Orra

by Joanna Baillie, Availle (Narrator), Todd H.W. (Narrator)

Considered by her contemporaries a playwright “second only to Shakespeare,” Joanna Baillie was one of the most critically acclaimed writers of the Romantic Era. The Plays on the Passions, first published in 1798, stands as her undeniable magnum opus: a multivolume series of tragedies and comedies exploring the overruling passions of the mind. Orra: A Tragedy in Five Acts, which comes from that series' third volume, is Joanna Baillie’s haunting meditation on fear and madness. It is gothic melodrama par excellence. Set in fourteenth century Switzerland, Baillie's play skillfully intertwines psychological horror with early feminist thought. Orra, in love with Theobald, is exiled to a haunted castle in the Black Forest after rejecting a marriage proposal from her ward's son. She is further threatened by the nefarious machinations of Rudigere, a pathologically jealous knight whose desire for Orra verges on obsession. Then there’s the castle itself, a dark and gothic abode that soon brings Orra to the brink of abject terror. Will Orra survive her expulsion into the Black Forest—or will she descend further and further into madness? ( ChuckW)

Cast list:
Orra: Availle
Theobald: ToddHW
Rudigere: Tomas Peter
Glottenbal: Craig Franklin
Hughobert: Roger Melin
Hartman: DrPGould
Maurice: Larry Wilson
Eleonora: Eva Davis
Cathrina: Sonia
Franko: Nemo
Urston: RecordingPerson
Alice: Leanne Yau
1st Servant: Sandra Schmit
2nd Servant: TJ Burns
1st Outlaw: Owen Cook
2nd Outlaw / Soldier: David Olson
Vassal: Joseph Tabler
Attendant: Victor Villarraza
Stage Directions: Chuck Williamson
Editor: Chuck Williamson

Genres: Plays, Classics

3 pages, Audiobook

First published January 1, 1812

About the author

Joanna Baillie was a Scottish poet and dramatist who was well known during her lifetime. She was educated at Miss MacDonald's Boarding School in Glasgow and it was in Glasgow that she began to write plays and poems.

Baillie was admired for her literary powers and hosted a brilliant literary society in her cottage at Hampstead. Her intelligence and integrity were allied to a modest demeanour which made her, for many, the epitome of a Christian gentlewoman.

She was shrewd, observant of human nature, and persistent to the point of obstinacy in developing her own views and opinions. Her brand of drama remained essentially unchanged throughout her life, and she took pride in having carried out her major work, the Plays on the Passions, more or less in the form she had originally conceived. Her inventive faculties were remarked upon by "practically everybody whose opinion on a literary matter was worth anything" (Carswell 275), and she was on friendly terms with all the leading women writers of her time.

Reviews

[Derek Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun gothic melodrama with proto-feminist leanings. The writing style is at its best whenever it revels in gothic/horror imagery, but otherwise it can be a bit too long-winded and flowery at times. I listened to this on audio book via Librivox, which might not have been the best way to enjoy it. Like Shakespeare's plays, this seems like something that would work best performed on stage. I would especially love to see the gothic sets.

[Terra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to read this Drama for my Seminar

It was actually pretty good and not boring, which is all I ask for in a university reading.
Sadly, it didn't really touch or surprise me, so solid 3 stars.

[Darina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ladies,
Do not be obeying, even for a while, men that threaten or cajole you.
Even the one that promised to your father to protect you can groove on a good scheme!
Not to mention the cunning and deceiving social climber. Or the lustful fool.
;)

[Syd]

did i listen to it? yes. did i hear it? no. couldn't tell you a lick about the plot because this recording was so FUCKing awful that i simply could not process anything. it's a shame because when i did tune in it sounded like an interesting story, but the whole point of a play is to fucking listen to it and that's this fucking recording made that IMPOSSIBLE to do. horrible horrible and once again horrible fucking hated it.

[Gabby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this play after seeing it excerpted in Ivanhoe so often. It was a great little piece of Gothic lit. It has added to my reading of Ivanhoe. It is also interesting as a title from Jane Austen's Godmersham Park library, and a title she may have read...Definitely very Northanger Abbey!

[T.J. Burns · Rating 5 out of 5]

Librivox Audio Book (free download):
https://librivox.org/orra-by-joanna-b...

[Ruth Came · Rating 4 out of 5]

My second play of hers: I have nothing but LOVE for Joanna Baillie