Dramatic Reading Suggestions

Cori · Post by **Cori** » October 8th, 2012, 10:16 am

It is really really important to me (as a first-person narrator of Dr. Watson, and also Black Beauty and Frankenstein) that we don't limit people by accent, gender or even age, vocal style, etc. A Dramatic Works requirement that lists any of these as mandatory is at risk of leaning outside our "anyone's welcome" rule. And the more restrictive DWs are, the more of a problem I have with it.

Imagine a work such as Ibsen's "The Dollhouse" with reversed gender casting - it wouldn't sound the same at all.

The same as what? A professionally recorded piece with rehearsed, trained actors under a single, focused director? Should it actually not be allowed to exist in a reversed or mixed form?!

archive.org will accept recordings from anyone, so if someone wanted to recruit in the Volunteers: Other Projects forum for accent-specific parts for a particular recording, that'd be fine by me, but it would NOT be a LibriVox recording in my ears and wouldn't go in our catalogue.

wildemoose · Post by **wildemoose** » October 8th, 2012, 10:22 am

Cori wrote:It is really really important to me (as a first-person narrator of Dr. Watson, and also Black Beauty and Frankenstein) that we don't limit people by accent, gender or even age, vocal style, etc. A Dramatic Works requirement that lists any of these as mandatory is at risk of leaning outside our "anyone's welcome" rule. And the more restrictive DWs are, the more of a problem I have with it.

Imagine a work such as Ibsen's "The Dollhouse" with reversed gender casting - it wouldn't sound the same at all.
The same as what? A professionally recorded piece with rehearsed, trained actors under a single, focused director? Should it actually not be allowed to exist in a reversed or mixed form?!

archive.org will accept recordings from anyone, so if someone wanted to recruit in the Volunteers: Other Projects forum for accent-specific parts for a particular recording, that'd be fine by me, but it would NOT be a LibriVox recording in my ears and wouldn't go in our catalogue.

Well said, Cori. I wholeheartedly agree. My background is in theater so I understand where some of you guys are coming from--but what we have to remember is that LibriVox is not a repertory company and BCs are not directors. We are open to all, first-come, first-serve.

(I'm absolutely sure, by the way, that there have been professional productions of 'A Doll's House' with the genders reversed.)

Cori · Post by **Cori** » October 8th, 2012, 10:25 am

It turns out I feel rather strongly about this matter.

Being "true to the text" is defined by LibriVox as "not altering the text as written". Other than that, we're changing it from written to spoken, so it's always going to be 'untrue' in some ways, whether that's the voice-choice as we're discussing here, pronunciation as we discuss elsewhere, or the emphasis or pace which are not what the author intended. (Sorry, you're dead, you don't get to have the final say any more.

)

Elizabby · Post by **Elizabby** » October 8th, 2012, 7:39 pm

OK, well it looks like I'm in a minority here, which is fine. I actually don't have particularly strong feelings about this - more of an artistic inclination.

It is possible I'm letting my own background as an author/playwright influence my feelings about this. (One of my plays was produced with casting I didn't agree with and we came 2nd in the competition and I *still* think if anyone had listened to me we would have won...

) But, as observed above, since the authors here are dead (mostly for more than 50 years) we don't need to worry about that!

Onward! Let's do some more dramatic works!

gloriana · Post by **gloriana** » December 22nd, 2012, 1:42 pm

Hi everyone,

Just thought I'd let y'all in on some of my dramatic works plans for 2013. Here are some of the plays I'd like to BC in the new year:

The Two Noble Kinsmen by Shakespeare and Fletcher - Done - https://librivox.org/the-two-noble-kinsmen-by-william-shakespeare-and-john-fletcher/
http://archive.org/details/twonoblekinsmen01shakgoog
(The final Shakespeare play that has yet to be added to our catalog...)

The Law Against Lovers by William D'Avenant - Done - https://librivox.org/the-law-against-lovers-by-william-davenant/
http://archive.org/details/dramaticworks05dave
(This is a Restoration-era mashup of Much Ado About Nothing and Measure For Measure. D'Avenant's adaptation of The Tempest - which provides a sister for Miranda among other innovations - is in the same volume.)

