Mercury Theatre
Sredni Vashtar
by Saki
“Sredni Vashtar” is a darkly comic short story by Saki, the pen name of H. H. Munro. It follows Conradin, a frail, imaginative boy whose strict guardian, Mrs. De Ropp, controls nearly every part of his life. In a hidden shed, Conradin tends a ferret he has named Sredni Vashtar and gives the animal the place of a powerful, private deity.
The story’s tension grows from the contrast between Conradin’s secret inner world and the household’s rigid rules. His small acts of devotion become a quiet form of resistance, while Saki’s precise narration lets the situation unfold with an unsettling blend of restraint and mischief.
As a Mercury Theatre adaptation, the tale becomes an intimate radio drama, using performance and sound to bring its confined setting and ominous undercurrent to life. Its appeal lies in the sharp turn from childhood fantasy to black comedy, and in the story’s memorable portrait of a boy finding an unexpected source of power.
This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.
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