Showing results by author "Oscar Wilde" in All Categories

A young man commits all types of sins, but only his portrait shows the ravages of his life. Oscar Wilde's Faustian classic. Gothic horror at its best.

Meet artist Rosemary Hall and follow her inevitable downfall brought by her lust for the famous Dorian Gray - a tale both familiar and new in this brilliant erotic mash-up of one of the world’s most beloved novels. With a mix of old fashioned Victorian debauchery and erotic 21st-century lust this cleverly sexed-up classic will leave you wanting more!

Long before he'd produced any of his great works, Oscar Wilde was already famous for being famous. Armed only with some witty epigrams, a carefully crafted persona and his genius for self-promotion, he had conquered America and transformed himself from nobody to star. This radio collection opens with four plays from Radio 4's Born to be Wilde season, offering a 21st-century perspective on the making of one of the first true celebrities. First up are two sparkling and surprising productions of his two most popular comedies, marking the peak of his theatrical career.

Lady Windermere’s Fan: A Play About a Good Woman by Oscar Wilde is a play in four acts about a marriage teetering on the edge of destruction and the drama that surrounds the family while they seek resolution. This play was Wilde’s first foray into comedies and was his first successful play that would earn a profit from its performances. The play follows the young Lady Windermere as she begins to believe that her husband is having an affair.

A chilling collection of ghost stories containing Rats by MR James, The Raven and Berenice by Edgar Allan Poe, The Birthday of the Infanta by Oscar Wilde, A Tough Tussle by Ambrose Bierce and The Signalman by Charles Dickens. In Rats, Mr Thompson comes to regret his decision to investigate a locked room in a country inn, and in The Signalman, the subject of the story is haunted by ghostly appearances that always precede tragic events.

A lord, his wife, her admirer and an infamous blackmailer converge in the irreverent satire that launched Wilde's succession of classic social comedies. This delicious comic feast serves up a scandal about good girls, bad husbands and hilarious hypocrisy - utterly contemporary and divinely funny.

Meet the Otis family: Mister and Missus, and their four children - Washington; the twins called Stars and Stripes; and their daughter, Virginia. They've just moved from America and into the English country manor of Canterville Chase. Though rumors persist that the house is haunted, the Otis' have none of it, and set about making the house their own. Then come the mysterious clanking chains and the bloodstains on the floor, and soon even the Otis family must come face to face with that most feared of creatures - The Canterville Ghost. But will the Ghost be able to survive his encounters with the erstwhile Americans?

"The Ballad of Reading Gaol" was written by Oscar Wilde in France, where he was in exile after his release from Reading Gaol. Wilde had been imprisoned and sentenced to two years hard labor. A hanging took place while Wilde was incarcerated, and the poem is the narrative of the execution.

"The Soul of Man under Socialism" is an 1891 essay by Oscar Wilde, following his conversion to anarchist philosophy after having read the works of the philosopher Peter Kropotkin. Propounding a libertarian socialist worldview, Wilde argues that - under capitalism - most people are forced to spoil their lives through an unhealthy altruism trying to solve the social problems caused by capitalism, instead of developing their true talents. He did not object to altruism per se, but was concerned about its misapplication in a way that does not address the root of the problem.

En El Príncipe Feliz, Oscar Wilde narra, de manera sumamente conmovedora, el primer y último intento de un príncipe por ayudar a su pueblo; para ello contará con la ayuda de una intrépida golondrina, y juntos, lo entregarán todo en nombre del amor. El sufrimiento de los hombres y de las mujeres es aún más sorprendente, no hay misterio tan grande como la miseria... Vuela sobre mi ciudad, pequeña golondrina, y dime qué ves allí.

Basil Hallward había terminado el retrato. El joven Dorian, al verlo, no pudo más que desear, desde su frívola inocencia, que fuera su imagen la que envejeciera y se corrompiera con el paso de los años mientras él permanecía intacto. Y así fue: a partir de entonces, Dorian Gray conservó no solo la lozanía y la hermosura propias de la juventud, sino el aspecto puro de los inocentes. Pero ¿a qué precio? El retrato de Dorian Gray es un logro insoslayable de la literatura universal, vertido aquí magníficamente por el escritor y traductor Alejandro Palomas.

In a late 19th century London studio, aspiring artist Basil Hallward puts the finishing touches on a portrait of his handsome young friend Dorian Gray. Dorian looks at the painting and wishes that the portrait might grow old while he remains forever young.

Many consider "The Canterville Ghost" the most famous ghost story of all time. It is a parody featuring a dramatic spirit named Sir Simon and an American ambassador named Mr. Hiram B. Otis. Mr. Otis travels to England with his family and moves into a haunted castle. Lord Canterville, the previous owner of the castle, warns Mr. Otis that the ghost of Sir Simon de Canterville has haunted the castle ever since he killed his wife, Eleonore, centuries ago.

The Importance of Being Earnest is a classic comedy of manners in which two flippant young men, in order to impress their respected beloveds, pretend that their names are "Ernest", which both young ladies believe confers magical qualities on the possessor. It was first performed for the public on February 14, 1895, at the St. James’ Theatre in London, and is regarded by many critics and scholars as being the wittiest play in the English language.

The American Otis family moves into the old English country house Canterville Chase. They are warned that the house is haunted before they move in but are unconcerned at first. They soon accept that the ghost is real but are not frightened by it. The ghost, who had been frightening all those who stayed at Canterville Chase for 300 years, takes the Americans' unwillingness to be scared by him as a great insult. He grows to despise them all, except for the teenage daughter, Virginia, who he feels is different from the rest of her family.

De Profundis is a 50,000-word letter written by Oscar Wilde during his imprisonment in Reading Gaol, to Lord Alfred Douglas, his lover. Wilde wrote the letter between January and March 1897; he was not allowed to send it, but took it with him upon release. In it he repudiates Lord Alfred for what Wilde finally sees as his arrogance and vanity; he had not forgotten Douglas's remark, when he was ill, "When you are not on your pedestal you are not interesting."

This wonderful collection of 18 short stories includes work by some of literature's most treasured names, including Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe, James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Oscar Wilde, and many more. This superlative treasury includes "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe; "A Piece of String" by Guy Le Maupassant; "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin; "The Mark on the Wall" by Virginia Woolf; "Nuns at Lunch" by Aldous Huxley, and many more!

This is a story from the Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories collection.

Fully restored and remastered, Heritage Media presents the greatest of vintage artists in classic dramas from English and Irish Literature. Here is the legendary Laurence Olivier starring in ‘The Canterville Ghost’, adapted from the original tale by Oscar Wilde and Laurence Olivier starring in 'Lord Arthur Savill's Crime' adapted from the original tale by Oscar Wilde.Theatre Royal is a unique series of classic radio dramas produced in the 1950's by the late Harry Alan Towers.

The Irish are known the world over as friendly and engaging talkers with a word here and a few words there to each and every soul they meet. Their poets dazzle with talent and verse that few other nations dare compete with. What follows demonstrates why.