On Demand
Selected Shorts
Sunday, September 30, 2007
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(jgh/flickr)Tales—short, long, folk, fairy, and fierce.
“It was a long time since Mrs. Summers had been fitted with gloves…now, she raised her elbow on the cushion of the glove counter, and a pretty, delicate creature…drew a long-wristed kid over Mrs. Summers’ hand. –Kate Chopin, “A Pair of Silk Stockings.”
Fairy and folk tales are paired with a moment of retail therapy and a chilling encounter at an airport by the inimitable David Mamet.
This eclectic program features some of America’s most iconic writers—feminist Kate Chopin, Mark Twain, Truman Capote, and David Mamet. It begins with Chopin’s story, “A PAIR OF SILK STOCKINGS”—an account of serious retail therapy. It was published in KATE CHOPIN: COMPLETE NOVELS AND STORIES, Volume number 136 in The Library of America series featuring classic American authors. Chopin lived from 1851 to 1904 and was the author of the novel, THE AWAKENING, published in 1899. Widely banned in her time, and subsequently obscure, it has now become a feminist classic. “A Pair of Silk Stockings” was read by Susanna Thompson.
Mark Twain’s salty folk tale, “THE NOTORIOUS JUMPING FROG OF CALEVERAS COUNTY,” demonstrates the same ear for dialect, and dry humor, as his celebrated novels TOM SAWYER and HUCKLEBERRY FINN’s ADVENTURES. It was given a robust reading at Edith Wharton’s home, The Mount by SHORTS host Isaiah Sheffer.
From folk to fairy, as Sheffer continues with the classic fairy tale “Puddocky”. You know the drill—beautiful enchanted maiden, witch, handsome prince, happyish ending.
A Symphony Space evening celebrating the authors of Random House would not have been complete without something from Truman Capote, and here we have two deliciously funny and acid letters—quintessential Truman--from the collection TOO BRIEF A TREAT, also read by Isaiah Sheffer.
The playwright and screenwriter David Mamet, brings his dark imaginings to a brief contemporary fairy tale, first published in Granta magazine, “Soul Murder.” The soul in question belongs to a child, verbally abused by a parent, and the story may not be appropriate for younger children. The reader is SHORTS regular Paul Hecht.
Kate Chopin, "A Pair of Silk Stockings," read by Susanna Thompson Mark Twain, "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," read by Isaiah Sheffer Fairy tale, "Puddocky," read by Isaiah Sheffer Truman Capote, selected letters, read by Isaiah Sheffer David Mamet, "Soul Murder," read by Paul Hecht
For additional works featured on SELECTED SHORTS, please visit Symphony Space
Mark Twain’s salty folk tale, “THE NOTORIOUS JUMPING FROG OF CALEVERAS COUNTY,” demonstrates the same ear for dialect, and dry humor, as his celebrated novels TOM SAWYER and HUCKLEBERRY FINN’s ADVENTURES. It was given a robust reading at Edith Wharton’s home, The Mount by SHORTS host Isaiah Sheffer.
From folk to fairy, as Sheffer continues with the classic fairy tale “Puddocky”. You know the drill—beautiful enchanted maiden, witch, handsome prince, happyish ending.
A Symphony Space evening celebrating the authors of Random House would not have been complete without something from Truman Capote, and here we have two deliciously funny and acid letters—quintessential Truman--from the collection TOO BRIEF A TREAT, also read by Isaiah Sheffer.
The playwright and screenwriter David Mamet, brings his dark imaginings to a brief contemporary fairy tale, first published in Granta magazine, “Soul Murder.” The soul in question belongs to a child, verbally abused by a parent, and the story may not be appropriate for younger children. The reader is SHORTS regular Paul Hecht.
Kate Chopin, "A Pair of Silk Stockings," read by Susanna Thompson Mark Twain, "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," read by Isaiah Sheffer Fairy tale, "Puddocky," read by Isaiah Sheffer Truman Capote, selected letters, read by Isaiah Sheffer David Mamet, "Soul Murder," read by Paul Hecht
For additional works featured on SELECTED SHORTS, please visit Symphony Space
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