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Theatre
- Narrated by: Lucy Scott
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
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Theatre
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Summary
Julia Lambert is in her prime, the greatest actress in England. Off stage, however, she is bored by her handsome husband, coquettish, and undisciplined. She is at first flattered and amused by the attentions of a shy and eager young fan, but before long Julia is amazed to find herself falling wildly, dangerously, in love.
William Somerset Maugham (25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English playwright, novelist and short story writer. He was among the most popular writers of his era and reputedly the highest paid author of the 1930s. Maugham was orphaned by the age of ten, but after an unhappy childhood, he flourished when he moved to London to study medicine as a young man, giving him plenty of inspiration for his literary ambitions. His first novel, Liza of Lambeth, sold out in a matter of weeks, prompting Maugham to leave medicine and embark on a 65-year career as a man of letters. By 1914 he was famous, with ten successful plays produced and ten novels published. In 1917, he was asked by the British Secret Intelligence Service (now MI6) to undertake a special mission in Russia; an experience which would go on to inspire Ashenden, a collection of short stories about a gentlemanly spy that influenced Ian Fleming’s James Bond series. Maugham’s most famous works include Of Human Bondage, a semiautobiographical novel, The Moon and Sixpence, Cakes and Ale and The Razor’s Edge. His writing has inspired a string of over 35 film adaptations and has influenced many notable authors, including Anthony Burgess, George Orwell and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
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Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- KK
- 17-10-24
Marvellous!
Amusingly and beautifully written and very revealing of the characters - thoroughly enjoyed the telling of it too.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Alison
- 28-03-14
Of Its Era
The latest in my current occasional re-visits to old favourite Somerset Maugham novels. Theatre is short and punchy, frothy and very easy listening. I really enjoyed it, but it is very much of its time: cliched as it now may sound to us, I also very much liked being taken back to a era of glamour, grease-paint and glittering parties!
The chief character is Julia and (unusually, I think, for WSM) he does present us with a pretty well-rounded female 'lead'. She's clever - but very one-dimensional; she's flawed - and in many ways, she knows her own failings, despite staggering vanity and self-awareness. But I really liked her. Compared to her, the other characters seem less vivid - I imagine this is how the author meant us to feel.
Well read, in a voice that coped quite well with the male characters too, the narration also seemed a period piece, so it worked very well, for me.
If you fancy a few hours in the dressing rooms and cocktail parties of the stars, with nothing to tax your senses or offer any listening peril whatsoever, I recommend Theatre.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Leonie Frieda
- 15-01-20
That certainty I feel when picking up a book by Maugham
William Somerset Maugham’s piercing ability to cut back the fluff & froth that fill so many other literary works of fiction is as vibrantly alive today as when he wrote THEATRE. As a great playwright himself he wrote from personal experience , but this peerless author and observer of Human Nature brings a thrill that within this work, and Theatre is certainly an outstanding book, that the protagonists will be stripped naked with feelings and actions so gripping the drama lies in watching ourselves from the cheapest action to an act of self-sacrifice - the narrative is unflagging and this comedy of Manners within the theatre of the day is brilliantly enjoyable & as compelling as any murder mystery. Wonderfully Narrated - the whole ..... a blissful and all too rare treat. Léonie Frieda Cape Town
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2 people found this helpful