Volunteers outside the USA: W. Somerset Maugham died in 1965. This person's work may still be protected by copyright in countries where copyright duration is determined by the author's death date. In Europe this is 70 years; in Canada it is 70 years for authors who died after 1971; and in Australia it is 70 years for authors who died after 1955.
This project is complete. Audio files can be found on our Librivox catalog page at https://librivox.org/the-letter-a-play-in-three-acts-by-w-somerset-maugham/The wife of a plantation manager in "British Malaysia" shoots a man of their acquaintance while her husband is away from home. She claims that the man she shot had attempted to rape her. Her lawyer supposes that her defense will be rather straightforward until his law clerk informs him that a blackmailer possesses evidence that will incriminate her. The defendant and her lawyer must determine whether it is best to 'explain away' the potentially damning implications of the titular letter or pay the sum demanded for its suppression. The Letter premiered (24 February 1927) at London's Playhouse Theatre where it ran 60 weeks starring Dame Gladys Cooper who was also the play's producer. While in rehearsal Maugham rewrote Act 3 using an innovative flashback to portray events preceding the shooting with which Act 1 opens. Katharine Cornell starred in the Broadway production which opened (26 September 1927) at the Morosco Theatre and ran for 104 performances. This production reverted to the original script, scrapping the flashback in favor of the lead actor's recantation of its events. This audio book production includes both versions of Act 3.(Summary by Brian Fullen)
Source text (please read only from this text!): https://archive.org/details/maugham_w_somerset_1874_1965_letter_play/mode/2up
Deadline: Please submit your recording within 2 months of placing your claim. If you cannot complete the recording within this time, please post in the thread to relinquish your claim or to ask the BC for an extension. If your recording is not completed by the deadline, your claim may be reassigned at the BC's discretion.
Claiming sections: Look in the Magic Window below for the list of available sections. Post a reply in this thread asking for the section you would like to record.
New to recording? Please see our Newbie Guide to Recording for further instructions. A quick guide to our required technical settings can be found here. When you post your file, please tell the BC what name you would like to use in our catalog.
Prooflistening level: Standard
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Magic Window:
BC Admin
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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.
- Project Code: zbSN3mnO
- Link to author on Wikipedia (if available): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Somerset_Maugham (W. Somerset Maugham)
- Link to title on Wikipedia (if available): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Letter_(play)
- Number of sections (files) this project will have: 26
- Does the project have an introduction or preface: No
- Original publication date (if known):
- If you are a new volunteer, how would you like your name (or pseudonym) credited in the catalog?
- Do you have a URL you would like associated with your name?:
Genres for the project: Plays/Drama
Keywords that describe the book: singapore, malaysia, british colonies, true crime inspired, scandalous affair
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LibriVox recording settings: mono (1 channel), 44100 Hz sample rate, 128 kbps constant bit rate MP3. See the Tech Specs
Intro to recording:
Leave 0.5 to 1 second of silence at the beginning.
If reading stage directions say:
End of recording:"Act # of The Letter, A Play in Three Acts. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org. The Letter, A Play in Three Acts by W. Somerset Maugham. Act #."
Say:
For the last act, add at the end:"End of Act #."
Leave 5 seconds of silence at the end."End of The Letter, A Play in Three Acts by W. Somerset Maugham."
If reading a character role, ensure you include a voice credit for your character as described in the MW. You do not need to read the above intros or outros.
Filename for character and stage direction files: theletter_role_#.mp3 where # is the act number. (e.g. theletter_leslie_crosbie_1.mp3)
Filename for final files once assembled: theletter_#_maugham_128kb.mp3 where # is the act number. (e.g. theletter_01_maugham_128kb.mp3)
Upload to the LibriVox Uploader: https://librivox.org/login/uploader
(If you have trouble reading the image above, please contact an admin)
MC to select: toddhw
Copy and paste the file link generated by the uploader into a new post in this thread along with the file duration (mm:ss). Watch this thread for prooflistening notes.
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask! Just post in this thread.
)
On this project, anyway