THE TRIAL & DEATH OF SOCRATES Apology, Phaedo

Most of us remember THE APOLOGY as one of those dry Philosophy 101 texts we struggled to finish, but Tom Griffith's new translation in this Naxos production is far from dry. Socrates's defense of his life and, ironically, of his death, possesses a stunning immediacy: It is colloquial yet faithful, contemporary yet ancient, poignant yet timeless. The performance of Bruce Alexander, Jamie Glover, and company brings all the graceful resignation and patient humor of the 72-year-old man to new life, as only seasoned actors can. They give us the feel of what it must have been like in the jail that strange day 2,500 years ago when Athens put their most thoughtful citizen to death because he troubled their sleep. Naxos even provides an original soundtrack, haunting and meditative, to bridge the awkward transitions in the action. Everything is done, in short, to take Socrates from that dry 101 text to our own neighborhood. P.E.F. 2003 Audie Award Finalist (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 02]