The Eligible Mr. Sparkins
LITTLE-KNOWN story by Charles Dickens will be heard in a BBC dramatised version next Friday, April 6, from 1YA,. It is The Romance of Horatio Sparkins, from:’Sketches by Boz. The story concerns a Victorian middleclass family, who, because they are elevated ex-tradespeople, try to out-gentry the gentry. The play begins at a typical "Assembly" of the period, given by the Maldertons, who are anxious to make a good match for their daughter Teresa. Teresa attracts the attention of the handsome Horatio Sparkins, who is, they imagine, a "gentleman, born and bred." Mr. and Mrs. Malderton lose no time in inviting him to dinner and, hoping to impress him, they also ask Mr, Flamwell, a vulgar person who is constantly boasting of his connections. Unfortunately, Mrs. Malderton’s shopkeeper brother contrives to invite himself on the same day, and both host and hostess are kept busy disguising the fact that he is "in trade." Sparkins, whose background is mysterious, to say the least, successfully hoodwinks them all until the final scene, when the stupidity of his life of pretence is exposed in Dickens’s best manner. The Romance of Horatio Sparkins was produced by Wilfrid Grantham, and stars Allan Jeayes and Chris Castor as the elder Maldertons, Virginia Winter as Teresa and Michael Harald as Horatio Sparkins. The YC stations next week will be presenting an NZBS production of Pat-
rick Hamilton’s drama, The Duke in Darkness. Roy Leywood plays the Duke of Lateraine in this story set about 1580, following the long and bitter French Civil War. The Duke has been a prisoner for the past fifteen years, with his half-demented servant, Gribaud. At last a chance to escape appears, but the faithful Gribaud can only hinder it. The Duke is urged to offer Gribaud a poisoned drink, At first he refuses, but eventually yields and Gribaud dies. At last the Duke escapes with his liberators, calling on his dead servant as he goes: "Ride with me, dear friend, for we are free to ride! The wind on your cheek, Gribaud, and the rain on your face."
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19560329.2.24
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 34, Issue 869, 29 March 1956, Page 11
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349The Eligible Mr. Sparkins New Zealand Listener, Volume 34, Issue 869, 29 March 1956, Page 11
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
Copyright in the Denis Glover serial Hot Water Sailor published in 1959 is owned by Pia Glover. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this serial and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the Listener. You can search, browse, and print this serial for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Pia Glover for any other use.
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