An Ideal Husband is an 1895 comedy by Oscar Wilde which revolves around blackmail and political corruption, and touches on the themes of public and private honor. The action is set in London, in “the present”, and takes place within a single day. “Sooner or later,” Wilde notes, “we shall all have to pay for what we do.” But he adds that, “No one should be entirely judged by their past.” (Summary from Wikipedia)
Oscar Wilde brings his enormous gifts for astute social observation and sparkling prose to The Picture of Dorian Gray, his dreamlike story of a young man who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty. This dandy, who remains forever unchanged-petulant, hedonistic, vain, and amoral-while a painting of him ages and grows increasingly hideous with the years, has been horrifying and enchanting readers for more than 100 years.
Taking the reader in and out of London drawing rooms, to the heights of aestheticism, and to the depths of decadence, The Picture of Dorian Gray is not simply a melodrama about moral corruption. Laced with bon mots and vivid depictions of upper-class refinement, it is also a fascinating look at the milieu of Wilde’s fin-de-siècle world and a manifesto of the creed ‘Art for Art’s Sake.’
The ever-quotable Wilde, who once delighted London with his scintillating plays, scandalized readers with this, his only novel. Upon publication, Dorian was condemned as dangerous, poisonous, stupid, vulgar, and immoral, and Wilde as a ‘driveling pedant.’ The novel, in fact, was used against Wilde at his much-publicized trials for ‘gross indecency,’ which led to his imprisonment and exile on the European continent. Even so, The Picture of Dorian Gray firmly established Wilde as one of the great voices of the Aesthetic movement and endures as a classic that is as timeless as its hero.
This is a solo recording of the play, meaning that all parts including stage directions are performed by one person. LibriVox has three excellent dramatic recordings with all the parts played by different people so if that is more to your taste, please listen to them. Little needs to be said about the play itself, a sparkling example of Wilde’s amazing ability to poke fun at almost everyone while making you laugh out loud at the witty sayings sprinkled throughout the acts. As to the plot, if you don’t know it already, let me just say that it involves two young English men who fall madly and instantly in love with two young English.women who of course love them back mainly because their name is Earnest. Unfortunately, that is not their names and there are many bumps and crashes on the road to the happy wedding bells. I only hope I have done justice to this jewel of a play. Please listen and enjoy !
Lady Windermere – Kristin Hughes
Lord Windermere – Joe Earley
Mrs. Erlynne – Elizabeth Klett
Lord Darlington – Simon Taylor
The Duchess of Berwick – Ruth Golding
Mr. Cecil Graham – Chugosh
Lord Augustus Lorton – Chrystian J. Gonzalez
Mr. Dumby – Geoff Cowgill
Parker – Ed Meade
Lady Agatha Carlisle – Ezwa
Lady Plymdale – Christie Nowak
Mr. Hopper – tubeyes
Lady Jedburgh – Kalynda
Rosalie – Duan
Lady Stutfield – Sara Korsmo
Mrs. Cowper-Cowper – Anna Roberts
Narrator – Annoying Twit
Audio edited by Rosalind Wills and Ruth Golding.
The American Minister and his family have bought the English stately home Canterville Chase, complete with the ghost of Sir Simon de Canterville – blood-stains, clanking chains and all. But these modern Americans will have no truck with ghostly goings-on, and set out to beat the spectre at his own game.
A Woman of No Importance is a play by Irish playwright Oscar Wilde. The play premièred on 19 April 1893 at London’s Haymarket Theatre. It is a testimony of Wilde’s wit and his brand of dark comedy. It looks in particular at English upper class society and has been reproduced on stages in Europe and North America since his death in 1900. (Summary by Wikipedia)
Lady Windermere’s Fan, A Play About a Good Woman is a four-act comedy by Oscar Wilde, first produced 22 February 1892 at the St James’s Theatre in London. The play was first published in 1893. Like many of Wilde’s comedies, it bitingly satirizes the morals of Victorian society, particularly marriage.
The story concerns Lady Windermere, who discovers that her husband may be having an affair with another woman. She confronts her husband but he instead invites the other woman, Mrs Erlynne, to his wife’s birthday ball. Angered by her husband’s unfaithfulness, Lady Windermere leaves her husband for another lover. Or does she? Is it really possible to trust delicious gossip? Are all men really bad? These and many other questions are raised and if not answered, then held up for public scrutiny in this biting satire of morals and proper behavior. The best known line of the play sums up the central theme:
We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. —Lord Darlington (from Wikipedia and the reader)
Dorian Gray, a young man of wealth and stature in late 1800’s London, meets Lord Henry Wotton while posing for a portrait by his friend Basil Hallward. Once the painting is complete, Dorian realizes that it will always be young and attractive, while he will be forced to age and wither with the years. Carelessly, he wishes the opposite were true. What happens is a treatise on morals, self-indulgence and how crucial personal responsibility is towards one’s self. (Summary by John Gonzalez)
The Importance of Being Earnest is a classic comedy of manners in which two flippant young men, in order to impress their respected beloveds, pretend that their names are “Ernest,†which both young ladies believe confers magical qualities on the possessor. It was first performed for the public on February 14, 1895 at the St. James’ Theatre in London, and is regarded by many critics and scholars as being the wittiest play in the English language. (Summary from Wikipedia.org)