MANSFIELD PARK

The titled family of a wealthy estate brings their poor niece, Fanny Price, to join the household. A timid, retiring child, Fanny proves the most upstanding member of the clan, winning the respect, admiration and love of her new family. Frances Barber offers a sterling performance, bringing life and sparkle to each character. Her adept handling of several British dialects is deliciously enhanced by nonverbal utterings, including chuckles, sniffs, clearings of throat, sobs and the like. Barber convincingly shifts from lord of the manor to sniveling servitude at the change of a sentence. And her narrative passages transparently tie the whole family together into one beautiful package. R.P.L. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 00]