Pack of Lies (Library Edition Audio CDs) [Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Hugh Whitemore (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2005

Starring: Rosalind Ayres, Martin Jarvis, and Julian Sands 112 Minutes on 2 CDs Actual events during the Cold War inspired this thriller that takes place in a suburb of London during the autumn and winter of 1960-1961. Loyalty, duty and friendship collide when the Jacksons slowly discover the Krogers, their neighbors and cherished friends, are not what they appear. A gripping play that may leave you wondering what it is those nice people next door are really up to.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Hugh Whitemore studied for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He began his career in British television, writing many original plays and dramatizations (ranging from Kafka to Daphne du Maurier), twice receiving the Writers' Guild Awards. He has also written for American TV, including a four-hour film about the Alger Hiss case, Concealed Enemies, which won an Emmy Award for the best mini-series. Film credits include The Return of the Soldier (an adaptation of the novel by Rebecca West), Mel BrooksEproduction of 84 Charing Cross Road, Utz, (an adaptation of Bruce Chatwin's novel, which won 3 prizes at 1992 Berlin film festival) and Franco Zeffirelli's Jane Eyre. His stage plays include Stevie, Pack of Lies, Breaking the Code, The Best of Friends, It's Ralph, A Letter of Resignation, Disposing of the Body and God Only Knows. These plays have been translated into many languages and produced throughout the world. Hugh Whitemore's work has twice been named Best Single TV drama by the Broadcasting Press Guild, he has received the Scripter Prize in Hollywood, the Script Prize at the 1998 Monte Carlo Festival and a special Communications Award from the American Mathematical Society. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and the 2003/4 Visiting Professor in broadcast media at Oxford University. His most recent work, The Gathering Storm, starring Albert Finney and Vanessa Redgrave, won the 2002 Emmy Award for outstanding writing, two Golden Globes, the Writers Guild of America Award, and a Peabody Award. My House in Umbria, a film adaptation of the novella by William Trevor, with Maggie Smith in the leading role, was released in 2003.

From AudioFile

The ordinariness of a London suburb during the Cold War is shattered when a husband and wife are asked to shelter police investigators who are monitoring the double lives of a nearby couple who have befriended them and their adolescent daughter. The co-opted couple and the developing drama are chillingly and ominously portrayed through excellent performances by Rosalind Ayres, Martin Jarvis, and Julian Sands. The skillfully written plot lodges itself in the consciousness of the listener, creating the terrible pull between a treasured friendship and the possibility the couple are traitors to the United Kingdom. Introductory music with subtly dark overtones deepens the strained atmosphere, demanding that the listener pay close attention as the plot unfolds. L.C. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: L.A. Theatre Works; Unabridged edition (June 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580812902
• ISBN-13: 978-1580812900
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,322,281 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Tragic Effects of Deceit, March 7, 2005

By 

NMdesapio - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pack of Lies (Plays) (Paperback)

Hugh Whitemore's 1983 play PACK OF LIES is a sensitive study in how repeated lying can undermine even the closest of friendships. Whitemore dramatizes the true story of Bill and Ruth Search, who in 1960 began to allow their home in Ruislip, England to be the location from which members of MI5 (the British intelligence agency similar to the United States' FBI) monitored the home of the Searches' good friends, Morris and Lona Cohen, whom MI5 suspected of passing on secrets to the Soviet Union. In PACK OF LIES, the Searches become the Jacksons and the Cohens the Krogers (their alias in real life, as well). A pivotal figure in the play is Mr. Stewart, the MI5 "civil servant" who visits the Jacksons and persuades them to shelter two police girls, Thelma and Sally, in their home so that they may watch the homes of their neighbors - the Krogers' house in particular. From this point the MI5 agents increasingly invade the Jackson household; meanwhile, the ordeal of cooperating with them while lying to the Krogers begins to take an emotional and physical toll on the sensitive Barbara Jackson (Ruth Search).

On beginning PACK OF LIES for the first time, one might think it simply mundane, "kitchen-sink" realism. But, starting with the introduction of Mr. Stewart, one is increasingly drawn into the mystery of who the Krogers really are and begins to ask questions such as the following: Whose power is greater, the individual's or the state's? Can an individual be "a criminal" but still have admirable qualities? How does guilt affect a person? Finally, one sees that the purpose of the play's initial scenes is to establish the close friendship between Barbara Jackson and Helen Kroger - a friendship that is ultimately destroyed by lies. I recently saw a superb local production of PACK OF LIES and am glad to have discovered this great play.