[Complete] The Princess Zoubaroff by Ronald Firbank - dlo

Solo or group recordings that are finished and fully available for listeners
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ChuckW
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Post by ChuckW »

The Princess Zoubaroff by Ronald Firbank (1886 - 1926).

This project is now complete! All audio files can be found on our catalog page: https://librivox.org/the-princess-zoubaroff-by-ronald-firbank/

Editor: ChuckW
PL for parts: Kitty
PL for final acts: Kitty
The Princess Zoubaroff is a witty, subversive, and unbelievably suggestive play, far ahead of its time. Through razor-sharp dialogue and outrageous innuendo, Ronald Firbank takes aim at all of the sacred cows of polite English society: matrimony, motherhood, religion, and sexuality.

Enid and Eric are newlyweds, although neither is particularly happy with this new arrangement. While honeymooning at their friends’ vacation home in Florence, Eric and his friend Adrian leave for the mountains. The women, left alone, are entertained by various friends including Lord Orkish and his young friend Reggie, thinly-veiled analogues to Oscar Wilde and his lover Lord Alfred Douglas, Blanche Negress, author of “Lesbia, or Would he Understand?”, and Lady Rocktower, whose 11-year-old daughter Glyda finds herself embroiled in imaginary love affairs. Chief amongst this coterie of friends and neighbors is the titular Princess Zena Zoubaroff, who intends to found a convent in Florence and has, much to the chagrin of Eric, totally bewitched the disillusioned Enid. ( ChuckW)
  • Gender perfect casting for main characters; gender-neutral casting for all supporting roles.
    Please note that four characters in this play speak a couple of lines of Italian. None of it should be too daunting, and for most characters (aside from Angelo), it's just two or three isolated sentences. These characters are clearly noted below. Other characters might use the stray Italian word or two, but don't really engage with the language all that much. Phonetic readings are obviously okay; please feel free to consult with this free audio pronunciation guide. Heck, I kinda suspect these characters wouldn't speak the language all that well anyway. ;-) Fluent readers are obviously encouraged to join us too, but I also don't want the language barrier to keep anyone from volunteering. :-) As annise told me via PM, the Italian is really just there for local color and probably wasn't really meant to be understandable for audiences back then anyway.

    Kitty (Sonia) has also kindly volunteered to help out anyone with pronunciation questions. Thanks Sonia!
    [/quote]
    1. Is there a deadline?
      We ask that you submit your recorded sections within 1-2 months of placing your claim. Please note that to be fair to the readers who have completed their sections in a timely way, if you haven't submitted your recording(s) after two months, your sections will automatically be re-opened for other readers to claim, unless you post in this thread to request an extension. Extensions will be granted at the discretion of the Book Coordinator. If you cannot do your section, for whatever reason, just let me know and it'll go back to the pool. There's no shame in this; we're all volunteers and things happen.Please do not sign up for more sections than you can complete within the two month deadline.
    2. How to claim a part, and "how it all works" here
      To find a section to record, simply look at point 5. below at the sections. All the ones without names beside them are "up for grabs." Click "Post reply" at the top left of the screen and tell us which section you would like to read (include the section number from the left-most column in the reader list, please). Read points 6. to 8. below for what to do before, during and after your recording.
    3. New to recording?
      Please read our Newbie Guide to Recording!
    4. Where do I find the text? Source text (please only read from this text!): https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000161371
      Direct link to PDF (recommended for non-US users): https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-FiunZFPTQURzJfQWV6aGczVWs/view?usp=sharing
    5. Please claim roles (the numbers in the first column below)! Please note: All Librivox recordings are in the public domain. When you submit your recording, you will be placing your recording in the public domain as well.

      If this is your first recording, please let me know under which name or pseudonym you'd like to appear in the LibriVox catalogue. We can also link to a personal website/blog.



      Please don't download or listen to files belonging to projects in process (unless you are the BC or PL). Our servers are not set up to handle the greater volume of traffic. Please wait until the project has been completed. Thanks!


      Magic Window:



      BC Admin
      ============================================

      Genres for the project: Plays/Comedy

      Keywords that describe the book: satire, religion, lgbt, comedy of manners, lgbt subtext

      ============================================
    6. BEFORE recording: Please check the Recording Notes: http://librivox.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6427#6430

      Set your recording software to:
      Channels: 1 (Mono)
      Bit Rate: 128 kbps
      Sample Rate: 44.1 kHz

      Submit one file per act.
    7. Make sure you add this to the beginning of your recording:
      [Role], read by [your name].

      If you are reading stage directions, please include for each file:At the beginning: Act [#] of The Princess Zoubaroff by Ronald Firbank . This is a Librivox recording. All Librivox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit Librivox dot org.

