Episodes

  • Miss Sara Sampson-Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
    27 Aug 2026
    Lovers' Vows (1798), a play by Elizabeth Inchbald arguably best known now for having been featured in Jane Austen's novel Mansfield Park (1814), is one of at least four adaptations of August von Kotzebue's Das Kind der Liebe (1780; literally "Child of Love," or "Natural Son," as it is often translated), all of which were published between 1798 and 1800. Inchbald's version is the only one to have been performed. Dealing as it does with sex outside marriage and illegitimate birth, Inchbald in the Preface to the published version declares herself to have been highly sensitive to the task of adapting the original German text for "an English audience." Even so, she left the setting as Germany. The play was first performed at Covent Garden on Thursday, 11 October 1798, and was an immediate success: it ran for forty-two nights, "making it by some distance Covent Garden's most successful venture of that season," and went on to be performed in Bristol, Newcastle, Bath, and elsewhere. It was likewise successful as a print publication, though it also aroused controversy about its "levelling" politics and moral ambiguity. Anne Plumptre, who translated Kotzebue's play as The Natural Son, wrote (perhaps not disinterestedly as the production of Inchbald's work effectively precluded the production of her own) that Inchbald had transformed the character of Amelia into a "forward country hoyden." Others, however, defended the morality of the play. And indeed, various characters indulge in considerable moralizing about charity, honour, and forgiveness. (Summary by Wikipedia) Cast:Baron Wildenhaim, Countryman, and Prologue: Algy PugCount Cassel: John FrickerAnhalt and Narrator: AlanFrederick: Peter BishopVerdun the Butler and Epilogue: Ernst PattynamaLandlord: Martin GeesonCottager: David LawrenceFarmer: Dale BurgessGentleman: Ric FServant and Cottager's Wife: Amy GramourAgatha Firburg and Dramatis Personae: Sandra GAmelia Wildenhaim: Elizabeth BarrCountry Girl and Preface: rigbyjmNarrator: Paul AndrewsAudio edited by: Algy Pug

    This episode includes AI-generated content.
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    2 hrs and 49 min
  • Tragical History of Doctor Faustus (1616 version)-Christopher Marlowe
    26 Aug 2026
    Lovers' Vows (1798), a play by Elizabeth Inchbald arguably best known now for having been featured in Jane Austen's novel Mansfield Park (1814), is one of at least four adaptations of August von Kotzebue's Das Kind der Liebe (1780; literally "Child of Love," or "Natural Son," as it is often translated), all of which were published between 1798 and 1800. Inchbald's version is the only one to have been performed. Dealing as it does with sex outside marriage and illegitimate birth, Inchbald in the Preface to the published version declares herself to have been highly sensitive to the task of adapting the original German text for "an English audience." Even so, she left the setting as Germany. The play was first performed at Covent Garden on Thursday, 11 October 1798, and was an immediate success: it ran for forty-two nights, "making it by some distance Covent Garden's most successful venture of that season," and went on to be performed in Bristol, Newcastle, Bath, and elsewhere. It was likewise successful as a print publication, though it also aroused controversy about its "levelling" politics and moral ambiguity. Anne Plumptre, who translated Kotzebue's play as The Natural Son, wrote (perhaps not disinterestedly as the production of Inchbald's work effectively precluded the production of her own) that Inchbald had transformed the character of Amelia into a "forward country hoyden." Others, however, defended the morality of the play. And indeed, various characters indulge in considerable moralizing about charity, honour, and forgiveness. (Summary by Wikipedia) Cast:Baron Wildenhaim, Countryman, and Prologue: Algy PugCount Cassel: John FrickerAnhalt and Narrator: AlanFrederick: Peter BishopVerdun the Butler and Epilogue: Ernst PattynamaLandlord: Martin GeesonCottager: David LawrenceFarmer: Dale BurgessGentleman: Ric FServant and Cottager's Wife: Amy GramourAgatha Firburg and Dramatis Personae: Sandra GAmelia Wildenhaim: Elizabeth BarrCountry Girl and Preface: rigbyjmNarrator: Paul AndrewsAudio edited by: Algy Pug
