Mrs. Manstey's View (radio)

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Broadcast history

The Radio Tales production of “Mrs. Manstey’s View” was first broadcast via NPR on December 18, 2001. [National Public Radio: "NPR Quarterly Edition Fall 2001". NPR Marketing, Vol. VII, No. IV] The program encompassed one half-hour installment that was distributed to NPR member stations as part of the NPR Playhouse cultural series. Since November 28th, 2002, the entire Radio Tales series has aired in reruns on the Sonic Theater channel (163) of the XM Satellite Radio service. [ [http://www.xmradio.com/onxm/features/sonictheater.xmc "Sonic Theater"] XMRadio.com. Accessed May 22, 2008.] The “Mrs. Manstey’s View” program debuted on XM Satellite Radio on September 27, 2003.

Production information

The program was produced and script edited by series producer Winnie Waldron, who also served as the on-air host. [ [http://www.winifredphillips.com/wp_bio.html "Winifred Phillips Official Site: Biography"] Winifredphillips.com. Accessed May 19, 2008.] Composer Winifred Phillips created over twenty-eight minutes of music for the program, and also performed as the featured actress. [ [http://www.mninter.net/~jstearns/nprPH.html#top "NPR Playhouse - January - March, 2001"] MNinter.net. Accessed March 21, 2008.] “Mrs. Manstey’s View” was part of the fifth year of Radio Tales on NPR Playhouse. [National Public Radio: "NPR Quarterly Edition Fall 2001". NPR Marketing, Vol. VII, No. IV]

Media

The Radio Tales production of “Mrs. Manstey’s View” has been available in numerous formats and venues, including burn-on-demand CDs manufactured and distributed by MP3.com [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20031129193548/artists.mp3s.com/artists/33/npr_radio_tales.html "MP3.com: Radio Tales"] MP3.com, as indexed by the Internet Archive at Archive.org. Accessed July 15, 2008.] and Ampcast.com. [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20060212003627/http://www.ampcast.com/music/25229/artist.php "Ampcast.com: Radio Tales"] Ampcast.com, as indexed by the Internet Archive at Archive.org. Accessed July 15, 2008.] Beginning in 2005, programs from the series, including “Mrs. Manstey’s View”, have been available for download via the Audioville.co.uk web site. [ [http://www.audioville.co.uk/store/view.php?Id=563&ProductCategoryId=59 "audioVille | Stor>>Fiction | Radio Tales | Download Audio Books, Podcasts and more in MP3. Comedy, Fiction, sport, news, science, drama."] Audioville.co.uk. Accessed September 27, 2008.]

Opening narration

Plot summary

Mrs. Manstey is the elderly occupant of the third floor back room in Mrs. Sampson’s boarding house in New York. Mrs. Manstey spends most of her time sitting in her window looking out on the yards of the adjacent houses, taking note of which flowers are in bloom, and following the day-to-day activities of the people who come and go. Mrs. Manstey is alone in the world – her daughter lives far away, her husband has long since passed on, and visits from friends have grown infrequent. Nevertheless, Mrs. Manstey is quite content in spending her days musing over the constant changes that nature and the cycle of the seasons bring to her view, or the little human activities outside that are sometimes worrying, sometimes pleasing, and always interesting.

So when her landlady informs her that the boarding house next door will be adding an extension that will completely block her view, Mrs. Manstey is devastated. She goes to see the owner of the boarding house next door (which is not a small endeavor for such a frail old woman) and offers a thousand dollars if the planned extension is canceled. The owner of the building, Mrs. Black, is astonished at this bizarre offer. Mrs. Manstey opens her heart to Mrs. Black, speaking of her long-cherished dream of living in the country, of growing plants and keeping animals, and of how these dreams had never become a reality… of how the view from her window had become her sole consolation and comfort… of how her increasing infirmity had made it quite impossible for her to find a new place to live after Mrs. Black’s extension should be built. During this appeal, Mrs. Black seems to take Mrs. Manstey seriously, and tells Mrs. Manstey that she will delay the building of the extension while she considers the old woman’s offer.

The next day, however, Mrs. Manstey realizes that she has been deceived, as she watches the building of the extension begin. Mrs. Manstey listens to the workmen as they warn each other not to light matches near the wooden balconies with the barrels of paper beneath them. After hearing this, Mrs. Manstey waits until night, takes up her kerosene lamp and her box of matches, and goes out into the shivering cold.

The next day, the fire engines come to put out the fire that has ignited the wooden balconies of Mrs. Black’s house. Mrs. Manstey watches the progress of the blaze while leaning out of her window and into the chilly breeze. The fire is quickly extinguished, with little harm done to anyone but Mrs. Manstey, who has come down with pneumonia from her exposure to the cold. The doctor pronounces that Mrs. Manstey is dying. The next day, when her landlady comes to visit her and the nurse caring for her, Mrs. Manstey asks to be carried to the window. The landlady and the nurse obey the dying woman’s wish, and set her in her favorite chair by the window. The dawn is breaking, and Mrs. Manstey can see that the workmen have not yet resumed their construction of the extension. All is beautiful and peaceful and undisturbed. Mrs. Manstey dies, with a smile on her face. Later that day, the builders return to the site of the planned extension and resume their work.

References

External Links

* [http://www.audioville.co.uk/store/view.php?Id=563&ProductCategoryId=59 Mrs. Manstey’s View Streaming Audio Sample on Audioville.co.uk]

* [http://www.radiotales.com/ The Official Radio Tales® Web Site]
* [http://www.audioville.co.uk/store/view_productcategory.php?Id=59 Radio Tales Streaming Audio Samples on AudioVille]
* [http://www.xmradio.com/onxm/channelpage.xmc?ch=163 XM Satellite Radio – Information on the Sonic Theater Channel]