The Party

Available for 18 days

Invitation to the dance by Weber and Rosamund Lehman's novel Invitation to the Waltz help us set the scene for our programme inspired by parties. Virginia Woolf's heroine Clarissa Dalloway prepares for her guests, the West Side story cast 'feel pretty' as they prepare for a night on the town, Hilaire Belloc writes about a garden party and Handel composes Music for the Royal Fireworks. But parties can also produce hangovers and displeasure: Becky Sharp humilates poor little Amelia, Lesley Gore cries at hers, and Jeeves prepares a tonic to counteract too much drink, before Willie Nelson tells us 'the party is over.' We also hear Don Warrington reading from Sam Selvon’s The Lonely Londoners, John Betjeman’s Indoor Games Near Newbury and Noel Coward. For New Year's Eve Words and Music brings us a party playlist of readings and music. Readers: Dominic West and Holliday Grainger. Producer: Jessica Treen READINGS: William Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet Rosamund Lehman: Invitation to the Waltz Charles Perrault: Cinderella Virginia Woolf: Mrs Dalloway John Williams: Stoner Lavinia Greenlaw: The Importance of Music to Girls The Garden Party: Hilaire Belloc WM Thackery: Vanity Fair F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby Huma Qureshi: Things We Do Not Tell The People We Love Ian Hamilton Finlay: The Dancers Inherit the Party Pamela Des Barres: I’m with the Band Isabella Beeton: Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management Sam Selvon: The Lonely Londoners - Read by Don Warrington Dorothy Parker: Parties: A Hymn of Hate Kingsley Amis: Lucky Jim PG Wodehouse: Jeeves Takes Charge Claire Pollard: Thirtieth (from Changeling) Evelyn Waugh: Vile Bodies