This week on Selected Shorts, Hugh Dancy and Claire Daines trade barbs.

He's lazy.

I've never seen him do anything.

She's rich, but doesn't help the poor.

In fact, she often short changes, milleners and hairdresses.

She has no heart.

A story by Anton Chekhov transforms a real-life husband and wife

into a couple at war.

This week features stories about the stage,

and though you can't see it from where you sit,

the lights have just grown dim, people are hurrying to their seats,

and the curtain is about to come up.

I'm your host, Meg Wallitzer, and you're

listening to Selected Shorts, where our greatest actors

transport us through the magic of fiction, one short story at a time.

As our listeners know, we record nearly all of our stories

on the show in front of live audiences.

Performing in front of an audience is the most

elemental form of storytelling.

While most people know me as a writer,

I'm often drawn to the stage as well.

I think partly it's because being in the audience

...