      At the end: End of Act [#].

      Please remember to check this thread frequently for updates!
    8. AFTER recording
      Save files as 128 kbps MP3
      princesszoubaroff_[role]_[#].mp3 (all lower-case) where ## is the act number.

      Transfer of files (completed recordings) Please always post in this forum thread when you've sent a file. Also, post the length of the recording (file duration: mm:ss) together with the link.
      • Upload your file with the LibriVox Uploader:
        https://librivox.org/login/uploader
        Image
        (If you have trouble reading the image above, please message an admin)
        BCs & DPLs use your workflow login
      • You'll need to select the MC, which for this project is: dlolso21
      • When your upload is complete, you will receive a link - please post it in this thread.
      • If this doesn't work, or you have questions, please check our How To Send Your Recording wiki page.

      Any questions?
      Please post below
[/list]
Last edited by ChuckW on June 19th, 2017, 5:27 pm, edited 12 times in total.
PROJECTS
Current Solo:Septimius Felton (Hawthorne's final novel)
Help Needed: Strange Interlude (O'Neill's Freudian melodrama - roles available!)
ChuckW
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Location: Ohio

Post by ChuckW »

I'm already making lists of future projects, so it looks like I'm officially back at Librivox... and I couldn't resist doing another play. I realize I haven't done this in a while, but have been cutting my teeth recently on helping out others edit some of their dramatic projects.

I will be editing this all myself (what can I say... it relaxes me). I'd be happy to have a DPL, but could handle that too if all comes to worse. I'm not going to claim a role yet; I'll probably just take the male role that nobody else wants (dollar to donuts its the one who splutters out the unfortunate racial epithet in Act II!).

The characters, for those who are interested...

Enid Tresilian - Acts I, II, and III -- taken
Nadine Sheil-Meyer - Acts I, II, and III
Princess Zoubaroff (“a very pale, vaguely ‘sinister-looking’ woman of about thirty-five”) - Acts I, II, III -- taken
Eric, (Enid’s husband) - Acts I and III
Adrian, (Nadine’s husband) - Acts I and III
Lady Rocktower (“an uncommonly long and lean woman—once a well-known beauty”) - I, II and III
Glyda Rocktower (“aged eleven… she is pale, plump, precocious—an attaching manner”) - I and II
Lord Orkish (“He is, despite ‘Exile” and a ‘certain age,’ all cheerfulness, gaiety and sweet good-humour”) - I, II and III -- taken
Reggie Quintus (“Incredibly young. Incredibly good-looking… his manner, which is somewhat ‘subdued,’ alternates between the demi-dazed and the demi-demure”) [warning: this guy uses a rather rancid racial epithet in Act II] - I, II and III -- taken

Angelo (“a boy of sixteen, fair, sleek, languishing, a ‘Benozzo Gozzoli’”) [speaks a bit of Italian] - I, II, and III
Blanche Negress (“Her hair, worn short, in wildest spirals, in tinged with white”) [speaks a little Italian — doesn’t need to be fluent] - I, II, and III
Nurse (“She is Scotch. Portly. A woman of fifty. One realizes immediately she would have her theories, her ‘little ways,’ as regard to Nursery matters”) - II, III
Marchesa Pitti-Conti [speaks a small bit of Italian] - II
Child/Dante (mostly just cries) - Act II
Monsignnor Vanhove (“He looks a lover of delicatessen”) - II -- taken
Last edited by ChuckW on January 28th, 2017, 2:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
PROJECTS
Current Solo:Septimius Felton (Hawthorne's final novel)
Help Needed: Strange Interlude (O'Neill's Freudian melodrama - roles available!)
dlolso21
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Post by dlolso21 »

Chuck,

I can MC.

MW is ... being set up.

David O
ChuckW
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Post by ChuckW »

dlolso21 wrote:Chuck,

I can MC.

MW is ... being set up.

David O
Woohoooooooo!!!! :-)

Thank you so much!!!
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Current Solo:Septimius Felton (Hawthorne's final novel)
Help Needed: Strange Interlude (O'Neill's Freudian melodrama - roles available!)
dlolso21
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Post by dlolso21 »

Chuck,

MW is started. I added a few more sections, just in case.

A few notes.

I also added a small list at the top of the first post to keep track of DPL for role and parts unless you end up doing it all. It is not uncommon to PL the parts while editing so I can see you doing that, but if you are editing then someone else should PL the final act.

The references to ~[PLAY] should be removed from the first post.

