The Reading Warehouse

The ultimate escapist adventure story, The Prisoner of Zenda transports listeners into a bygone era, awash with swashbuckling heroism, cunning plots, and courtly love. The popularity of Hope's tale of intrigue was such that it spawned an entirely new genre known as the "Ruritanian romance." When the king of Ruritania is kidnapped, the onus falls on a British tourist, who bears an uncanny resemblance to the king, to stand in for him and to avert disaster by coming to his rescue. The frequent replays of the film with Ronald Colman and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. testify to the continuing popularity of this evergreen adventure. Andrew Pugsley's reading captures the excitement and the momentum.

Andrew Pugsley is an actor, singer, comedian, and improviser who trained at the prestigious Circle in the Square Theatre School on Broadway. He is a member of the award-winning Showstopper! The Improvised Musical, performing on BBC Radio 4, the west end, national and international tours, and at annual sell-out seasons at Edinburgh's Fringe Festival. He is also a member of improvised comedy troupe Panthercannon and regularly performs at the London 50 Hour Improvathons. He has taught improvisation and acting at Oxford School of Drama, the London Film School, Associated Studios, and The Bridge. Andrew also writes and performs his own comic cabaret songs.

Anthony Hope (1863-1933), a thirty-year-old barrister, wrote The Prisoner of Zenda in 1893. His mythical Ruritania, with its witty hero and shrewd villains, became so popular that he gave up his law practice after the book's publication.