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A Woman of the World

By: Rebecca Gilman
Narrated by: Kathleen Chalfant
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Publisher's summary

Meet Mabel Loomis Todd, an inspired conversationalist who routinely invites scandal and ignores the rules of 19th century society. Now in her 70s and living on Hog Island in Maine, the outspoken writer and editor is holding court, entertaining us with musings on her colorful life, spilling secrets, and revealing the truth about how she turned Emily Dickinson into a household name. In an intriguing performance, Obie Award winner Kathleen Chalfant embodies the spirit of a fascinating woman whose legacy is forever linked to one of America’s most celebrated poets.

A Woman of the World was originally produced by the Acting Company in association with Miranda Theatre Company. Written with the support of an artist residency at Hog Island Audubon Camp.

Written by Rebecca Gilman
Performed by Kathleen Chalfant
Directed by Valentina Fratti

©2020 Rebecca Gilman (P)2020 AO Media LLC
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Our favorite moments from A Woman of the World

You have all gathered here.
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  • A Woman of the World
  • You have all gathered here.
  • A Woman of the World
  • 11,000 copies were sold.
  • A Woman of the World
  • Maybe that’s all I deserve.

About the Creator

Rebecca Gilman is an artistic associate at Goodman Theatre. Her plays include Luna Gale; Twilight Bowl; A True History of the Johnstown Flood; Dollhouse; Boy Gets Girl; Spinning Into Butter; Blue Surge (all of which were originally produced by the Goodman); Soups, Stews, and Casseroles: 1976, and The Crowd You’re in With (also at the Goodman); The Glory of Living; The Sweetest Swing in Baseball, and The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. Gilman is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, The Harold and Mimi Steinberg American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award, The Harper Lee Award, The Scott McPherson Award, The Prince Prize for Commissioning New Work, The Roger L. Stevens Award from the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays, The Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright, The George Devine Award, The Theatre Masters Visionary Award, The Great Plains Playwright Award, a Global Connections Grant by Theatre Communications Group, an American Scandinavian Foundation Creative Writing Grant, and an Illinois Arts Council playwriting fellowship. Boy Gets Girl received an Olivier nomination for Best New Play. Gilman was named a finalist for the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for The Glory of Living. She is a member of the Council of the Dramatists Guild of America. In 2016, she was inducted into the Alabama Writers Hall of Fame.

About the Performer

Kathleen Chalfant has been performing for half a century. Her performances on stage, screen, and television have garnered her praise and acclaim from critics and audiences alike. Perhaps best known for her shattering portrayal of Vivian Bearing, a scholar battling cancer, in Wit, she received the Obie, the Drama Desk, the Los Angeles Drama critics Circle Award, and a host of other honors. Chalfant made her Broadway debut in Dance with Me, followed by M. Butterfly. She went on to star as Hannah Pitt and Ethel Rosenberg in the original cast of Angels in America, receiving nominations for both the Tony Award and the Drama Desk Award. Chalfant is also the recipient of the Obie Award for Sustained Excellence of Performance, the Drama League Distinguished Performance Award, and the Sidney Kingsley Award, both for her body of work. Among her many performances on New York stages, Chalfant has starred in A Woman of the World, The Courtroom, Novenas for a Lost Hospital, For Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday, Deadman's Cell Phone, Talking Heads (Obie Award), and Henry V (Callaway Award). Additionally, Chalfant has graced stages across the US, including the Long Wharf, the McCarter, The Guthrie, the Hartford Stage, and Sundance. Her film work includes appearances in Class Rank, Kinsey, Duplicity, Random Hearts, and Last Days of Disco. Chalfant has appeared extensively on television, including, most recognizably for her role as Margaret Butler on the Showtime series, The Affair. Other series work includes: The Guardian, Rescue Me, House of Cards, The Strain, Book of Daniel, Madame Secretary, Elementary, and Law & Order (all flavors). Chalfant is a founding member of The Women's Project and she helped establish Playwrights Horizons in Manhattan in 1975. She was an artist-in-residence at several universities, including Cornell and Yale, and serves on the faculty of the graduate acting program at The New School.

What listeners say about A Woman of the World

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  • Overall
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Performance worth it!

Fabulous! Musings on the private lives of very public figures, by a woman who has seen it all. I don’t know how much is true and how much embellished, but I loved the performance. It was witty and poignant — I savored every word like a fine confection. Love love love! Audible Originals has really stepped up their game lately.

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26 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Need to read biography first

You really need to read the biography of this woman first. This story is based on facts but it doesn’t make much sense if you don’t know anything about her beforehand. I wish I had known that. The narrator was excellent.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Dull

More of a story about a self absorbed story teller. Not the worst I’ve heard, but thankfully it was short

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

What??

The performance was amazing. The content? Well... As a quick and free audio book was ok.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Emily Dickinson

This is a story about Mrs. Todd who seems to be having a talk to an audience and is talking about her relationship with Emily Dickinson. Really struggled to listen to this to the end. Rather a strange and not interesting to me story.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

wow

that was interesting. I truly felt sorry for Millicent!
what a crazy life she led!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Entertaining and Unusual Story

Told from the point of view of an aging woman who is supposedly giving a talk about the writing of Emily Dickinson, the narrator instead tells about her affair with Emily's brother. With this unusual approach, the story draws you in. The narration gives the story the life it deserves. It ended too soon.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good quick listen

Engaging story. Sharing memories weather true or imagined they drew in the listener describing relationships between complex neighbors. I enjoyed the story,

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Don’t Listen Seeking Insight on Emily Dickinson!

This isn’t about Emily Dickinson. She’s just part of the setting of the story. An excellent performance of a somewhat cryptic script - how much of what the character says is true, how much exaggerated and how much false? - the narrator character isn’t particularly likable, but the interest here is in the unspoken, which is difficult to pull off in an audio piece and isn’t entirely successful. However, a worthwhile short listen that is certainly thought provoking.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Well worth an hour of your time

This story is based on a fictional talk supposedly delivered by Mabel Loomis Todd, and it captures the spirit of this gifted raconteur and self promoter perfectly. The frank sexual references are probably anachronistic for a woman of that time (late 1800's to early 1900's), but the reader, Kathleen Chalfant, does a brilliant job of bringing the character to life and making me feel like I was really in the audience listening to it. The book also inspired me to revisit some of Emily Dickinson's poems.

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