Plays & Dramatisations

The Jane Austen BBC Radio Drama Collection: Six BBC Radio Full-Cast Dramatisations

• ORIGINAL (14 hrs and 30 mins)
• By Jane Austen
• Narrated By Benedict Cumberbatch, David Tennant, Julie McKenzie

A collection of BBC radio full-cast dramatisations of Jane Austen's six major novels. Jane Austen is one of the finest writers in the English language, and this volume includes all six of her classic novels. Mansfield Park: on a quest to find a position in society, Fanny Price goes to live with her rich aunt and uncle. Northanger Abbey: young, naïve Catherine Morland receives an invitation to stay at the isolated Gothic mansion Northanger Abbey.

The Oedipus Plays: An Audible Original Drama

• UNABRIDGED (5 hrs and 8 mins)
• By Sophocles, Ian Johnston - translator
• Narrated By Jamie Glover, Hayley Atwell, Michael Maloney, and others

The three Theban plays by Sophocles - Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone - are one of the great landmarks of Western theatre. They tell the story of Oedipus, King of Thebes, who was destined to suffer a terrible fate - to kill his father, marry his mother, and beget children of the incestuous union. He does this unknowingly but still has to suffer terrible consequences, which also tragically affect the next generation.

The Ibsen Collection (Hedda Gabler, A Doll's House, An Enemy of the People) - Audible Classic Theatre: An Audible Original Drama

• ORIGINAL (6 hrs and 34 mins)
• By Henrik Ibsen
• Narrated By Owen Teale, Harry Myers, Laura Carmichael, and others

This collection of three of Ibsen's plays is voiced by a sparkling cast and features music, SFX and a full soundscape. Hedda Gabler is a poignant study of loneliness, impotent rage and societal expectations breeding a certain kind of madness, An Enemy of the People is a true classic and a play for our modern times in equal measure and A Doll's House presents a fascinating before-its-time window onto a world where expectations of women were streets apart from the contemporary world.

Understanding Literature and Life: Drama, Poetry and Narrative

• ORIGINAL (32 hrs and 49 mins)
• By The Great Courses
• Narrated By Professor Arnold Weinstein

The major texts of Western culture are a gateway to wisdom that can widen your views on self and society in enduring ways. And now you can examine its most important works - whether drama, poetry, or narrative - in this series of 64 penetrating lectures that reveal astonishing common ground.

Ring for Jeeves

• ABRIDGED (5 hrs and 4 mins)
• By P. G. Wodehouse
• Narrated By Martin Jarvis

We find ourselves in the austerity of the 1950s, when England's aristocracy was feeling the pinch. Bertie Wooster has gone to a residential self-help school to learn how to darn his socks. Until he re-emerges, Jeeves has signed up with Bill Rowcester (pronounced Roaster), an earl who is failing to make ends meet in trade, and yearning to sell his stately home, which has charm and damp in equal measure. In his new environment Jeeves is required to exert his mammoth brain to what would be breaking point for any normal intellect.

The Importance of Being Earnest (Dramatised)

• ORIGINAL (1 hr and 57 mins)
• By Oscar Wilde
• Narrated By Judi Dench, Miriam Margoyles, Martin Clunes

Ever since the first night at the St James' Theatre on 14 February 1895, The Importance of Being Earnest has been recognised as one of the world's finest comic dramas. Now Judi Dench as Lady Bracknell leads an outstanding cast in this superb new production of Wilde's masterpiece, mounted to celebrate the centenary of the first performance.

Classic BBC Radio Shakespeare: Tragedies: Hamlet; Macbeth; Romeo and Juliet

• ORIGINAL (7 hrs and 23 mins)
• By William Shakespeare
• Narrated By full cast, Ian McKellen, Paul Scofield, and others

Three powerful radio productions from the BBC archives starring Ian McKellen, Ronald Pickup and Paul Scofield and a host of celebrated acting talent. These three legendary plays, performed by some of the best-known theatrical actors of the 20th century, are the perfect way to commemorate England's greatest dramatist.

