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1Ram Alley, or Merry Tricks by Lording Barry

By Lording Barry

Ram Alley, or Merry Tricks, is a bawdy comedy by Lording Barry, a contemporary of Shakespeare. The production bankrupted Barry, landed him in debtor's jail, and set him off on a life of piracy. The action of Ram Alley takes place in a disreputable London lane where lawyers, lords, and ladies rub shoulders with prostitutes and vagabonds. One 19th century editor complained that it was "full of gross passages, allusions, and innuendoes," but more recent commentators have seen past the risque gags and recognised the play's wit, complexity, and intelligence. Ram Alley has only been revived three times since 1611, but recently came close to topping a poll of academics to find the best 'forgotten' play by an Elizabethan/Jacobean dramatist. - Summary by Rob Board<br /><br /> Narrator: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/6548">Kristin Gjerløw</a><br /> Sir Oliver Smallshanks: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/9809">Andrew Utley</a><br /> Thomas Smallshanks: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/8808">davidpr</a><br /> William Smallshanks: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/8164">Rob Board</a><br /> Boutcher: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/9781">Negatron</a><br /> Lady Sommerfield: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/1259">Elizabeth Klett</a><br /> Constantia Sommerfield: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/7756">Lynne Thompson</a><br /> Frances: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/6281">Beth Thomas</a><br /> Mistress Taffeta: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/9775">Alex Lane</a><br /> Adriana: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/10087">Sandra Schmit</a><br /> Lieutenant Beard: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/9905">Hamlet</a><br /> Throat: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/8799">Peter Tucker</a><br /> Dash: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/9965">Hannoria</a><br /> Justice Tutchin: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/9435">Richard Shipp</a><br /> Captain Puff, aka Captain Face: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/9929">Zames Curran</a><br /> Sergeant: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/7170">alanmapstone</a><br /> 1st citizen: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/8883">Lydia</a><br /> 1st & 2nd gentleman: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/9647">Joseph Tabler</a><br /> A drawer: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/2607">Ruth Golding</a><br /> Serving man: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/9001">Mary Kay</a><br /> 1st woman: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/4174">Availle</a><br /> Constable: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/9872">Newgatenovelist</a><br /> Audio edited by: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/8164">Rob Board</a>

The Family of Love is an early Jacobean city comedy, first published in 1608. Published anonymously, the play was long attributed to Thomas Middleton and Thomas Dekker, although more recent scholarship suggests that Lording Barry may be the sole author. The play satirises the supposed sexual lasciviousness of the Familia Caritatis or "Family of Love," the religious sect founded by Henry Nicholis in the 16th century. <br /><br /> Maria is in love with Gerardine but her uncle, Glister the physician, opposes the match. Gerardine pretends to depart for a long ocean voyage, leaving a trunk containing his earthly possessions to Maria, but when Maria opens the trunk she finds Gerardine inside. Meanwhile, Glister cheats on his wife with the Familist wife of Purge the apothecary. Two dim-witted gallants, Gudgeon and Lipsalve, try to bed every woman they meet and want nothing more than to gain access to the secretive Familist Meeting House, which rumor has it is a bastion of free-love. With the help of Dryfat the merchant and Club the apprentice, Gerardine stages a mock trial with the intention of teaching everyone a lesson. - Summary by Wikipedia and Rob Board. <br /><br /> <b>Cast</b> Narrator: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/2911">David Lawrence</a><br /> Gerardine: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/10789">Tomas Peter</a><br /> Maria: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/8677">Khand</a><br /> Glister: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/9905">Hamlet</a><br /> Mistress Glister: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/10179">Sonia</a><br /> Mistress Purge: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/10614">Leanne Yau</a><br /> Purge: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/7170">alanmapstone</a><br /> Lipsalve: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/8164">Rob Board</a><br /> Gudgeon: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/9809">Andrew Utley</a><br /> Dryfat: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/8799">Peter Tucker</a><br /> Club: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/6754">ToddHW</a><br /> Shrimp: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/10458">ScarlettG</a><br /> Periwinkle: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/9810">Stoofy</a><br /> Vial: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/11535">Nemo</a><br /> Within: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/10087">Sandra Schmit</a><br /> <b>Edited by: <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/8164">Rob Board</a></b>

3Soap Bubble Stories

By Fanny Barry

Have you ever watched a soap bubble drifting up on the air, sparkling and lovely? These lovely stories for children are of many lengths and varied styles but all beautifully crafted, just like the soap bubbles we blow and enjoy watching our children blow. Unlike soap bubbles however, these stories can be enjoyed over and over again by children of all ages. The style is indeed a bit old, but fairy tales should be kind of timeless, shouldn't they? "All the afternoon the children, pipe in hand, with soap suds before them, had been blowing airy bubbles that caught the gleams of a hundred flying rainbows—but now in the fading daylight, the pipes were put aside, and they threw themselves down on the fur rug, and looked with thoughtful eyes into the caverns of the fire.<br> "What can we do now?" they cried, "Won't you make us some bubbles?"<br> And someone sitting in the shadow, who had watched and admired their handiwork, whipped up some white froth in a fairy basin, and taking a pipe, she blew them some bubbles.<br> Not so beautiful as the children's own, with their pure reflections of the light and sunshine—but the best she could fashion with the materials she had at hand; for the only soap she could find was Imagination, and her pipe was a humble black pen." - Summary by phil chenevert and the author

4Congressman’s Wife, a Story of American Politics

By John Daniel Barry

A season in the lives of Mr. and Mrs. Briggs highlights a stormy period in American politics and the capriciousness of a woman. - Summary by Lynne T

Iris Barry was a British and American poet, novelist, film critic and curator at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. These poems were published between 1914 and 1924 in Poetry, Others, Poetry and Drama, The Little Review, The Chapbook and The Living Age. - Summary by Newgatenovelist

6Sydney Past and Present

By John Arthur Barry

An account of the early history of Sydney, Australia's first colonial city. Best known for his collection of light-hearted yarns, Steve Brown's Bunyip and other Stories, J. A. Barry first published the chapters of this book as a series of articles in the Town and Country Journal. Published shortly after the Federation of Australia in 1901, Barry's version of Sydney's nineteenth century history is anecdotal and entertaining, and opens a window on to the attitudes and concerns of its times.