Arthur Wing Pinero

The Amazons: A Farcical Romance


Read by LibriVox Volunteers


This 1895 farce inspired by the outlandish idea of women wearing pants, centers around the predicament of the three daughters of the eccentr…

The Magistrate


Read by LibriVox Volunteers


The success of “The Magistrate” was immediate, and the Court Theatre was crowded night after night for more than a year, the play being pres…

The Princess and the Butterfly


Read by LibriVox Volunteers


The English-born Princess Pannonia had spent the twenty years of her marriage isolated in the Prince's remote Hungarian castle. Now widowed,…

Dandy Dick


Read by LibriVox Volunteers


“Dandy Dick” was the third of the farces which Mr. Pinero wrote for the old Court Theatre—a series of plays which, besides giving playgoers …

The Schoolmistress


Read by LibriVox Volunteers


The second of Pinero's farces, following the wildly successful The Magistrate, and likewise a hit. The Schoolmistress has a secret: "Th…

The Second Mrs. Tanqueray


Read by LibriVox Volunteers


Aubrey Tanqueray marries a woman with a past which he believes will not matter in society. "I know you think me a fool, Cayley—you need…

The Weaker Sex


Read by LibriVox Volunteers


Mrs. Boyle-Chewton and her cause - the Advancement of Women from the Rear to the Van. Lady Vivash, new recruit to the cause. Their daughter…

One-Act Play Collection 011


Read by LibriVox Volunteers


Here are 10 one act plays offered by various groups of Librivox readers. From Ancient India to the Far Future, from the palaces of royalty t…

In Chancery


Read by LibriVox Volunteers


Subtitled "An Original Fantastic Comedy in Three Acts", this should be another enjoyable farce by Pinero, including memory loss, m…

The Benefit of the Doubt


Read by LibriVox Volunteers


The plot resolves around a young woman being cited in court as "The Other Woman" in a divorce case, and how her family reacts to i…

The Money-Spinner


Read by LibriVox Volunteers


When his younger brother incurs a large betting debt, what could be easier than for a man to borrow the money to save him from the factory h…

The Notorious Mrs. Ebbsmith


Read by LibriVox Volunteers


Lucas Cleeve is living in Venice with a widow, Mrs. Ebbsmith. His relatives do not accept this arrangement and come to intervene. Note that …

Sweet Lavender


Read by LibriVox Volunteers


"Sweet Lavender" must be regarded as one of the most successful stage-plays of modern times, and there can be no question that it …

The Gay Lord Quex


Read by LibriVox Volunteers


Lord Quex, after a life of philandering, has decided to reform and marry. But he is not believed, particularly by the guardian of his intend…

The Hobby-Horse


Read by LibriVox Volunteers


A man's wife is caught up in Philanthropy, generously supporting all sorts of good causes. But that does not include her husband's interests…

Iris


Read by LibriVox Volunteers


Left a widow 5 years ago at age 21, Iris Bellamy is shackled by terms of her husband's will that would leave her penniless if she remarries.…

The "Mind The Paint" Girl


Read by LibriVox Volunteers


Another Pinero play from the early 1900s. With a social message about the effects of stardom on the star as well as those that love them. &q…

A Wife Without A Smile


Read by LibriVox Volunteers


Mr. Rippingill can not get his wife to relax her stony features and smile. Maybe even laugh. "Avis - Lady Whitstable and the pickled sa…

The Rocket


Read by LibriVox Volunteers


Gentlemen out away from London, looking for wives. "I'm going to settle down, hearthrug and slippers and all that sort of thing." …

The Freaks: An Idyll of Suburbia


Read by LibriVox Volunteers


When Mrs. Herrick's brother Charlie dies, he leaves his money in trust for members of the circus he used to own under the name of "Sega…

The Squire


Read by LibriVox Volunteers


"Then take a word of advice—cut yourself adrift from Squire Kate's apron strings. (Gilbert turns away) When my father, John Verity, die…

The Cabinet Minister


Read by LibriVox Volunteers


Mr. Pinero holds that farce should treat of probable people placed in possible circumstances, but regarded from a point of view which exagge…

One-Act Play Collection 014


Read by LibriVox Volunteers


Here, in our 14th collection, are 10 One Act Plays for your enjoyment. They range from the farm to the courtroom to the palace throne room; …

Trelawny of the Wells


Read by LibriVox Volunteers


A theater, various actors and actresses, their admirers, financial backers, etc. The star Rose Trelawny wants to leave the stage for love, b…

The Times


Read by LibriVox Volunteers


Percy Egerton-Bompas, M.P., and Mrs Bompas have secrets in their family. Which promise grave difficulties as they try to marry off their dau…

Letty


Read by LibriVox Volunteers


Letty is another one of Pinero's Social Plays, exposing the double standard of woman's reputations suffering for actions that in men were no…

His House in Order


Read by LibriVox Volunteers


"A well-meaning second wife is made miserable by the fact that she is continually compared, to her disadvantage, with her predecessor. …

Lady Bountiful


Read by LibriVox Volunteers


"The story of "Lady Bountiful" is, I venture to think, human and interesting enough to offer possibilities to the novelist; w…

The Big Drum


Read by LibriVox Volunteers


Another Pinero play. Biting satire this time, ironic comedy - not a farce. The Big Drum, a novel being written by Phil, one of the main char…

The Profligate


Read by LibriVox Volunteers


'Mr. Pinero, in essaying to deal dramatically with a moral problem in a manner which, while neither cynical nor commonplace, should still be…

The Beauty Stone


Read by LibriVox Volunteers


Not your usual Pinero play. Gilbert and Sullivan had stopped collaborating, and so Pinero - at the height of his very successful career - an…

One-Act Play Collection 019


Read by LibriVox Volunteers


Here, in our 19th collection, are 10 One Act Plays for your enjoyment. (Several of the plays took longer than one section and had to be spli…

The Thunderbolt


Read by LibriVox Volunteers


Called "An episode in the history of a provincial family", where "their faults of manner and breeding are precisely the fault…