Myriad Theatre Productions

Guests: Artistic Director, Joanna O'Connor and Associate Director, James Kingdon of Myriad Theatre Productions. www.myriadtheatreproductions.com

Invisible Woman by Claire Tomalin
The 'invisible woman' of Claire Tomalin's book is the woman who, for the last thirteen years of
Charles Dickens's life, was his secret obsession and intimate companion. Her name was Nelly Ternan; she was an actress, reared in a family of actresses and imbued with the traditions of the theatrical
world; but within a few years of meeting Dickens she left the stage and disappeared from public view.
Although she reappeared,she was always liable to become invisible again,sometimes by her own choice,sometimes at the insistence of those who, for one reason or another, preferred to keep her out of sight.

The Invisible Woman is in part a detective story, involving lost and found diaries and inked-out
letters, playbills, census returns and bank accounts,railway networks,newspaper reports,disappearing
babies, oblique literary references and letters of instruction still lying in solicitor's offices - many of the ingredients, in fact, of a Dickens novel. It is at once biography, literary criticism and social history, and contains an original and extraordinary account of the theatrical world that both nurtured Nelly and held Dickens in thrall throughout his life.From its pages emerges a startling new portrait of the great writer himself, in all his ambivalence. Finally it is a marvellously entertaining account of a love affair that cast its shadow over two families and two generations, and, more than a century later, is still a matter of spirited dispute. www.penguin.co.uk

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Passing the time while he and his shipmates wait for the tide to turn, Marlow, a seaman, tells of
his journey up the Congo; a journey in search of ivory, wealth and power. His tale is dominated by
the distant but fascinating figure of Kurtz; worshipped and feared by invaders and natives alike,
he is a paradox - beloved, messianic, yet bizarre and dangerous. Marlow comes to be obsessed by
Kurtz, and is drawn inexorably toward him and his terrible fate ...

To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee
'Shoot all the Bluejays you want,if you can hit 'em, but remember its a sin to kill a Mocking bird'.
A lawyer's advice to his children as he defends the real mocking bird in this classic novel- a black
man charged with the rape of a white girl in the Deep South of the thirties.

East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Set in the rich farmland of California's Salinas Valley, this sprawling and often brutal novel
follows the intertwined destinies of two families - the Trasks and the Hamiltons - whose generations
helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel.Here Steinbeck
created some of his most memorable characters and explored his most enduring themes: the mystery of identity; the inexplicability of love; and the murderous consequences of love's absence.

Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
At the heart of Joseph Heller's bestselling novel, first published in 1961,is a satirical indictment
of military madness and stupidity, and the desire of the ordinary man to survive it. It is the tale
of the dangerously sane Captain Yossarian, who spends his time in Italy plotting to survive.

Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche
Translator - R. J. Hollingdale

‘Yes! I am Zarathustra the Godless!’

Nietzsche was one of the most revolutionary and subversive thinkers in Western philosophy, and Thus
Spoke Zarathustra remains his most famous and influential work. It describes how the ancient Persian
prophet Zarathustra descends from his solitude in the mountains to tell the world that God is dead
and that the Superman, the human embodiment of divinity, is his successor. With blazing intensity
and poetic brilliance,Nietzsche argues that the meaning of existence is not to be found in religious
 pieties or meek submission, but in an all-powerful life force: passionate, chaotic and free.

R. J. Hollingdale’s vibrant translation captures the dramatic force of Nietzsche’s writing. His
introduction offers a comprehensive chapter-by-chapter survey of the work, and there are also
explanatory notes.

Myriad Theatre Productions are touring their adaptation of Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice' in
and around Essex. For more details log onto www.myriadtheatreproductions.com.

Tune in next Friday from 7-8pm when I chat away to Yianoulla Nicola about her latest 'Holly Blue'.

Article by Muthamma Prasad, 8 Mar 2008
Posted in Book Club

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