🎧Run Time = 11 hours & 40 minutes

BLACKSTONE AUDIOBOOKS presents the HOLLYWOOD THEATER of the EAR full cast audio production of Seven Classic Plays (Vol. 1):

Euripides' MEDEA ▪ Shakespeare's THE TEMPEST b> ▪ Molière's THE IMAGINARY INVALID ▪ Dumas' Camille ▪ Ibsen's AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE ▪ Shaw's ARMS AND THE MAN ▪ Chekhov's UNCLE VANYA

performed by: f. Murray Abrahams ▪ john glover ▪ rosemary harris ▪ nicholas kepros ▪ barry morse ▪ brian murray ▪ lois nettleton ▪ fritz weaver ▪ under the direction of yuri rasovsky

A collection that illustrates the development of European drama from ancient times to the threshold of the modern theater. A superb repertory company with distinguished guest artists has been assembled here, under the direction of a veteran producer, who has won both an Audie Award for book production and the George Foster Peabody Award for broadcasting. These full performances use all the resources of audio to full advantage while keeping the substance of the works intact, resulting in both greater intimacy and lively theatrics.

Staginess is avoided, lively theatrics enhanced, while the substance of the works remains intact. For instance, in Arms and the Man, audio makes possible the judicious integration of the author's witty scene settings, written for the published version of the play, with the play itself. Music accounts for another noteworthy aspect of these productions. The Imaginary Invalid employs the score that Marc-Antoine Charpentier composed for Moliare's own premiere. It is conducted by Steven Ovitsky, president and executive director of the Milwaukee Symphony. The Tempest, composed by Shakespeare as a musical romance, features music from Shakespeare's own production, played on period instruments by the Newberry Consort.

To ensure fidelity to the themes, atmosphere, and tone of the texts, three noted scholars from Tufts University served as advisors: Professors Peter Arnott, Sylvan Barnet, and Laurence Senelick. All seven plays were produced in the spring of 1985 with the generous assistance of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts. ⭐Rasovsky's directorial genius lies in his orchestration of passion and restraint. -- Variety
⭐Yuri Rasovsky -- who wrote and produced this superior experience -- must be a genius. -- AudioFile Magazine