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    2 hrs and 18 min
  • Tamburlaine the Great, Part 1-Christopher Marlowe
    25 Aug 2026
    Lovers' Vows (1798), a play by Elizabeth Inchbald arguably best known now for having been featured in Jane Austen's novel Mansfield Park (1814), is one of at least four adaptations of August von Kotzebue's Das Kind der Liebe (1780; literally "Child of Love," or "Natural Son," as it is often translated), all of which were published between 1798 and 1800. Inchbald's version is the only one to have been performed. Dealing as it does with sex outside marriage and illegitimate birth, Inchbald in the Preface to the published version declares herself to have been highly sensitive to the task of adapting the original German text for "an English audience." Even so, she left the setting as Germany. The play was first performed at Covent Garden on Thursday, 11 October 1798, and was an immediate success: it ran for forty-two nights, "making it by some distance Covent Garden's most successful venture of that season," and went on to be performed in Bristol, Newcastle, Bath, and elsewhere. It was likewise successful as a print publication, though it also aroused controversy about its "levelling" politics and moral ambiguity. Anne Plumptre, who translated Kotzebue's play as The Natural Son, wrote (perhaps not disinterestedly as the production of Inchbald's work effectively precluded the production of her own) that Inchbald had transformed the character of Amelia into a "forward country hoyden." Others, however, defended the morality of the play. And indeed, various characters indulge in considerable moralizing about charity, honour, and forgiveness. (Summary by Wikipedia) Cast:Baron Wildenhaim, Countryman, and Prologue: Algy PugCount Cassel: John FrickerAnhalt and Narrator: AlanFrederick: Peter BishopVerdun the Butler and Epilogue: Ernst PattynamaLandlord: Martin GeesonCottager: David LawrenceFarmer: Dale BurgessGentleman: Ric FServant and Cottager's Wife: Amy GramourAgatha Firburg and Dramatis Personae: Sandra GAmelia Wildenhaim: Elizabeth BarrCountry Girl and Preface: rigbyjmNarrator: Paul AndrewsAudio edited by: Algy Pug
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    2 hrs and 22 min
  • Wild Duck-Henrik Ibsen
    24 Aug 2026
    Lovers' Vows (1798), a play by Elizabeth Inchbald arguably best known now for having been featured in Jane Austen's novel Mansfield Park (1814), is one of at least four adaptations of August von Kotzebue's Das Kind der Liebe (1780; literally "Child of Love," or "Natural Son," as it is often translated), all of which were published between 1798 and 1800. Inchbald's version is the only one to have been performed. Dealing as it does with sex outside marriage and illegitimate birth, Inchbald in the Preface to the published version declares herself to have been highly sensitive to the task of adapting the original German text for "an English audience." Even so, she left the setting as Germany. The play was first performed at Covent Garden on Thursday, 11 October 1798, and was an immediate success: it ran for forty-two nights, "making it by some distance Covent Garden's most successful venture of that season," and went on to be performed in Bristol, Newcastle, Bath, and elsewhere. It was likewise successful as a print publication, though it also aroused controversy about its "levelling" politics and moral ambiguity. Anne Plumptre, who translated Kotzebue's play as The Natural Son, wrote (perhaps not disinterestedly as the production of Inchbald's work effectively precluded the production of her own) that Inchbald had transformed the character of Amelia into a "forward country hoyden." Others, however, defended the morality of the play. And indeed, various characters indulge in considerable moralizing about charity, honour, and forgiveness. (Summary by Wikipedia) Cast:Baron Wildenhaim, Countryman, and Prologue: Algy PugCount Cassel: John FrickerAnhalt and Narrator: AlanFrederick: Peter BishopVerdun the Butler and Epilogue: Ernst PattynamaLandlord: Martin GeesonCottager: David LawrenceFarmer: Dale BurgessGentleman: Ric FServant and Cottager's Wife: Amy GramourAgatha Firburg and Dramatis Personae: Sandra GAmelia Wildenhaim: Elizabeth BarrCountry Girl and Preface: rigbyjmNarrator: Paul AndrewsAudio edited by: Algy Pug
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    3 hrs and 23 min
