Dramatic Reading Suggestions

gloriana · Post by **gloriana** » December 7th, 2010, 5:11 pm

Welsh Librarian wrote:May I be so bold as to nominate a dramatic work version of "Around the World in Eighty Days" by Jules Verne with a different person reading each character's part (for instance someone with a Central London English accent reading Phileas Fogg, someone with a South of England English accent reads Inspector Fix, someone with a Parisian French accent reads Passepartout and so on)?

That would be awesome! Great suggestion. Hopefully someone will take it up at some point.

Welsh Librarian · Post by **Welsh Librarian** » December 8th, 2010, 4:03 am

I would probably do it myself, if I knew the ins and outs of how to do it, but would be more than happy to turn a public domain text into a script if that would help issues?

gloriana · Post by **gloriana** » December 8th, 2010, 2:50 pm

Welsh Librarian wrote:I would probably do it myself, if I knew the ins and outs of how to do it, but would be more than happy to turn a public domain text into a script if that would help issues?

Hi WL -

BCing (that's "Book Coordinating") a dramatic project is quite time-consuming and involves more than BCing a prose or poetic project, mostly because you have to oversee the individual roles coming in (which have to be proofed individually), make sure they all come in on time and correctly, and then oversee the editing stages (BCs usually edit their own projects), and the final proofing stages. I think this is a great idea for a project, but I'd wait until you have some experience coordinating at least another couple of projects first - or you could try to find a more experienced BC to take it on. (I can't at the moment - my plate is overflowing!) Feel free to PM me if you'd like to talk about this further.

voxdada · Post by **voxdada** » January 19th, 2011, 12:59 pm

gloriana wrote:And what about some Restoration comedy?

Sheridan's The Rivals
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/24761

Sheridan's School For Scandal
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1929

Wycherley, The Country Wife
http://www.bibliomania.com/0/6/274/1876/frameset.html

Aphra Behn, The Rover
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/21339/21339-h/files/rover.html

Congreve, The Way of the World
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/1292

If you ever get to The Country Wife, let me know! I loved that one, so funny! Props for the Restoration comedy suggestion. It's pretty wild and definitely worth it to know that *even in English drama* there was a break from the enforced dreariness of Cromwell and the prim and proper of Victoria. =D

jowil93 · Post by **jowil93** » January 24th, 2011, 8:39 pm

May I suggest some Moliere? The Misanthrope, or The Doctor in Spite of Himself.

LizMourant · Post by **LizMourant** » March 2nd, 2011, 9:48 pm

Im also going to second the Restoration comedies. I'd love a part (especially in any polays by Aphra Behn)...meanwhile, noone mentions "Edward the Second" by Marlowe ...ahead of its time in celebrating a fairly "Queer" king and his Leander (I believe). Then there's Ben Johnsons "The Alchemist if you want to go all out and get very very darkly funny! It turns alchemy and class disinctions on their heads! I saw it in England with Ian Mckellan and it put the modern Tom Sotppard to shame with its manic theatrics...

I'd like to do a bit in Circe by Joyce, but having read him, I realize now, how very hard it is to djustisce to his ample "translations" which good theater is, down at the bottom.

Good luck everyone!

neckertb · Post by **neckertb** » March 6th, 2011, 9:59 am

jowil93 wrote:May I suggest some Moliere? The Misanthrope, or The Doctor in Spite of Himself.

I'd love to see some more in the catalogue.
The Imaginary Invalid (http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/9070) is great - https://librivox.org/the-imaginary-invalid-by-moliere/
Pretentious Ladies (http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6562) too - https://librivox.org/one-act-play-collection-003-by-various/
Avare (http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6318) is probably my favorite

wildemoose · Post by **wildemoose** » April 13th, 2011, 6:24 am

I thought I'd revise Elizabeth's yet-to-be-completed Shakespeare list from back in November, since we've motored through quite a few of them since then. The only ones not completed or in progress are:

Pericles: https://librivox.org/pericles-prince-of-tyre-by-william-shakespeare/
http://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/views/plays/playmenu.php?WorkID=pericles

Coriolanus: https://librivox.org/coriolanus-by-william-shakespeare/
http://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/views/plays/playmenu.php?WorkID=coriolanus

Timon of Athens: https://librivox.org/timon-of-athens-by-william-shakespeare/
http://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/views/plays/playmenu.php?WorkID=timonathens

The Two Noble Kinsmen: https://librivox.org/the-two-noble-kinsmen-by-william-shakespeare-and-john-fletcher/
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1542

There's also Double Falsehood/Cardenio but I'm not sure if a PD text exists--I'd have to look around. I know Algy was planning on doing Edward III, which is another disputed text. Maybe we should do Pericles next just to get it over with.

Timothy Ferguson · Post by **Timothy Ferguson** » April 20th, 2011, 10:23 am

Sorry, suggested this in the wrong place:

I'd like us to do The Merry Devil of Edmonton.

http://forum.librivox.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=31947

Elizabby · Post by **Elizabby** » May 19th, 2011, 3:49 am

AmazingLove429 wrote:Ok, call me a nerd but.....

MORE JANE AUSTEN PLEEEEEEASE!

Oh Yeah and maybe some
Elizabeth Gaskill

I agree, but P&P is still finishing off and Mansfield Park is currently recording. Do we really have enough people/energy to do THREE Austen books at the same time? I think one after another is quite enough - though I'd like to see Sense and Sensibility or Emma as the next ones off the rank.

Has "Wives and Daughters" been done as a dramatic reading? That would be fun - lots of women's parts!

Carolin · Post by **Carolin** » August 8th, 2011, 2:39 pm

ive got a treasure chest here: fifity contemporary one-act plays

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/36984

CK

wildemoose · Post by **wildemoose** » August 8th, 2011, 2:43 pm

Oh, neat! And they're from all over the world, too--how cool! I think this calls for another one-act play collection after the current one is wrapped up.

gloriana · Post by **gloriana** » August 8th, 2011, 5:12 pm

Good find, Carolin! Thanks for posting that.

johndoyle · Post by **johndoyle** » January 14th, 2012, 6:04 pm

Has Librovox ever done Orson Welles/Mercury Theatre's War of the Worlds play?????

wildemoose · Post by **wildemoose** » January 14th, 2012, 6:27 pm

Wikipedia indicates that it first aired in 1938, so there's almost no way it's PD.