Iphigenia at Aulis by Euripides - Done - https://librivox.org/iphigenia-in-aulis-by-euripides/
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/15081

The Tragedy of Mariam by Elizabeth Cary - Done - https://librivox.org/the-tragedy-of-mariam-by-elizabeth-cary/
http://archive.org/stream/tragedyofmariam100caryrich#page/n5/mode/2up
(The first English play written by a woman. The text is terrible; I'm preparing my own edition that we'll use.)

Heartbreak House by Shaw - Done - https://librivox.org/heartbreak-house-by-george-bernard-shaw/
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3543

The Rover, Part 1 by Aphra Behn - Done - https://librivox.org/the-rover-part-one-by-aphra-behn/
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/21339
(The cast is huge but it's so sad that we have no plays by Behn in our catalog, so I'll probably bite the bullet.)

John Gabriel Borkman by Ibsen - Done - https://librivox.org/john-gabriel-borkman-by-henrik-ibsen/
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/18792

So there you go, in case anyone is interested.

This does not mean that other folks with an interest in any of these plays can't BC them; I'm not "claiming" any of them in advance or anything. Just thought I'd let y'all know that some/all of these might be upcoming in 2013.

catrose · Post by **catrose** » December 23rd, 2012, 5:40 am

Ok, time for me to follow suit.
In 2013, I'd like to get through some of John Ford's tragedies, mainly:

The Broken Heart
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Broken_Heart
http://archive.org/details/brokenheart00scolgoog

'Tis Pity - Done - https://librivox.org/tis-pity-shes-a-whore-by-john-ford/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%27Tis_Pity_She%27s_a_Whore
http://archive.org/details/tispitysheswhore00ford

I'd also like to do:

A Game at Chess by Thomas Middleton
http://archive.org/details/worksthomasmidd04bullgoog
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Game_at_Chess#The_play

Mary Tudor by Victor Hugo
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/39133/39133-h/39133-h.htm#play01

As Elizabeth said, not "claiming" but these are what I have planned to do

LibbyG · Post by **LibbyG** » December 23rd, 2012, 6:26 am

Wow, you guys have way more planning-ahead skills than I. As soon as "Enemy" is complete, I'd be interested in doing:

Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/27458
Done - https://librivox.org/prometheus-bound-by-aeschylus/

and

Phaedra by Racine: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1977
Done - https://librivox.org/phaedra-by-jean-racine/

(And, Elizabeth, I would be all over The Rover! My university did it last year, and I made a couple of hats for it - unfortunately there are no costumes in audio drama, sigh)

Elizabby · Post by **Elizabby** » December 23rd, 2012, 3:18 pm

catrose wrote: Mary Tudor by Victor Hugo
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/39133/39133-h/39133-h.htm#play01

That sounds interesting! Victor Hugo can be a bit verbose, but I find him entertaining. I've never read a play of his though.

catrose · Post by **catrose** » December 23rd, 2012, 4:45 pm

I didn't know he did plays until a couple of months ago (I was searching for anything of his to do a Dram. Reading of. In the end, I did find something to scriptify, but I'll keep that to myself until the Docs are done, or else I'll curse it!) and I found that he'd done dramas. The one after it is more famous than Mary and the last one's an operetta. Anyway, Mary's my fave by far!

musicalheart1 · Post by **musicalheart1** » December 30th, 2012, 4:30 pm

Just got back from seeing the film version of Les Miz- it made me think: I know we have regular recordings of it, but wouldn't it be INCREDIBLE to have a Les Miserables DRAMATIC READING? :O

Obviously, this would be a tremendous amount of work - preparing the text alone would probably take months - but just thought I'd throw the idea out there.

I'd never in a million years be able to BC that huge of a project (still recovering from Jane Eyre), but I'd be more than happy to help someone out with it, maybe just work on the text preparation?

So, yes, basically, that's my idea. The end.

JoFriday21 · Post by **JoFriday21** » December 30th, 2012, 4:34 pm

musicalheart1 wrote:Just got back from seeing the film version of Les Miz- it made me think: I know we have regular recordings of it, but wouldn't it be INCREDIBLE to have a Les Miserables DRAMATIC READING? :O

Obviously, this would be a tremendous amount of work - preparing the text alone would probably take months - but just thought I'd throw the idea out there.

