Widowers' Houses

Written by George Bernard Shaw

Narrated by LibriVox Community

This is one of three plays Shaw published as Plays Unpleasant in 1898; they were termed "unpleasant" because they were intended, not to entertain their audiences—as traditional Victorian theatre was expected to—but to raise awareness of social problems and to censure exploitation of the laboring class by the unproductive rich. In this play, Dr. Harry Trench becomes disillusioned when he discovers how his fiancee's father, Mr. Sartorius, makes his money. However, it is soon revealed that Trench's own income is far from untainted. (Summary by wildemoose and Wikipedia)

Cast:
Dr. Harry Trench: engineerdst
Mr. William de Burgh Cokane: David Goldfarb
Mr. Sartorius: Drakaunus
Blanche Sartorius: Arielle Lipshaw
Mr. Lickcheese: Algy Pug
Waiter: bala
Porter: David Olson
Parlour Maid/Narrator: Elizabeth Klett

Audio edited by: Arielle Lipshaw

• Language: English
• Publisher: LibriVox
• Release date: Aug 25, 2014

George Bernard Shaw

George Bernard Shaw was born in Dublin in 1856 and moved to London in 1876. He initially wrote novels then went on to achieve fame through his career as a journalist, critic and public speaker. A committed and active socialist, he was one of the leaders of the Fabian Society. He was a prolific and much lauded playwright and was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. He died in 1950.