Hello and welcome to WORDTheatre Weekly: The Short Story Podcast where great authors and great actors meet! I’m your host, Cedering Fox, WORDTheatre's Founder & Artistic Director.
This week, we are sharing a gem of a story, "It Had Wings" by Allan Gurganus, read by Lesley Nicol. This story was originally performed in London in 2021 as a part of our program, Missing You: Music & Magical Love Stories of Angels, Ghosts & the Natural World.
We're taking a little break from our Best British Short Stories series to bring you a little gem to contemplate during the Thanksgiving holiday, if you're here in America. And wherever you may be, we hope it inspires you to be grateful for life's precious gifts, and occasional miracles, especially during these difficult times.
Allan Gurganus is an American novelist, short story writer, and essayist, hailing from North Carolina. He is well known for his novel Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All, which was on the New York Times Bestseller list for eight months and the recipient of the Sue Kaufman Prize from The American Academy of Arts and Letters. Allan has authored other well regarded works such as White People, a collection of short stories & novellas, the novel Plays Well with Others, and The Practical Heart, a collection of novellas.
Lesley Nicol is an English actress perhaps best known for her three-time SAG award-winning role as Mrs. Beryl Patmore in the hit series Downtown Abbey. In addition to her work on the silver screen, which also includes her roles on such shows as Supernatural, BBC's The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe, and Once Upon A Time, Lesley is a prolific theatre actor. She co-starred as "Rosie" in the original West End production of Mamma Mia, and appeared in other musicals such as East is East and its sequel West is West.
Please note that WORDTheatre holds the copyright to these recordings and no portion of anything you hear on the short story podcast may be reproduced without permission.
And now, here is Lesley Nicol performing “It Had Wings” by Allan Gurganus.
IT HAD WINGS PLAYS.
Thank you for listening to Lesley Nicol's performance of "It Had Wings" by Allan Gurganus, recorded live at WORDTheatre UK in London. You can find Allan's books and novellas at bookshop.org/shop/wordtheatre. Consider becoming a WORDTheatre Member. And if you are already a Member, why don't you buy a Membership for a friend this holiday season? Members can join from almost anywhere in the world and watch videos from the comfort of their own home. If you are near the UK, check out our new website WORDTheatreUK.org. We have a full calendar of live events being planned in LA, NY and around the UK for 2025!
As always, we'd like to thank Philanthropist/Benefactor, Ola Strom, and the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture for their ongoing support . Thank you to the entire WORDTheatre Team, especially Severino Villanueva, our wonderful Audio Editing Intern. We hope that all who celebrate have a marvelous Thanksgiving, and we'll see you next week! This is Cedering Fox, signing off!!