THE SCARLET LETTER

If you last read THE SCARLET LETTER in high school, this production of the classic novel of adultery, repentance, hypocrisy, and the boundaries of Puritan law will remind you why your English teacher assigned it. Hawthorne's ageless story focuses on Hester Prynne, a young wife accused of adultery and forced to wear the scarlet letter "A" on her bosom. Much of this morality tale investigates the interior tensions of characters as complex as any in literature. The novel is given an artful reading by Annie Wauters. Wauters creates a Hester Prynne of enormous heroism. Hester's strength, when surrounded by false piety and righteousness, is humbling. Wauters's smooth, calming voice gives the simpering Dimmesdale and the vengeful Roger Chillingworth more humanity than they deserve. S.J.H. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEP 02]