Miss Macintosh, My Darling: Chapter 3, Alice Playten

In this segment, the late theatre, film and television actress Alice Playten reads chapter three of Marguerite Young's Miss MacIntosh, My Darling. Playten's reading is underscored by artist Rob Wynne's experimental soundscapes and music.

This chapter covers the phantasmal encounters between the bedridden Miss MacIntosh and her illusive friend the headhunter. Young lets the two worlds clash, by placing the Australian bushman character in the aristocratic world of Miss MacIntosh. The savage and the intellectual get intimate and lost in limbo.

In 1976-77, Charles Ruas produced a series of WBAI radio programs focused on literature and radio performance, called The Reading Experiment. As part of this series, Miss MacIntosh, My Darling was read over a year-long period by Marguerite Young’s contemporaries from the New York City literature, music, and theater communities. All readings are underscored with soundscapes and music by artist Rob Wynne.

This program has been restored by The Clocktower Radio; with the assistance of Charles Ruas; and by agreement with The Yale Beinecke Library, home to the Marguerite Young Papers. Special thanks to Dr. Contance Eichenlaub for her passion and generosity.

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