I'd never in a million years be able to BC that huge of a project (still recovering from Jane Eyre), but I'd be more than happy to help someone out with it, maybe just work on the text preparation?

So, yes, basically, that's my idea. The end.

I've thought about it but it sounds crazy!

catrose · Post by **catrose** » December 30th, 2012, 4:39 pm

musicalheart1 wrote:Just got back from seeing the film version of Les Miz- it made me think: I know we have regular recordings of it, but wouldn't it be INCREDIBLE to have a Les Miserables DRAMATIC READING? :O

Obviously, this would be a tremendous amount of work - preparing the text alone would probably take months - but just thought I'd throw the idea out there.

I'd never in a million years be able to BC that huge of a project (still recovering from Jane Eyre), but I'd be more than happy to help someone out with it, maybe just work on the text preparation?

So, yes, basically, that's my idea. The end.

I would say great minds but.... OK, this has been my secret project. I'm about halfway through with the text (One volume at a time, like already in the catalog) Eh, yeah, so...

Been working on it for a few months. I thought no one would ever suggest it due to its craziness, so it was a secret (I have proof, if anyone needs it. Valjean doesn't appear in the book until Vol 1 Bk 2 Ch 1 and isn't named until Ch 3. Fantine appears in Bk 3, then skips a few. Cosotte is mentioned, but doesn't speak until Vol 2. Oh, and it skips loads between Fantine becoming a prostitute and her getting into trouble (that the musical and film expand on with Lovely Ladies, yep, I'm quite a big Les Mis fan) )

ETA: I would like to read Cosette

Cori · Post by **Cori** » December 30th, 2012, 4:43 pm

I've just read about Githa Sowerby in the Grauniad. Trouble is, she died in 1970, so Rutherford and Son would be out of bounds for all but the USans.

Emma Goldman reviewed it thusly:

The basic theme in "Rutherford and Son" is not novel. Turgenev, Ibsen and such lesser artists as Sudermann and Stanley Houghton have dealt with it: the chasm between the old and the young,- the tragic struggle of parents against their children, the one frantically holding on, the other recklessly letting go. But "Rutherford and Son" is more than that. It is a picture of the paralyzing effect of tradition and institutionalism on all forms of life, growth, and change.

musicalheart1 · Post by **musicalheart1** » December 30th, 2012, 4:58 pm

catrose wrote:
musicalheart1 wrote:Just got back from seeing the film version of Les Miz- it made me think: I know we have regular recordings of it, but wouldn't it be INCREDIBLE to have a Les Miserables DRAMATIC READING? :O

Obviously, this would be a tremendous amount of work - preparing the text alone would probably take months - but just thought I'd throw the idea out there.

I'd never in a million years be able to BC that huge of a project (still recovering from Jane Eyre), but I'd be more than happy to help someone out with it, maybe just work on the text preparation?

So, yes, basically, that's my idea. The end.
I would say great minds but.... OK, this has been my secret project. I'm about halfway through with the text (One volume at a time, like already in the catalog) Eh, yeah, so... Been working on it for a few months. I thought no one would ever suggest it due to its craziness, so it was a secret (I have proof, if anyone needs it. Valjean doesn't appear in the book until Vol 1 Bk 2 Ch 1 and isn't named until Ch 3. Fantine appears in Bk 3, then skips a few. Cosotte is mentioned, but doesn't speak until Vol 2. Oh, and it skips loads between Fantine becoming a prostitute and her getting into trouble (that the musical and film expand on with Lovely Ladies, yep, I'm quite a big Les Mis fan) )

ETA: I would like to read Cosette

GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE!

Elizabby · Post by **Elizabby** » December 30th, 2012, 6:07 pm

musicalheart1 wrote:Just got back from seeing the film version of Les Miz- it made me think: I know we have regular recordings of it, but wouldn't it be INCREDIBLE to have a Les Miserables DRAMATIC READING? :O

So, yes, basically, that's my idea. The end.

No, no - that was my idea too!

I was actually wanting to do a "good bits" version with some of the long rants about Paris sewers edited out, but the text otherwise not altered. I've been looking for a text editable PD online version as I didn't feel up to typing the whole thing in myself...

Would such a project be suitable for Librivox? Or unedited text only?