The Constant Wife

Written by W. Somerset Maugham

Narrated by Kate Burton, Stephen Collins and Full Cast

There’s something Constance Middleton’s friends are dying to tell her: her husband is having an affair – with her best friend! Despite their hints, Constance remains ever cool, and seemingly oblivious. Or is she? In this biting comedy of manners, marriages and mistresses, Constance – a not-so-desperate housewife - has some ideas of her own about extra-marital activity that surprise everyone in the end!

An L.A. Theatre Works full-cast performance featuring:
Kate Burton as Constance Middleton
Rosalind Ayres as Barbara Fawcett
Mark Capri as Bentley and Mortimer Durham
Stephen Collins as Bernard Kersal
John De Lancie as John Middleton, F.R.C.S.
Jen Dede as Marie-Louise Durham
Christina Pickles as Mrs. Culver
Kirsten Potter as Martha Culver

Directed by Jeanie Hackett. Recorded before a live audience at the Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles.

• Language: English
• Publisher: L.A. Theatre Works
• Release date: Sep 25, 2010
• ISBN: 9781580817400

W. Somerset Maugham

W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) was an English novelist, playwright, and short story writer. Born in Paris, he was orphaned as a boy and sent to live with an emotionally distant uncle. He struggled to fit in as a student at The King’s School in Canterbury and demanded his uncle send him to Heidelberg University, where he studied philosophy and literature. In Germany, he had his first affair with an older man and embarked on a career as a professional writer. After completing his degree, Maugham moved to London to begin medical school. There, he published Liza of Lambeth (1897), his debut novel. Emboldened by its popular and critical success, he dropped his pursuit of medicine to devote himself entirely to literature. Over his 65-year career, he experimented in form and genre with such works as Lady Frederick (1907), a play, The Magician (1908), an occult novel, and Of Human Bondage (1915). The latter, an autobiographical novel, earned Maugham a reputation as one of the twentieth century’s leading authors, and continues to be recognized as his masterpiece. Although married to Syrie Wellcome, Maugham considered himself both bisexual and homosexual at different points in his life. During and after the First World War, he worked for the British Secret Intelligence Service as a spy in Switzerland and Russia, writing of his experiences in Ashenden: Or the British Agent (1927), a novel that would inspire Ian Fleming’s James Bond series. At one point the highest-paid author in the world, Maugham led a remarkably eventful life without sacrificing his literary talent.

Reviews for The Constant Wife

[Colleen · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The use of language itself, particularly those uttered by the wife is biting and apt of the state of marriage and so so witty.

[leslie398 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I listened to this full cast audiobook by streaming from the LATW website. What a funny play! And I loved the ending... I'll have to keep my eye open to see if I can catch a performance sometime.

[ctpress_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Constance Middleton is certainly not a desperate housewife. Her husband is having an affair, everyone knows it, but she remains cool and oblivious and doesn’t even want to know what’s going on. Yet she has a secret to share that will create a scandal.This play is a witty and sharp comedy of manners - a battle of the sexes with a very calm and unromantic view of marriage. OK, it is witty, but there was a little too much cynicism for my taste.I will try to listen to some other play by Somerset Maughan. He’s very good writing witty dialogue. Another great performance by L. A. Theatre Works with live audience.