A landmark collection of BBC Radio productions of the works of Katherine Mansfield- plus bonus dramas and documentary
One of the great Modernist authors, Katherine Mansfield was a short story virtuoso, redefining the genre with her subtle, powerfully perceptive tales. A prolific writer, she penned over 60 stories and several poetry collections before her death from TB in 1923, aged only 34.
This outstanding collection opens with Radio 4's 2020 series And Other Stories: Katherine Mansfield. It comprises dramatisations of 'Marriage a la Mode', 'Something Childish But Very Natural', 'Bliss', 'Daughters of the Late Colonel', 'The Garden Party', 'Ma Parker' and 'Her First Ball', all starring Hattie Morahan, as well as readings of 'The Stranger', 'Miss Brill', 'A Cup of Tea', Poison' and 'The Doll's House', narrated by Hugh Bonneville, Barbara Flynn, Hattie Morahan and Blake Ritson.
Morven Christie reads Mansfield's newly-discovered early short story 'Little Episodes', and selected stories from her first collection In A German Pension - 'Germans at Meat and Frau Fischer', 'The Sister of the Baroness', 'The Modern Soul', 'The Advanced Lady' and 'Frau Brechenmacher Attends a Wedding' - are dramatised with a cast including Claire Skinner, Eleanor Bron and Emma Cunniffe.
Also included are eight of her lesser-known tales: 'A Dill Pickle' (read by Clare Corbett), 'Mr Reginald Peacock's Day' (read by Brian Gear), 'Sun and Moon' (read by Lin Sagovsky), 'Psychology' and 'Pictures' (read by Eileen Atkins), 'The Voyage' (read by Indira Varma), 'Honeymoon' (read by Emilia Fox) and 'The Fly' (read by Sam Dale). In addition, her evocative poem 'Winter Song' is read by Sir Derek Jacobi.
Two original dramas explore moments in the life of the great author. Katie Hims' Luxembourg Gardens reimagines Katherine Mansfield's last day in Paris and stars Hattie Morahan, while Cherie Rogers' An Oddly Complete Understanding looks at Mansfield's friendship with Virginia Woolf and stars Rosalind Shanks and Penelope Wilton. The passionate correspondence between Katherine Mansfield and her husband John Middleton Murray is revealed in Darling Mouse, Precious Worm, read by Kerry Fox and Michael Maloney. And in Great Lives: Katherine Mansfield, Jacqueline Wilson assesses the impact of Mansfield's brilliant but tragically short career.
Track listing:
Bliss
Something Childish But Very Natural
Marriage a la Mode
Daughters of the Late Colonel
The Garden Party
Life of Ma Parker
Her First Ball
The Stranger
Miss Brill
A Cup of Tea
The Doll's House
Poison
Little Episode
Germans at Meat and Frau Fischer
The Sister of the Baroness
The Modern Soul
The Advanced Lady
Frau Brechenmacher Attends a Wedding
Dill Pickle
Mr Reginald Peacock's Day
Sun and Moon
Psychology
Pictures
The Voyage
Honeymoon
The Fly
Winter Song
Luxembourg Gardens by Katie Hims
An Oddly Complete Understanding by Cherie Rogers
30-34. Darling Mouse, Precious Worm - letter between Katherine Mansfield and John Middleton Murray
Great Lives: Katherine Mansfield - with Jacqueline Wilson