Once on a Time (version 2 Dramatic Reading)
- Length
- 5 h 23 min
- Chapters
- 22
- Language
- English
- First published
- 1917
This version of the book is done as a Dramatic Reading with various people speaking each characters part.
When the King of Barodia receives a pair of seven-league boots as a birthday present, his habit of flying over the King of Euralia's castle during breakfast provokes a series of incidents which escalate into war. While the King of Euralia is away, his daughter Hyacinth tries to rule in his stead and counter the machiavellian ambitions of the king's favourite, the Countess Belvane. Ostensibly a typical fairytale, it tells the story of the war between the kingdoms of Euralia and Barodia and the political shenanigans which take place in Euralia in the king's absence. The book introduces us to a princess who is far from helpless; a prince who, whilst handsome, is also pompous and vain; an enchantment which is almost entirely humorous; a villain who is not entirely villainous and receives no real comeuppance; a good king who isn't always good; an evil king who isn't always evil, and so on. The result is a book which children may not enjoy as much as adults. The book was written by Milne partly for his wife, upon whom the character of the Countess Belvane was partially based. (Summary from Wikipedia)
Cast:
Narration: Bob Neufeld King Merriwig: Mark F. Smith Princess Hyacinth: Karen Savage Countess Belvane: Catharine Eastman Prince Udo: Peter Eastman Duke Coronel: Glenn Simonsen Wiggs: Arielle Lipshaw Woggs: Karen Savage King of Barodia: Roger Melin Chancellor of Barodia: Robert Keiper Chancellor of Euralia: Denny Sayers Fairy: Neeru Iyer Old Woman: Catharine Eastman Attendant: Arielle Lipshaw Carlo, Men of Euralia, Captain of Archers, Flunkey: David Lawrence Lookout, Cautious voice, Messenger, Wizard, Sentry: Barry Eads
Audio edited by: Barry Eads
Proof Listening by: Joy Easton and Arielle Lipshaw
Chapters
From LibriVox, read by volunteers and in the public domain. LibriVox page (opens librivox.org), the text (opens gutenberg.org), all files on the Internet Archive (opens archive.org).