The Admirable Bashville

Written by George Bernard Shaw

Narrated by LibriVox Community

The Admirable Bashville is a product of the British law of copyright. As that law stands at present, the first person who patches up a stage version of a novel, however worthless and absurd that version may be, and has it read by himself and a few confederates to another confederate who has paid for admission in a hall licensed for theatrical performances, secures the stage rights of that novel, even as against the author himself; and the author must buy him out before he can touch his own work for the purposes of the stage...As a good Socialist I do not at all object to the limitation of my right of property in my own works to a comparatively brief period, followed by complete Communism: in fact, I cannot see why the same salutary limitation should not be applied to all property rights whatsoever; but a system which enables any alert sharper to acquire property rights in my stories as against myself and the rest of the community would, it seems to me, justify a rebellion if authors were numerous and warlike enough to make one." (Summary by G.B. Shaw, from the Preface)

Cast:
Lydia/Narrator: Arielle Lipshaw
Cashel Byron: Algy Pug
Bob Mellish: Anthony
Lucian: mb
Bashville: Matthew Reece
A Newsboy/Master of the Revels: TriciaG
Cetewayo: Peter Bishop
Lord Worthington: Alan
Paradise/Adelaide Gisborne: 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.