  • All That Glitters Is Not Gold-John Maddison Morton
    23 Aug 2026
    Lovers' Vows (1798), a play by Elizabeth Inchbald arguably best known now for having been featured in Jane Austen's novel Mansfield Park (1814), is one of at least four adaptations of August von Kotzebue's Das Kind der Liebe (1780; literally "Child of Love," or "Natural Son," as it is often translated), all of which were published between 1798 and 1800. Inchbald's version is the only one to have been performed. Dealing as it does with sex outside marriage and illegitimate birth, Inchbald in the Preface to the published version declares herself to have been highly sensitive to the task of adapting the original German text for "an English audience." Even so, she left the setting as Germany. The play was first performed at Covent Garden on Thursday, 11 October 1798, and was an immediate success: it ran for forty-two nights, "making it by some distance Covent Garden's most successful venture of that season," and went on to be performed in Bristol, Newcastle, Bath, and elsewhere. It was likewise successful as a print publication, though it also aroused controversy about its "levelling" politics and moral ambiguity. Anne Plumptre, who translated Kotzebue's play as The Natural Son, wrote (perhaps not disinterestedly as the production of Inchbald's work effectively precluded the production of her own) that Inchbald had transformed the character of Amelia into a "forward country hoyden." Others, however, defended the morality of the play. And indeed, various characters indulge in considerable moralizing about charity, honour, and forgiveness. (Summary by Wikipedia) Cast:Baron Wildenhaim, Countryman, and Prologue: Algy PugCount Cassel: John FrickerAnhalt and Narrator: AlanFrederick: Peter BishopVerdun the Butler and Epilogue: Ernst PattynamaLandlord: Martin GeesonCottager: David LawrenceFarmer: Dale BurgessGentleman: Ric FServant and Cottager's Wife: Amy GramourAgatha Firburg and Dramatis Personae: Sandra GAmelia Wildenhaim: Elizabeth BarrCountry Girl and Preface: rigbyjmNarrator: Paul AndrewsAudio edited by: Algy Pug

    This episode includes AI-generated content.
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    2 hrs and 4 min
  • Nature And Art-Elizabeth Inchbald
    22 Aug 2026
    Lovers' Vows (1798), a play by Elizabeth Inchbald arguably best known now for having been featured in Jane Austen's novel Mansfield Park (1814), is one of at least four adaptations of August von Kotzebue's Das Kind der Liebe (1780; literally "Child of Love," or "Natural Son," as it is often translated), all of which were published between 1798 and 1800. Inchbald's version is the only one to have been performed. Dealing as it does with sex outside marriage and illegitimate birth, Inchbald in the Preface to the published version declares herself to have been highly sensitive to the task of adapting the original German text for "an English audience." Even so, she left the setting as Germany. The play was first performed at Covent Garden on Thursday, 11 October 1798, and was an immediate success: it ran for forty-two nights, "making it by some distance Covent Garden's most successful venture of that season," and went on to be performed in Bristol, Newcastle, Bath, and elsewhere. It was likewise successful as a print publication, though it also aroused controversy about its "levelling" politics and moral ambiguity. Anne Plumptre, who translated Kotzebue's play as The Natural Son, wrote (perhaps not disinterestedly as the production of Inchbald's work effectively precluded the production of her own) that Inchbald had transformed the character of Amelia into a "forward country hoyden." Others, however, defended the morality of the play. And indeed, various characters indulge in considerable moralizing about charity, honour, and forgiveness. (Summary by Wikipedia) Cast:Baron Wildenhaim, Countryman, and Prologue: Algy PugCount Cassel: John FrickerAnhalt and Narrator: AlanFrederick: Peter BishopVerdun the Butler and Epilogue: Ernst PattynamaLandlord: Martin GeesonCottager: David LawrenceFarmer: Dale BurgessGentleman: Ric FServant and Cottager's Wife: Amy GramourAgatha Firburg and Dramatis Personae: Sandra GAmelia Wildenhaim: Elizabeth BarrCountry Girl and Preface: rigbyjmNarrator: Paul AndrewsAudio edited by: Algy Pug
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    5 hrs and 51 min
