Featured Dramatizations
The Martyr
by Katherine Anne Porter
A Wagner Matinee
by Willa Cather
Life in the Iron Mills
by Rebecca Harding Davis
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
by Harriet Jacobs
The Schoolmaster's Progress
by Caroline Kirkland
Louisa
by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
Cassy
by Harriet Beecher Stowe
The Stones of the Village
by Alice Dunbar-Nelson
The Shadowy Third
by Ellen Glasgow
Sweat
by Zora Neale Hurston
At
the 'Cadian Ball
by Kate Chopin
The
Merry-Go-Round
by Julia Peterkin
The
Flight of Betsey Lane
by Sarah Orne Jewett
Afterward
by Edith Wharton
The Yellow Wallpaper
by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
A Jury of Her Peers
by Susan Glaspell
Afterward
by Edith Wharton
in Windows Media
The Stories
The Schoolmaster's Progress
by Caroline Kirkland, published 1844
dramatized by Donna DiNovelli and
directed by Martin Jenkins
A tale of mischief, romantic intrigue, and a community's growing pains on the
Western frontier.
Cassy
by Harriet Beecher Stowe, published 1851
dramatized by Eliza Anderson and
directed by Martin Jenkins
An attic hidaway, and an ingenious escape strategy devised by the slave, Cassy,
are central to this excerpt from Beecher Stowe's masterpiece.
Incidents
in the Life of a Slave Girl
by
Harriet Jacobs, published
1861
dramatized by Kathleen Cahill and directed
by David Zoffoli
The first-person account of the heroism of a
mother who devotes her life to rescuing her children from slavery.
Life in the Iron Mills
by Rebecca Harding Davis, published 1861
dramatized by Karen Cronacher and
directed by David Zoffoli
Set against the pounding pulse of the fiery mills, Rebecca Harding Davis'
depiction of two characters' attempt to escape a life of slavish labor is a
ringing condemnation of the ills of the industrial age.
A Whisper in the Dark
by Louisa May Alcott, published 1863
dramatized by Eliza Anderson and directed
by Judy Braha
In this Gothic tale, a young woman's journey through a maze of family intrigue
and into love is haunted by the anguished whisper of a wronged woman.
Louisa
by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, published 1891
dramatized by Eliza Anderson and directed
by David Zoffoli
In a gentle story of endurance, hardship, and stubborn optimism, a young woman
refuses to marry a man she doesn't love, even though his prosperity would save
her family from destitution.
The Yellow Wallpaper
by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, published 1892
dramatized by Laura Harrington and
directed by David Zoffoli
In this classic treatment of the reality behind women's 'hysteria', Charlotte
Perkins Stetson Gilman portrays a late nineteenth century woman's descent into
madness.
The Flight of Betsey Lane
by Sarah Orne Jewett, published 1893
dramatized by Eliza Anderson and
directed by David Zoffoli
A story of an aging woman living on a poor-farm in Maine in the late
1800s and the unexpected fulfilment of her dream.
At
the 'Cadian Ball
by Kate Chopin, published 1894
Dramatized by Laura Harrington and Directed by Nora Hussey
In the Acadian country of south central Louisiana,
one maiden teases another about her rumored rendezvous
with a young man. Love seems to be in the air, but
it is the kind that heats instead of soothes the
passions.
A Wagner Matinee
by Willa Cather, published 1904
dramatized by Sara Baker and directed by
Martin Jenkins
When Clark Hamilton's aunt, a former musician, travels to Boston from her home
in rural Nebraska, Clark is reminded of the wrenching contrast between rural
and city life, the dangers of love, and the price his aunt willingly paid for
her life choices.
The Stones of the Village
by Alice Dunbar-Nelson, published 1910
Dramatized by Eliza Anderson and Directed by Martin Jenkins
This is a tale that describes the perils of racial ambivalence. Neither romanticizing nor demonizing "one drop" of black-or white-blood, the author dramatizes the costs of rejecting any part of one's heritage.
Afterward
by Edith Wharton, published 1910
dramatized by Donna DiNovelli and
directed by Martin Jenkins
In this ghostly tale shadows begin to surface in what appears to be a perfect
marriage when a strange visitor begins to make his presence known.
The Shadowy Third
by Ellen Glasgow, published 1916
dramatized by Gerry Jones and directed by Martin
Jenkins
A chilling tale of a young nurse, a ghostly child, and a distinguished physician who "crossed his will with invisible powers."
A Jury
of Her Peers
by Susan Glaspell, published 1917
dramatized by Donna DiNovelli and
directed by David Zoffoli
A murder investigation at a rural Iowa farmhouse turns into a study of
how men and women experience their worlds differently.
The
Merry-Go-Round
by Julia Peterkin, published 1921
dramatized by Laura Harrington and
directed by John Theocharis
In a tale set in South Carolina
in the late 19th century, an itinerant, white carousel
barker tries to seduce a black girl. Her boyfriend
fights the barker who awaits his opportunity for
revenge.
The
Martyr
by Katherine Anne Porter, published 1923
dramatized by Eliza Anderson and
directed by Martin Jenkins
An illustrious Mexican painter’s passionate love for his model leads him to a martyr’s death.
Sweat
by Zora Neale Hurston, published 1926
dramatized by Kia Corthron and
directed by Martin Jenkins
Delia Jones is tormented by her husband,
Sykes. However, when Sykes' own cruelty turns on
him, Delia is the only one who might save him from
death.
Hate is Nothing
by Marita Bonner, published 1938
dramatized by Rebecca Johnson and
directed by Judy Braha
Rich in ambiance of 1930's urban America, this story of conflict between a
black woman and her mother-in-law teaches volumes about class and color
snobbery in America.
The Bones of Louella Brown
by Ann Petry, published 1947
dramatized by Laura Harrington and
directed by Robert Scanlan
Ann Petry's comedy of early nineteen-twenties Boston exhumes not only the
bodies of the dead, but the racism of the living.
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