Pride and Prejudice

• ORIGINAL (2 hrs and 50 mins)
• By Jane Austen
• Narrated By Samantha Spiro, Full Cast

Samantha Spiro, David Troughton, and Amanda Root are among the cast of this new BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of Jane Austen’s famous novel. Mrs Bennet is determined to see her five daughters married off and secure a future for them all. When the wealthy Mr Bingley arrives in the neighbourhood, Mrs Bennet wastes no time in making his acquaintance. His friend Mr Darcy, however, discourages Mr Bingley from marrying Jane Bennet, and also appears to snub her sister Elizabeth.

Frankenstein (Dramatized)

• ORIGINAL (5 hrs and 19 mins)
• By Mary Shelley, Jonathan Barnes
• Narrated By Arthur Darvill, Nicholas Briggs, Geoffrey Beevers, and others

When the crew of the Oceanus rescued a man close to death, its captain could barely have guessed at the incredible story that man would come to share. This is the story of Victor Frankenstein: a man obsessed with discovering the secret of life and cheating death; a man who brings to life to a body built from corpses; and a man who rejects this would-be child.... Soon Victor and his creature are entangled in a dangerous game of cat and mouse across Europe. But who is truly the monster?

Classic BBC Radio Horror: Appointment with Fear

• ORIGINAL (1 hr and 58 mins)
• By Edgar Allan Poe, John Dickson Carr, Monckton Hoffe
• Narrated By Valentine Dyall, Marjorie Westbury, Marius Goring, and others

Four chilling episodes from the famous 1940s BBC radio series, introduced by Valentine Dyall, AKA The Man in Black. These are the four sole surviving episodes from the BBC archive: ‘The Pit and the Pendulum’ by Edgar Allan Poe (18/9/1943); ‘The Speaking Clock’ by John Dickson Carr (13/4/1944); ‘The Clock Strikes Eight’ by John Dickson Carr(18/5/1944); ‘And The Deep Shuddered’ by Monckton Hoffe (20/11/1945). Amongst the cast are Marjorie Westbury, Marius Goring and Gladys Spencer.

Richard III: A Fully-Dramatized Audio Production From Folger Theatre

• ORIGINAL (3 hrs and 22 mins)
• By William Shakespeare
• Narrated By full cast

In Richard III, Shakespeare invites us on a moral holiday. The play draws us to identify with Richard and his fantasy of total control of self and domination of others. Not yet king at the start of the play, Richard presents himself as an enterprising villain as he successfully plans to dispose of his brother, Clarence. Richard achieves similar success in conquering the woman he chooses to marry. He carves a way to the throne through assassination and executions.

The Modern Scholar: Greek Drama: Tragedy and Comedy

• ORIGINAL (8 hrs and 25 mins)
• By Peter Meineck
• Narrated By Peter Meineck

This course will examine the social, historical, and political context of ancient Greek drama and equip listeners with a set of critical analytical tools for developing their own appreciation of this vitally important genre. The course will focus on the four extant playwrights, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes, and examine each of their plays closely.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

• UNABRIDGED (2 hrs)
• By William Shakespeare
• Narrated By Ian McKellen, Prunella Scales, Frank Duncan, and others

Lovers lives are complicated by city law, feuding faerie royalty, and, yes, love. Sir Ian McKellen, Prunella Scales, Frank Duncan, and Joan Hart perform Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

In Search of Lost Time (Dramatized)

• ORIGINAL (5 hrs and 39 mins)
• By Marcel Proust
• Narrated By James Wilby, Jonathan Firth, Harriet Walter, and others

Featuring a fictional version of himself - 'Marcel' - and a host of friends, acquaintances, and lovers, In Search of Lost Time is Proust's search for the key to the mysteries of memory, time, and consciousness. As he recalls his childhood days, the sad affair of Charles Swann and Odette de Crecy, his transition to manhood, the tortures of love and the ravages of war, he realises that the simplest of discoveries can lead to astonishing possibilities.

