberg was one of the founding fathers of naturalistic theater. A feature of many of his plays is the minute dissection of attitude and motivation by individuals within tightly bound groups. As in the present drama, such relentless inspection of behavior often has drastic consequences. Thekla, married to the needy Adolf, has a surprise encounter with her former husband, the lordly Gustav. Or is it really a surprise?

Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling. Kipling's delightful collection of imaginative tales about natural history has captivated children and adults alike since its publication in 1902. Here stories are presented in dramatic format by members of The Online Stage. Stories include:"How the Whale Got His Throat", "How the Camel Got His Hump", "How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin", "How the Leopard Got His Spots", "The Elephant's Child", "The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo", and more.

Do you ever wonder if there is a gnome living in the hole at the bottom of the old tree in the park? Have you ever felt like you weren't alone while in the woods? Did you know that elves are responsible for many of our day-to-day occurrences? If your mind ever fills with these kinds of questions, then these modern fairy tales are for you!

A Gallery of Children is A. A. Milne's first published book of prose. It was released after his poetry collection, When We Were Very Young, and prior to Winnie the Pooh. With his characteristic blend of nonsense, wit and warmth, Milne offers 12 short stories of childish endeavour and mishap. They will delight and amuse listeners both young and not-so-young.

Emma was the last completed novel by Jane Austen. It tells the story of a spirited and opinionated young woman who lives with her widowed father and who has an unfortunate penchant for interfering in the love life of those around her. As others in her small circle gradually find partners, the question which is at the center of all Jane Austen novels remains to be answered: how will Emma find a husband for herself?

This play is the sequel to "Earth Spirit", in which the adventurous and manipulative Lulu marries and rids herself of three husbands, only to be arrested for the murder of the third. In "Pandora’s Box", Lulu escapes from prison only to be forced in the life of a courtesan. Reduced to desperate poverty, she meets her end at the hands of murderous customer in London. In Wedekind’s sordid morality tale, all Lulu’s main associates suffer premature and unnatural deaths, except for the degenerate Schigolch, who is one of the most unpleasant characters in the European drama.

As the generating force of its plot, Twelfth Night uses a device which has since become a staple in comedy: gender confusion. Viola and her twin brother Sebastian, are shipwrecked on the coast of Illyria, a country ruled by the melancholy Duke Orsino. The twins are separated and Viola is led to believe that her brother has perished. She disguises herself as a male under the name of Cesario and makes her way to the ducal court, where Orsino employs her as a messenger, to communicate his love to the reclusive lady, Olivia—who is not willing to return his affection.

According to George Bernard Shaw, Joan of Arc was in fact one of the first Protestant martyrs. She was one of the first apostles of nationalism, and the first French practitioner of Napoleonic realism in warfare. She also refused to accept the specific woman's lot, and dressed and fought and lived as men did. Shaw's exploration of the story of this ingenuous and eponymous heroine is set in six scenes and an epilogue, which takes place in 1456, when the church cleared Joan of the charge of heresy and condemned her accusers of corruption.

Antonio, a wealthy and popular merchant, is in financial difficulty. He approaches a Jewish money lender, Shylock, who agrees to provide 3000 ducats, with a very curious bond – a pound of the merchant’s flesh, to be levied if Antonio fails to make a timely repayment. Feeling confident that his argosies will arrive in time to cover the debt, Antonio agrees to this bizarre transaction.

Socrates, perhaps the most famous philosopher of the ancient world, left no writings. The method of philosophical investigation for which he is celebrated has come down to us in the form of dialogues, composed by his student, Plato. The four dialogues in this collection are known by the names of the chief characters in each: Lysis, Charmides, Laches, and Euthyphro. As they fall into a more or less natural group due to the fact that each one deals with a single ethical abstract—friendship, temperance, courage, and piety, respectively—they have been renamed based on their subjects.

The so-called "Bad Quarto" of Shakespeare's Hamlet is the first known version of this world-famous tragedy. Published in 1603, this text is significantly shorter, has some divergent character names, and contains different renditions of some of the play's most famous lines. Some scholars believe that the Bad Quarto is a pirated edition, written down by one or more of the company actors, while others think that it is Shakespeare's first attempt that he later revised and expanded.

The Life and Death of King John was probably written in the 1590s but not published until the First Folio in 1623. Of Shakespeare's 11 history plays, King John is the one which deals with the story of a monarch most removed from Shakespeare's time. The historical remoteness of this ruler, and also the fact that he had no genealogical links with the Tudor dynasty, enabled Shakespeare to present him in a warts and allà fashion.