'Wilde did not converse - he told tales.' Oscar Wilde was already famous as a brilliant wit and raconteur when he first began to publish his short stories in the late 1880s. They have never lacked readers and admirers, George Orwell and W. B. Yeats among them. The stories give free rein to Wilde's originality, literary skill, and sophistication. They include poignant fairy-tales such as 'The Happy Prince' and 'The Selfish Giant', and the extravagant comedy and social obse...

Andrew Lang (1844–1912) made his name in the last quarter of the Victorian era in a remarkable number of literary and intellectual fields, as popular poet, influential literary critic, editor of the classic series of Fairy Books for the young, and as author of groundbreaking books on anthropology, Homeric scholarship, folklore and history. This is the first annotated edition of Lang’s poems, bringing together his books of verse and over 150 additional poems, many of them collected for the ...

In a remarkable literary career, Andrew Lang challenged the increasing specialism that accompanied the advance of modernity and science in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, authoring an extraordinary body of rigorous, scholarly works in the fields of social anthropology, folklore, Homeric studies, history, and religion, while simultaneously turning out novels, poems for periodicals, and inexhaustible columns of prose journalism to make money. He was widely regarded as one of the ...

The involuntary soldiers of an unmilitary people such were the forces that American military planners had to pit against hardened Axis veterans, yet prewar unpreparedness dictated that whole divisions of such men would go to war under the supervision of tiny professional cadres. Much to his surprise and delight, Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall found that the 88th Infantry Division, his first draftee division, "fought like wildcats" and readily outclassed its German adversari...

One of "The Eight"—a major group in the history of American painting—John Sloan was also an illustrator and cartoonist. Sloan kept an almost daily diary for eight years, for the most part to entertain his first wife, Dolly. Sloan's second wife and widow, Helen Fan Sloan, turned over the diaries and his letters, as well as notes and drawings to Bruce St. John of the Delaware Art Center, which houses the Sloan collection.John Sloan was interested in every social issue that went on ar...

Stacy Keach and Jane Kaczmarek star in Arthur Miller’s 1949 masterpiece, a searing portrait of the physical, emotional, and psychological costs of the American dream. Willy Loman (Keach) is the play’s iconic traveling salesman, whose family is torn apart by his desperate obsession with success and social acceptance. As his two sons cast about aimlessly for their station in life, Willy begins to come unraveled when the reality of his life threatens his long-cherished illusions.Recor...

Based on Johnston McCulley’s The Curse of Capistrano first published in 1919 by pulp magazine All-Story WeeklySet in Los Angeles during the era of early nineteenth century Colonial Spanish California, the story introduces us to wealthy, young aristocrat Don Diego de la Vega, son of the richest ranchero in the country. Don Diego is an idler who has never concerned himself with more than the cut of his clothes. Unlike other full-blooded youths of his age, he presents himself as a fop...

An exhilarating epic by the award-winning Antaeus Theatre Company with 16 actors portraying more than 130 characters. London in the 1830's - the most colorful and chaotic city in the world - and young journalist Charles Dickens is uncovering a dark conspiracy of arson and murder. A fanciful look at the man before he became the iconic author we know today. Based on an original screenplay by Janet Dulin Jones.An L.A. Theatre Works full-cast performance featuring John Apicella, Anne G...

In this classic farce, a young man pretends to be a war hero to impress a pretty girl. As his lies progress, so do his troubles – with hilarious results. Playwright Pierre Corneille’s comedy of manners is considered a groundbreaking work which influenced contemporaries such as the young Molière.Includes a conversation about Corneille and French drama with Larry F. Norman of the University of Chicago.Recorded before a live audience at the UCLA James Bridges Theater in April ...

After Vladimir Lenin's death, Stalin orders two Jewish scientists to preserve Lenin's body for all time. If they succeed, the rewards will be considerable. If not, it's the gulag – or worse. Based on real events, Vern Thiessen's nimble dark comedy exposes the absurdities of Soviet life under Stalin.Lenin's Embalmers is part of L.A. Theatre Works' Relativity Series featuring science-themed plays. Lead funding for the Relativity Series is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, b...

The epic sweep of Turgenev’s 19th century literary masterpiece is brought to the stage by one of Ireland’s greatest living dramatists. Fathers and Sons captures the ongoing clash of generations and philosophies. Set in a Russian country estate, Friel’s powerful and resonant adaptation examines the inevitable conflict between the urgency of youth and the entrenchment of age.An L.A. Theatre Works full cast performance featuring:James Callis as BazarovHarry Hamlin as Pa...