The Admirable Bashville
George Bernard Shaw
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
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 (1 hr 10 min)