The Oscar Wilde Collection

• ORIGINAL (8 hrs and 22 mins)
• By Oscar Wilde
• Narrated By James Marsters, Jacqueline Bisset, Alfred Molina, and others

Four classic comedies from one of the wittiest playwrights in Western literature: Lady Windermere’s Fan, A Woman of No Importance, An Ideal Husband and The Importance of Being Earnest, all featuring star-studded casts with the likes of Jacqueline Bisset, Miriam Margolyes, James Marsters, Alfred Molina, Roger Rees, Yeardley Smith, Eric Stoltz, and many more. Also includes a chilling dramatization of Wilde’s sole novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray.

The Code of the Woosters (Dramatized)

• ORIGINAL (1 hr and 59 mins)
• By P. G. Wodehouse
• Narrated By Rosalind Ayres, Martin Jarvis

The Code of the Woosters is one of the best known of Wodehouse's Bertie and Jeeves series. Bertie's beloved Aunt Dahlia pressures him into stealing a cow-shaped silver creamer much coveted by his uncle from his arch rival in silver collecting, Sir Watkyn Bassett. At the same time, Bertie attempts to patch up the shaky romance between Guisse Fink-Nottle, the newt expert, and Madeline Bassett, a four star drip. The results of Bertie's efforts are, as always, a financial disaster.

Vanity Fair: BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisation

• ORIGINAL (4 hrs and 32 mins)
• By William Makepeace
• Narrated By Emma Fielding, Stephen Fry

Stephen Fry narrates this full-cast dramatisation of the famous Victorian comic novel, a portrait of English society and its mores, with Emma Fielding as Becky Sharp. Duration: 5 hours approx.

Macbeth: The Arkangel Shakespeare

• ORIGINAL (2 hrs and 18 mins)
• By William Shakespeare
• Narrated By Hugh Ross, Harriet Walter

The brave warrior Macbeth allows himself to be persuaded by Lady Macbeth, his wife, to slay good King Duncan and seize the throne of Scotland for himself. Macbeth achieves his ambition, but one murder proves not to be enough as he desperately attempts to eliminate all who might threaten his ill-gotten power. Descending into paranoia, Macbeth achieves his ambition but ravages his soul.

Evelina

• UNABRIDGED (16 hrs and 27 mins)
• By Frances Burney
• Narrated By Judi Dench, Finty Williams, Geoffrey Palmer

Fanny Burney's wickedly funny satire follows the trials and romantic adventures of the young and beautiful Evelina as she tries to make her way through 18th-century Britain handicapped by her three great problems: being poor, being illegitimate - and being a girl. Evelina was a raging best seller when it was first published in 1778 and is widely credited with being the first of the great British domestic novels. Burney was a direct influence on her immediate follower, Jane Austen.

The Art of Dramatic Writing: Its Basis in the Creative Interpretation of Human Motives

• UNABRIDGED (8 hrs and 19 mins)
• By Lajos Egri
• Narrated By Troy W. Hudson

Among the many "how-to" playwriting books that have appeared over the years, there have been few that attempt to analyze the mysteries of play construction. Lajos Egri's classic, The Art of Dramatic Writing, does just that, with instruction that can be applied equally well to a short story, novel, or screenplay. Examining a play from the inside out, Egri starts with the heart of any drama: its characters. All good dramatic writing hinges on people and their relationships.

Beowulf: A Performance Translation

• UNABRIDGED (2 hrs and 24 mins)
• By Sebastian Lockwood, Francelia Clark
• Narrated By Sebastian Lockwood

This single inherited epic in our language has it all: drama, blood, heroism, mourning, and teaching with soul-searching thought about all this. It looks back. In its top layer of listening, we are brought along with heroic figures, even with a superhero, to challenge agonizing monsters. This world also includes beautiful sea voyages, crafty disputes, the falling of tribes, and moving elegies. Most often its Old English poetry can translate directly into fresh pictures. The epic Beowulf is a masterfully told story.

