The Birth of Merlin: The Childe Hath Found His Father by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616) and William Rowley (1585-1626).
Merlin. King Arthur. War betwist British and Saxons. Uther Pendragon. Collapsing castle foundations, Magicians and spirits and fighting dragons and a blazing comet. Good entertaining stuff.
But is it Shakespeare?
The 1662 first edition of this play says it was written by William Shakespeare and William Rowley. It doesn't appear that anyone any longer believes that Shakespeare was actually involved, and probably this is entirely Rowley - who co-authored plays with a fair number of other authors of the period. Rowley also acted in London troupes, including Shakespeare's The King's Players, often in low comedy Clown parts he wrote for himself such as is found in this play.
( ToddHW)
Not sure what to do this weekend? Finished all the recording for the many other plays on offer? Well then, howsabout a (probably) fake Shakespeare? From a book of the best 14 (!) fakes - who knows, we might do more of them later...
Gender neutral, of course, with Kitty playing Merlin's mother as well as DPL'ing all your thee's and thou's: This play has wizards and dragons at her command so don't get her upset!
(By the way, for this play, where there are a number of small parts, multiple small role parts claims are allowed.)
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.
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.
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
===========================================
This paragraph is temporary and will be replaced by the MC with the list of sections and reader (Magic Window) once this project is in the admin system.
Set your recording software to:
Channels: 1 (Mono)
Bit Rate: 128 kbps
Sample Rate: 44.1 kHz
Submit one file per act.
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 Birth of Merlin: The Childe Hath Found His Father, by William Shakespeare and William Rowley. 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 [#]. At end of play, add "End of The Birth of Merlin: The Childe Hath Found His Father", by William Shakespeare and William Rowley
Please remember to check this thread frequently for updates!
AFTER recording Save files as 128 kbps MP3
birthofmerlin_[role]_[#]_128kb.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.
signing up for Merlin's mum (possibly the most important character in the Arthurian legends ) and getting this on my DPL list.
How anybody could believe this is Shakespeare is a mystery to me
I see I have you as my abusive brother, Todd ... oh my... you will surely enjoy getting your pay-back for all the underdog vicars, brothers, husbands, etc... all throughout the years
Todd wrote:
"Not sure what to do this weekend? Finished all the recording for the many other plays on offer? Well then, howsabout a (probably) fake Shakespeare? From a book of the best 14 (!) fakes - who knows, we might do more of them later..."
Edward III and Two Noble Kinsmen have been done on LV. Arden of Feversham is a good play (I saw it at Stratford) and Sir John Oldcastle would be fun (the original Falstaff)
Alan the sixth age shifts into the slippered pantaloon with spectacles on nose
Yeah, there is a good (opinionated) intro in the book as to which of the plays are likely any good. As well as descriptions of all the other fakes that are not in the magic 14 included.
first roles in ! Here is Merlin's mum ! The poor woman spends the first acts looking desperately for the father of her child...in the end she didn't get what she bargained for gave me a cool opportunity to be dramatic in the final act though Also I'm not always too sweet with you, brother, so take care how you talk to me !