The file name is a bit long theprincesszoubaroffbyronaldfirbank_[role]_[#].mp3 and you should consider defining names for both the role files and the final act files (which will need to end in _128kb). I would recommend something like this

Readers for role recordings
princesszoubaroff_firbank_[role]_[#].mp3
princesszoubaroff_firbank_enid_1.mp3

Editors for Acts
princesszoubaroff_[#]_firbank_128kb.mp3
princesszoubaroff_1_firbank_128kb.mp3

David O
WiltedScribe
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Post by WiltedScribe »

dlolso21 wrote:The file name is a bit long theprincesszoubaroffbyronaldfirbank_[role]_[#].mp3 and you should consider defining names for both the role files and the final act files (which will need to end in _128kb).
I think this is because the author's name is in the catalogue title? :hmm: Probably should be removed.

Anyway, I've been waiting for something light and witty ever since Pinero's The Magistrate, so I would love to take part in this. :) Looking at the character descriptions, I guess my best bets are one of the husbands or Reggie. Maybe I will do Reggie, if he would be difficult to cast otherwise on account of the epithet. It's unfortunate it's there, but it's only one instance, so it will not kill me. I have hard about Firbank's work through Alan Hollinghurst, so this will be an interesting first go at his material.
Tomas Peter
ChuckW
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Joined: January 22nd, 2012, 7:47 am
Location: Ohio

Post by ChuckW »

dlolso21 wrote:Chuck,

MW is started. I added a few more sections, just in case.

A few notes.

I also added a small list at the top of the first post to keep track of DPL for role and parts unless you end up doing it all. It is not uncommon to PL the parts while editing so I can see you doing that, but if you are editing then someone else should PL the final act.

The references to ~[PLAY] should be removed from the first post.

The file name is a bit long theprincesszoubaroffbyronaldfirbank_[role]_[#].mp3 and you should consider defining names for both the role files and the final act files (which will need to end in _128kb). I would recommend something like this

Readers for role recordings
princesszoubaroff_firbank_[role]_[#].mp3
princesszoubaroff_firbank_enid_1.mp3

Editors for Acts
princesszoubaroff_[#]_firbank_128kb.mp3
princesszoubaroff_1_firbank_128kb.mp3

David O
Thanks David. It's obviously been a while since I was a Librivox regular, so I'm still finding my sea legs. Case in point: trusting that everything in the template was all hunky dory. Anyway, I've fixed the file name mix-up. Womp womp. I'll get to the other stuff shortly.

"WiltedScribe"]Anyway, I've been waiting for something light and witty ever since Pinero's The Magistrate, so I would love to take part in this. :) Looking at the character descriptions, I guess my best bets are one of the husbands or Reggie. Maybe I will do Reggie, if he would be difficult to cast otherwise on account of the epithet. It's unfortunate it's there, but it's only one instance, so it will not kill me. I have hard about Firbank's work through Alan Hollinghurst, so this will be an interesting first go at his material.
I would love to have you in the cast, either as Reggie or one of the husbands! :-) To be honest, that racial epithet almost kept from doing the play altogether; I relented, obviously, but still... not the play's greatest moment. It is, as you suspect, only the single line, but I'll understand if it's a deal breaker (and I can always do it myself if nobody else will). But truly... you're welcome to either role, if you'd like. Reggie's obviously the meatier role, although both of the husbands have some quality exchanges throughout the play.

I'm actually quite pleased to finally get Firbank into the Librivox catalogue! :-)
PROJECTS
Current Solo:Septimius Felton (Hawthorne's final novel)
Help Needed: Strange Interlude (O'Neill's Freudian melodrama - roles available!)
WiltedScribe
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Joined: April 7th, 2016, 8:11 pm

Post by WiltedScribe »

ChuckW wrote:I would love to have you in the cast, either as Reggie or one of the husbands! :-) To be honest, that racial epithet almost kept from doing the play altogether; I relented, obviously, but still... not the play's greatest moment. It is, as you suspect, only the single line, but I'll understand if it's a deal breaker (and I can always do it myself if nobody else will). But truly... you're welcome to either role, if you'd like. Reggie's obviously the meatier role, although both of the husbands have some quality exchanges throughout the play.

I'm actually quite pleased to finally get Firbank into the Librivox catalogue! :-)
Alas, racism does occasionally creep into these old works and there's nothing to be done if the site wishes to turn them into audiobooks. So what the heck, I'll take Reggie. When he's introduced his voice is described as "cheap scent" (I think), so I'll have fun trying to characterize that. :)
Tomas Peter
nickbulka
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Post by nickbulka »

I'd like to do Lord Orkish
-nick
-------------------------------
ChuckW
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Location: Ohio

Post by ChuckW »

WiltedScribe wrote:Alas, racism does occasionally creep into these old works and there's nothing to be done if the site wishes to turn them into audiobooks. So what the heck, I'll take Reggie. When he's introduced his voice is described as "cheap scent" (I think), so I'll have fun trying to characterize that. :)
You're not kidding. I've had to record some pretty wrongheaded stuff, thanks to Librivox. Now it's all on record. So much for that career in politics I'd always wanted. :-P

Anyway, Reggie is all yours. I'm actually quite pleased you took this role, to be honest. I can't wait to hear your reading of the character.

