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Showing posts from April, 2014

Of Human Bondage, A Play by Vern Thiessen - Soulpepper Theatre

Of Human Bondage, a Play - Soulpepper Theatre
Finally I am in the right place at the right time!

Of Human Bondage on stage, adapted by Vern Thiessen, directed by Albert Schultz, led by Gregory Prest and Michelle Monteith as Philip and Mildred. I admit that I had my doubts, as usual as one goes to one’s favourite work translated into another genre, and I admit that I have a very pleasant surprise.


A foggy day in Toronto. Greeting me when approaching the Union Station were a series of high-rise…

W. Somerset Maugham in Frank Scully's Rogues' Gallery

Scully, Frank. “W. Somerset Maugham.” In Rogues’ Gallery. Profiles of My Eminent Contemporaries. Hollywood: Murray & Gee, Inc., 1943. 15-36.
This post is about a chapter in Frank Scully’s work, Rogues’ Gallery. Although Scully proclaims in the preface that the word portraits don’t come in any specific order, there must be some underlying principle that he uses to organize them. W. Somerset Maugham has the honour to occupy the first place.

W. Somerset Maugham - The First Rogue
For those, i…

An Unwritten Story By Somerset Maugham by Yuri Nagibin

Nagibin, Yuri. An Unwritten Story By Somerset Maugham. Moscow: Raduga Publishers, 1988.
This book had intrigued me for quite some time. Forgive my ignorance of Russian writers; my knowledge is confined to the classics. My favourite translator is Constance Garnett, so you can imagine.... I hesitated to buy it and finally I could borrow it from the library and took a look at what it was all about.

Un Unwritten Story By Somerset Maugham
I have to say that it is an irresistible title (though I m…

The Explorer. A Melodrama in Four Acts by W. Somerset Maugham - First Edition

The Explorer. A Melodrama in Four Acts (London: Heinemann, 1912)
The Explorer, a play by W. Somerset Maugham, was written as early as 1899 but wasn’t produced until 1908, forming one of the four plays presented simultaneously after the success triggered by Lady Frederick.

Like some of his other early works, Maugham used the same story to try out different genres. The play was novelized under an identical name and published in 1907.

The Explorer - Storyline
The play got good contemporary review…