Electra

Written by Benito Pérez Galdós

Narrated by LibriVox Community

Originally staged in the Teatro Español in 1901, Electra is a controversial Spanish drama that documents the trials and tribulations of its innocent heroine. Electra is a young woman of unknown parentage who is raised in a convent in France and, after the death of her mother Eleuteria, adopted by her aunt and uncle. Electra soon falls in love with the scientist Maximo, but an intricate web of rumors and lies threatens to ruin their relationship. In this play, Benito Pérez Galdós tackles a number of hot-button themes: fanaticism, superstition, social justice, rationalism, and the powers of science. - Summary by ChuckW

Cast list:
Electra: Amanda Friday
Evarista, wife of Don Urbano: Sarah Terry
Maximo: KHand
Don Salvador Pantoja: Negatron
The Marquis of Ronda: ToddHW
Don Leonardo Cuesta, a broker: Anthony
Don Urbano Garcia Yuste: Phil Schempf
Mariano, assistant in the laboratory: Eden Rea-Hedrick
Gil, a mathematician: Availle
Balbina, an old servant: Etel Buss
Patros, a young servant: CJ Plog
Jose, an old manservant: om123
Sister Dorotea: Beth Thomas
A Workman: David Olson
The Shade of Eleuteria: Mary Kay

Narrator: Rapunzelina
Editor: ToddHW

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

Benito Pérez Galdós

Benito Pérez Galdós (1843-1920) was a Spanish novelist. Born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, he was the youngest of ten sons born to Lieutenant Colonel Don Sebastián Pérez and Doña Dolores Galdós. Educated at San Agustin school, he travelled to Madrid to study Law but failed to complete his studies. In 1865, Pérez Galdós began publishing articles on politics and the arts in La Nación. His literary career began in earnest with his 1868 Spanish translation of Charles Dickens’ Pickwick Papers. Inspired by the leading realist writers of his time, especially Balzac, Pérez Galdós published his first novel, La Fontana de Oro (1870). Over the next several decades, he would write dozens of literary works, totaling 31 fictional novels, 46 historical novels known as the National Episodes, 23 plays, and 20 volumes of shorter fiction and journalism. Nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature five times without winning, Pérez Galdós is considered the preeminent author of nineteenth century Spain and the nation’s second greatest novelist after Miguel de Cervantes. Doña Perfecta (1876), one of his finest works, has been adapted for film and television several times.