(And Firbank's character descriptions are just tremendous!)
nickbulka wrote:I'd like to do Lord Orkish
That would be awesome! Thank you so much! :-)
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Current Solo:Septimius Felton (Hawthorne's final novel)
Help Needed: Strange Interlude (O'Neill's Freudian melodrama - roles available!)
Kitty
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Post by Kitty »

Hi I would like to join the cast as well.

I just read through the script, and it sounds intriguing. Although I'm not sure I really sympathize with the Princess Zoubaroff's ideas, I think she will be an interesting character to play, so I'd volunteer to take this role, if I may. :)

Also I can help with the Italian and French pronunciations, if people are interested. Just PM me and I can give them a sound sample. :)

Sonia
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Post by Availle »

An unhappily wed woman... :hmm: I bet she has something to growl about here and there... :twisted:
So, unless there is a role where you'd need a complete witch to do it, I'd like to read Enid.
Cheers, Ava.
Resident witch of LibriVox, channelling
Granny Weatherwax: "I ain't Nice."

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ChuckW
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Location: Ohio

Post by ChuckW »

Kitty wrote:Hi I would like to join the cast as well.

I just read through the script, and it sounds intriguing. Although I'm not sure I really sympathize with the Princess Zoubaroff's ideas, I think she will be an interesting character to play, so I'd volunteer to take this role, if I may. :)

Also I can help with the Italian and French pronunciations, if people are interested. Just PM me and I can give them a sound sample. :)

Sonia
Thanks Sonia! And I definitely agree... regardless of what you think of her philosophy, Zoubaroff is obviously the most fascinating character in the play. :-) I can't wait to hear your reading of some of her greatest bon mots!

And thanks for your help with the foreign language pronunciations. Would you mind if I ask other volunteers who might need help to come to you with any questions?

(Also, I apologize for the MW mix-up. I accidentally put you in the wrong spot in the MW. It's been a long, long time since I've done a dramatic work here. I'll fix it ASAP.)
Availle wrote:An unhappily wed woman... :hmm: I bet she has something to growl about here and there... :twisted:
So, unless there is a role where you'd need a complete witch to do it, I'd like to read Enid.
Heheheheheh. I'd love to have you aboard then. :-P Can't wait to hear the growls and roars of Enid!

(And for the record, for those also looking for an embittered wife role... Nadine is also available!)
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Current Solo:Septimius Felton (Hawthorne's final novel)
Help Needed: Strange Interlude (O'Neill's Freudian melodrama - roles available!)
Kitty
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Post by Kitty »

ChuckW wrote:And thanks for your help with the foreign language pronunciations. Would you mind if I ask other volunteers who might need help to come to you with any questions?
not at all, send them my way. If I can help, I will gladly do it :)
(Also, I apologize for the MW mix-up. I accidentally put you in the wrong spot in the MW. It's been a long, long time since I've done a dramatic work here. I'll fix it ASAP.)
LOL no problem. It's easy to fix. You just have to do the "assign" part once again and instead of add, you press delete.

I hope to get started with Z. over the weekend.

Sonia
ChuckW
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Location: Ohio

Post by ChuckW »

Kitty wrote:
ChuckW wrote:And thanks for your help with the foreign language pronunciations. Would you mind if I ask other volunteers who might need help to come to you with any questions?
not at all, send them my way. If I can help, I will gladly do it :)
(Also, I apologize for the MW mix-up. I accidentally put you in the wrong spot in the MW. It's been a long, long time since I've done a dramatic work here. I'll fix it ASAP.)
LOL no problem. It's easy to fix. You just have to do the "assign" part once again and instead of add, you press delete.

I hope to get started with Z. over the weekend.

Sonia
Whew! Thanks Sonia! I swear, I used to be so much better at this. I've done tons of dramatic works... really!

Anyway, all parts are assigned to the right readers now. Glad that's behind us.

Thanks again for helping out with the language stuff. I'm not fluent in either language, I'm afraid, so I'd probably be of no help whatsoever.
PROJECTS
Current Solo:Septimius Felton (Hawthorne's final novel)
Help Needed: Strange Interlude (O'Neill's Freudian melodrama - roles available!)
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