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Classic Radio Theatre: The Country Wife (Dramatised)
- Narrated by: Maggie Smith, Jonathan Pryce, John Duttine, John Moffatt, Harriet Walter, Michael Aldridge
- Length: 1 hr and 59 mins
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Publisher's summary
Maggie Smith and Jonathan Pryce star in William Wycherley’s raunchy Restoration comedy.
Considered too obscene to be staged in its original form for nearly 200 years, William Wycherley’s bawdy comedy tells the tale of Mr Horner, a notorious rake who spreads the false rumour that he is impotent in order to gain free access to other men’s wives. When he meets the young, innocent Margery Pinchwife, the ‘country wife’ of the title, the scene is set for scandal.
This sparkling 1985 BBC Radio production stars Maggie Smith as Margery Pinchwife, with an all-star cast including Jonathan Pryce, John Duttine, John Moffatt, Harriet Walter and Michael Aldridge.
The Classic Radio Theatre range presents notable radio productions of much-loved plays by some of the most renowned playwrights and starring some of our finest actors.
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This final play from the pen of Oscar Wilde is a stylish send-up of Victorian courtship and manners, complete with assumed names, mistaken lovers, and a lost handbag. Jack and Algernon are best friends, both wooing ladies who think their names are Ernest, "that name which inspires absolute confidence". Wilde's effervescent wit, scathing social satire, and high farce make this one of the most cherished plays in the English language.
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Delightfully silly
- By Tad Davis on 09-12-11
By: Oscar Wilde
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The School for Scandal
- By: Richard Brinsley Sheridan
- Narrated by: Stuart Bunce, Jane Carr, John Francis Harries, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 49 mins
- Original Recording
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Beware the gossips! Lady Sneerwell and her hireling, Snake, are certainly up to no good in this timeless send-up of hypocritical manners. Thanks to their scandal-mongering, the comely Lady Teazle must fend off the slanderous barbs that have caught the ear of her elderly husband - as well as every other gossip in London! What follows is a torrent of mistaken identities and sex-crazed scheming in which the upper classes have never looked so low class.
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This is a play for English Lit students!
- By Kemdi on 03-25-15
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The Decameron
- By: Giovanni Boccaccio
- Narrated by: Simon Russell Beale, Gunnar Cauthery, Alison Pettitt, and others
- Length: 28 hrs and 5 mins
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The Decameron is one of the greatest literary works of the Middle Ages. Ten young people have fled the terrible effects of the Black Death in Florence and, in an idyllic setting, tell a series of brilliant stories, by turns humorous, bawdy, tragic and provocative. This celebration of physical and sexual vitality is Boccaccio's answer to the sublime other-worldliness of Dante's Divine Comedy.
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Not Up to the Usual Naxos Standard
- By John on 11-15-17
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Shakespeare for Children
- By: Charles Lamb, Mary Lamb
- Narrated by: Josephine Bailey
- Length: 5 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Introduce your children to the magic of Shakespeare with these 20 favorite tales. Although simplified, these lively stories don't underestimate young readers; they keep the complexity, twists of plot, and turns of fate found in the originals.
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NOT unabridged
- By Erica on 11-06-07
By: Charles Lamb, and others
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Tales from Shakespeare
- The Lambs' Tales (Puffin Classics)
- By: Charles Lamb, Mary Lamb, William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Alan Cumming, Nigel Davenport, Andrew Sachs, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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A perfect introduction for all ages to the breadth and beauty of Shakespeare's work, Tales from Shakespearehas become a classic work in its own right. The tales bring vividly alive the power of Hamlet and Macbeth, the fun of A Midsummer Night's Dream, and the drama of The Tempest. Blending detailed narrative with original dialogue and poetic language, they fully convey the wit, wisdom, and imagination of Shakespeare's magnificent plays.
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Not all of the stories
- By GPH on 08-22-18
By: Charles Lamb, and others
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Barry Lyndon
- By: William Makepeace Thackeray
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 13 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Like Tom Jones before him, Barry Lyndon is one of the most lively and roguish characters in English literature. He may now be best known through the colorful Stanley Kubrick film released in 1975, but it is Thackeray who, in true 19th-century style, shows him best.
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A masterful reading
- By BB on 06-14-14
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The Claverings
- By: Anthony Trollope
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 20 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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At the opening of The Claverings (1866) the beautiful Julia Brabazon jilts her lover Harry Clavering in order to make a marriage of convenience with a wealthy but dissolute earl. Harry licks his wounds, leaves London to train as a civil engineer, and falls in love with his employer's daughter, to whom he soon becomes engaged. But when Julia returns unexpectedly as a wealthy widow, the flame of Harry's old love is rekindled.
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A classic love triangle in a classic novel...:)
- By Lidia Chymkowska on 12-17-18
By: Anthony Trollope
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The Warden
- By: Anthony Trollope
- Narrated by: Nigel Hawthorne
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Set in the world of the Victorian professional and landed classes, the story centres on Mr Harding, a clergyman of great personal integrity who is nevertheless in possession of an income from a charity far in excess of the sum devoted to it.
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a delight
- By Janet on 12-22-08
By: Anthony Trollope
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Don Quixote
- Translated by Edith Grossman
- By: Edith Grossman - translator, Miguel de Cervantes
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 39 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Sixteenth-century Spanish gentleman Don Quixote, fed by his own delusional fantasies, takes to the road in search of chivalrous adventures. But his quest leads to more trouble than triumph. At once humorous, romantic, and sad, Don Quixote is a literary landmark. This fresh edition, by award-winning translator Edith Grossman, brings the tale to life as never before.
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My Fourth Try at an Audible Quixote
- By James on 12-24-12
By: Edith Grossman - translator, and others
What listeners say about Classic Radio Theatre: The Country Wife (Dramatised)
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Shannon N. Etienne
- 02-27-24
SO MUCH of original play is cut out
Very funny story, disturbing at times. Definitely would recommend reading the play on your own rather than listening since there are so many characters to keep up with and so many parts cut out from this version.
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- Nicole
- 05-03-15
better than I expected
I only got it to complete my homework but found it to be exceptionally entertaining.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Fronek Family
- 04-26-16
Smith shines in abridged radio play
Performances were good, but Maggie Smith's was truly superb. The actor playing Horner also did an excellent job. Unfortunately, the producers decided to trim some of the scenes, which, of course, compromises the story (hence, 2 stars). So, if you are a thespian, beware, you will be disappointed as this is abridged, regardless of whether they label it so or not.
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3 people found this helpful
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- ANNE-MARIE BURKE BREWSTER
- 06-20-21
What Wives
this was totally hilarious on a father's day. lol.
The books of the past were so well written, you felt like you were there.
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