Dracula

• ORIGINAL (4 hrs and 5 mins)
• By Bram Stoker, Jonathan Barnes
• Narrated By Mark Gatiss, Joseph Kloska, Deirdre Mullins, and others

When a young solicitor, Jonathan Harker, visits the heart of Transylvania - ostensibly to meet reclusive nobleman Count Dracula - he cannot begin to imagine what horrors might lie in store for him there...or the chain of events he will set in motion at Castle Dracula. Soon, Dracula's bloodlust spreads to England's shores, and Harker's fiancée, Mina Murray, becomes embroiled in his affairs.

The Barchester Chronicles: Six BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisations

• ORIGINAL (15 hrs and 35 mins)
• By Anthony Trollope
• Narrated By Clive Mantle, David Bamber, Iain Glen, and others

Six lavish BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisations of Anthony Trollope's much-loved novels. Anthony Trollope's series of witty and gently satirical stories of provincial life are set in the fictional town of Barchester and its surrounding county of Barsetshire. The canvas is broad and colourful, with a set of iconic characters in whose lives we become intimately involved as they grow up, grow old, and fall in or out of love and friendship across the years.

Harvey

• UNABRIDGED (2 hrs and 19 mins)
• By Mary Chase
• Narrated By Jason Damron

When Elwood P. Dowd starts to introduce his imaginary friend, Harvey, a six-and-a-half-foot rabbit, to guests at a society party, his sister, Veta, has seen as much of his eccentric behavior as she can tolerate. She decides to have him committed to a sanitarium to spare her daughter, Myrtle Mae, and their family from future embarrassment.

The Three Sisters

• UNABRIDGED (2 hrs and 24 mins)
• By Anton Chekhov, Julius West - translator
• Narrated By Andy Harrington, Leanne Yau, Elizabeth Chambers, and others

The Three Sisters is Anton Chekhov's 1901 play about the Prosorov family, who are stuck in a provincial Russian town. The sisters - Olga, Masha, and Irina - fantasize about one day returning to Moscow. Meanwhile, their brother Andrey courts village girl Natasha, and the family socializes with the soldiers stationed nearby. Dreams, longing, and illicit love drive the action of Chekhov's comic drama.

Antigone (Director's Playbook Edition, Annotated)

• UNABRIDGED (1 hr and 10 mins)
• By Sophocles
• Narrated By David Hopkins
• Whispersync for Voice-ready

The great tragedy by Athenian playwright Sophocles, a tale of a woman's duty and a king's pride. Antigone promised a proper burial to her late brother, but doing so will disobey an ordinance of King Creon and risk invoking his wrath. Translation by F. Storr.

A Doll's House

• UNABRIDGED (2 hrs and 16 mins)
• By Henrik Ibsen
• Narrated By Carson Beck
• Whispersync for Voice-ready

A Doll's House is significant for the way it deals with the fate of a married woman at the time who lacked reasonable opportunities for self-fulfillment in a male dominated world. It aroused a great sensation at the time and caused a "storm of outraged controversy" that went beyond the theatre to the world newspapers and society. Take a listen to Ibsen's most notable piece!

Everything You Need to Know About Macbeth

• UNABRIDGED (1 hr and 47 mins)
• By Charles River Editors
• Narrated By Jim D. Johnston
• Whispersync for Voice-ready

William Shakespeare is widely considered the greatest writer in the history of the English language, so renowned and respected that the time period in which he lived is often known as the Age of Shakespeare. Indeed, his genius is questioned only by those who doubt the authenticity of his authorship of timeless classics like Romeo and Juliet. As Ben Jonson once put it, "He was not of an age, but for all time."