Showing results by narrator "Joanne Whalley" in All Categories

Infamously known as the cursed Scottish play, Macbeth is perhaps Shakespeare’s darkest tragedy. When General Macbeth is foretold by three witches that he will one day be King of Scotland, Lady Macbeth convinces him to get rid of anyone who could stand in his way – including committing regicide. As Macbeth ascends to the throne through bloody murder, he becomes a tyrant consumed by fear and paranoia.

Henry may be the wittiest playwright of his generation, but he’s hopelessly naïve when it comes to understanding love and infidelity. Writing about betrayal is one thing, living with it is another. After Henry leaves his wife for another woman, he’s confronted with being the cuckold himself. Both dazzlingly clever and emotionally naked, Henry’s search for the “the real thing” in art and love demonstrates beautifully why both are worth the effort in the end.

An L.A. Theatre Works-commissioned adaptation of the classic Agatha Christie “whodunit”. Adapted from the novel by Kate McAll. In Christie’s clever and beautifully crafted tale, Detective Hercule Poirot receives an urgent letter from Paul Renauld summoning him to France. Upon their arrival, Poirot and his companion, Arthur Hastings, find they are too late. Plus, to complicate things further, certain facts just don’t add up.

A scathing examination of a wealthy Southern family and the greed that tears them apart. Regina’s brothers have inherited their father’s wealth, while after years of neglect, her dying husband is determined to see she gets nothing. It will take every ounce of her ruthless guile to outwit her relations and assure herself a gilded future.

Starring James Marsters, this classic comedy of manners from 1773 is still widely performed and studied. Love, lies, and dysfunctional families. Sound like your last family gathering? Try this one on for laughs. Two randy young gents, Charles and George, set out to woo the alluring and upper-crust Kate and Constance. But inexperienced Charles is shy and clumsy around upper-class ladies, so it’s the barmaid who catches his eye. But is she really who she seems?

Six hilarious satires from the ingenious Molière, France’s original master of comedies: "The Imaginary Cuckold", "The School for Husbands", "The School for Wives", "Tartuffe" and "The Misanthrope".

To you, perceptive reader, I bequeath my history....Late one night, exploring her father's library, a young woman finds an ancient book and a cache of yellowing letters. The letters are all addressed to "My dear and unfortunate successor," and they plunge her into a world she never dreamed of-a labyrinth where the secrets of her father's past and her mother's mysterious fate connect to an inconceivable evil hidden in the depths of history.

As Jews tried to escape Nazi Germany in the 1930s, they faced unthinkable roadblocks in obtaining exit visas. And while they were denied entry in one country after another, a bureaucratic oddity enabled some of them to flee to an unlikely destination: Shanghai, China. In this LATW original commission, playwright Kate McAll used the survivors’ own words to create a narrative of people starting their lives over in a completely new land.

Professor Richard Myers, now in his 70s and suffering from advanced Parkinson’s disease, is about to receive a lifetime achievement award for his work in the development of in-vitro fertilization. That calls for a family reunion, and given this high-functioning, dysfunctional family, there’s bound to be trouble ahead. As they gather, old resentments erupt as they fight over Richard’s legacy while facing another family member’s serious illness.

Jimmy Porter barely ekes out a living running a candy stall by day and playing jazz trumpet by night. Although he usually takes his frustrations out on his emotionless wife, Jimmy's scathing tongue and self-loathing seem destined to destroy everything. Set in the UK at the dawn of the '60s social unrest, this savage morality tale spawned the phrase “angry young man".

A zoologist in Australia gets funding to save an endangered species from the very company that threatens its existence. Will this deal with the devil allow her to save the species, or will it destroy her entire life's work? Includes an interview with playwright Hannie Rayson and director Martin Jarvis.