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Click on the icon to listen to excerpts from any of these popular Theme and Variations programs:
PURE SIMPLICITY
Airdate: September 5, 2004
Best known for his poems, Langston Hughes was also the author of compelling short fiction. His "Simple Stories"
are tales gathered from Harlem cafes and nightclubs of the late 1930s. Three of them, "Wooing the Muse," "Banquet in
Honor" and "Fancy Free," are hilariously presented here by Essie Morris. Running time: 28 mins.
THE SAILOR-BOY'S TALE
Airdate: August 29, 2004
A young sailor learns lessons about love and friendship from a Russian sailor and a peregrine falcon in this gothic
tale by Isak Dinesen. Read by Charlene Moskal. Running time: 14 mins.
IN THE SHADOW OF MADNESS
Airdate: June 6, 2004
From the author of Brideshead Revisited came some of the most pleasantly sinister tales of twentieth century English
letters, including "Mr. Loveday's Little Outing," in which a man incarcerated for murder is given a few hours to partake
in an old pleasure. Read by Douglas Trenfield. Running time: 22 mins.
WINTER CRUISE
Airdate: May 23, 2004
As the German freighter Friedrich Weber makes its way from Haiti to Europe, captain and crew resolve that their
hopelessly talkative passenger, an aged spinster, must have a lover. W. Somerset Maugham's "Winter Cruise" is read by
Douglas Trenfield. Running time: 31 mins.
NINE YEARS WITH THE INDIANS
Airdate: April 11, 2004
At the age of 11, Herman Lehman was abducted from his Texas frontier family by a wandering band of Apache Indians.
During the next nine years he would graduate from slave captive to tribal elder, until his recapture by the whites in
1879. We went on location to Loyal Valley, Texas to interview Lehmann's two surviving nieces, who recount their childhood
memories of Lehmann as an old man, along with readings by Will Everett from Lehman's autobiography Nine Years with the
Indians. Running time: 58 mins.
RASPUTIN
Airdate: February 22, 2004
Was he a magician, an inspired holy man or a talented fraud? We examine the complex personality of Gregory Rasputin
from two perspectives, that of his daughter, Maria Rasputin, and of his murderer, Prince Youssoupov, as taken from their
memoirs. Read by Charlene Moskal and Will Everett. Running time: 59 mins.
THERE WERE SHEPHERDS
Airdate: December 21, 2003
Not all holiday tales are wrapped in tinsel and colored lights. Christmas comes to a Texas junkyard in this holiday
vignette by Will Everett. Read by the author. Running time: 24 mins.
THE ENSOULED VIOLIN
Airdate: October 26, 2003
The nineteenth-century spiritualist Helena Blavatsky reputedly had her own "astral post-office" by which she could
exchange letters with the departed. This Halloween program features her chilling tale "The Ensouled Violin," in which a
violin teacher makes a gruesome sacrifice so that his young mentor will beat Paganini in a violin contest. Read by Will
Everett. Running time: 58 mins.
ANNA KARENINA
Airdate: Week of October 19, 2003
Leo Tolstoy considered this novel his spiritual cri du coeur, as exemplified in the mystical quest of Constantin
Levin. In one of the novel's most famous scenes, Levin takes up a scythe and joins his peasants in a day of vigorous
mowing. Read by Will Everett. Running time: 40 mins.
THE ROCKING-HORSE WINNER
Airdate: April 13, 2003
D.H. Lawrence's much anthologized "The Rocking-Horse Winner" tells the story of a disfunctional family saved from
financial ruin by a boy and a mysterious rocking-horse. Read by Will Everett. Running time: 32 mins.
ADORAMUS
Airdate: August 3, 2001
Like most teenagers, Nathan is searching for answers. This story by Will Everett examines the complexities of
spirituality and sexuality in the life of a young man traveling in Russia on a church choir trip. Read by the author.
Running time: 58 mins.
THE LOVE BROTHERS
Airdate: September 1, 2000
In this story by Will Everett, family loyalty and school spirit bring two brothers to commit an unwitting act of
violence against a French exchange student. (Note: violence and extreme language.) Read by the author. Running time:
59 mins.
To order copies of these and other Theme and Variations broadcasts on CD, contact:
tapes@treehouseproductions.org
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