  • Manfred (Version 2)-George Gordon, Lord Byron
    21 Aug 2026
    Lovers' Vows (1798), a play by Elizabeth Inchbald arguably best known now for having been featured in Jane Austen's novel Mansfield Park (1814), is one of at least four adaptations of August von Kotzebue's Das Kind der Liebe (1780; literally "Child of Love," or "Natural Son," as it is often translated), all of which were published between 1798 and 1800. Inchbald's version is the only one to have been performed. Dealing as it does with sex outside marriage and illegitimate birth, Inchbald in the Preface to the published version declares herself to have been highly sensitive to the task of adapting the original German text for "an English audience." Even so, she left the setting as Germany. The play was first performed at Covent Garden on Thursday, 11 October 1798, and was an immediate success: it ran for forty-two nights, "making it by some distance Covent Garden's most successful venture of that season," and went on to be performed in Bristol, Newcastle, Bath, and elsewhere. It was likewise successful as a print publication, though it also aroused controversy about its "levelling" politics and moral ambiguity. Anne Plumptre, who translated Kotzebue's play as The Natural Son, wrote (perhaps not disinterestedly as the production of Inchbald's work effectively precluded the production of her own) that Inchbald had transformed the character of Amelia into a "forward country hoyden." Others, however, defended the morality of the play. And indeed, various characters indulge in considerable moralizing about charity, honour, and forgiveness. (Summary by Wikipedia) Cast:Baron Wildenhaim, Countryman, and Prologue: Algy PugCount Cassel: John FrickerAnhalt and Narrator: AlanFrederick: Peter BishopVerdun the Butler and Epilogue: Ernst PattynamaLandlord: Martin GeesonCottager: David LawrenceFarmer: Dale BurgessGentleman: Ric FServant and Cottager's Wife: Amy GramourAgatha Firburg and Dramatis Personae: Sandra GAmelia Wildenhaim: Elizabeth BarrCountry Girl and Preface: rigbyjmNarrator: Paul AndrewsAudio edited by: Algy Pug
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    1 hr and 37 min
  • Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz-Anonymous
    20 Aug 2026
    Lovers' Vows (1798), a play by Elizabeth Inchbald arguably best known now for having been featured in Jane Austen's novel Mansfield Park (1814), is one of at least four adaptations of August von Kotzebue's Das Kind der Liebe (1780; literally "Child of Love," or "Natural Son," as it is often translated), all of which were published between 1798 and 1800. Inchbald's version is the only one to have been performed. Dealing as it does with sex outside marriage and illegitimate birth, Inchbald in the Preface to the published version declares herself to have been highly sensitive to the task of adapting the original German text for "an English audience." Even so, she left the setting as Germany. The play was first performed at Covent Garden on Thursday, 11 October 1798, and was an immediate success: it ran for forty-two nights, "making it by some distance Covent Garden's most successful venture of that season," and went on to be performed in Bristol, Newcastle, Bath, and elsewhere. It was likewise successful as a print publication, though it also aroused controversy about its "levelling" politics and moral ambiguity. Anne Plumptre, who translated Kotzebue's play as The Natural Son, wrote (perhaps not disinterestedly as the production of Inchbald's work effectively precluded the production of her own) that Inchbald had transformed the character of Amelia into a "forward country hoyden." Others, however, defended the morality of the play. And indeed, various characters indulge in considerable moralizing about charity, honour, and forgiveness. (Summary by Wikipedia) Cast:Baron Wildenhaim, Countryman, and Prologue: Algy PugCount Cassel: John FrickerAnhalt and Narrator: AlanFrederick: Peter BishopVerdun the Butler and Epilogue: Ernst PattynamaLandlord: Martin GeesonCottager: David LawrenceFarmer: Dale BurgessGentleman: Ric FServant and Cottager's Wife: Amy GramourAgatha Firburg and Dramatis Personae: Sandra GAmelia Wildenhaim: Elizabeth BarrCountry Girl and Preface: rigbyjmNarrator: Paul AndrewsAudio edited by: Algy Pug
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    3 hrs and 24 min