- Shakespeare (641)
Most Popular
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BBC Radio Shakespeare: A Collection of Eight Comedies
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Anne-Marie Duff, David Tennant, Full Cast, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 28 mins
- Original Recording
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A collection of BBC Radio 3's iconic Shakespeare productions: eight comedies with all-star casts including David Tennant, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne-Marie Duff, Martin Jarvis, Siân Phillips and Miriam Margolyes....
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The Jane Austen BBC Radio Drama Collection
- Six BBC Radio Full-Cast Dramatisations
- By: Jane Austen
- Narrated by: Julia McKenzie, Benedict Cumberbatch, Juliet Stevenson, and others
- Length: 14 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
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A collection of BBC radio full-cast dramatisations of Jane Austen's six major novels....
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Abridged, but well done.
- By Dean Spilias on 04-07-2016
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Bel Canto
- By: Ann Patchett
- Narrated by: Anna Fields
- Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Ann Patchett’s award winning, New York Times best-selling Bel Canto balances themes of love and crisis as disparate characters learn that music is their only common language. The author’s lyrical prose and lucid imagination make Bel Canto a captivating story of strength and frailty, love and imprisonment, and an inspiring tale of transcendent romance....
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A wonderful human story
- By Felicity on 20-10-2018
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Shakespeare: The Complete Works
- Argo Classics
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Ian McKellen, Derek Jacobi, Diana Rigg, and others
- Length: 98 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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For the first time, the complete works of Shakespeare are available to download as one. This collection includes all 37 plays, four narrative poems and the sonnets....
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not in order
- By Anonymous User on 22-01-2022
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The Noel Coward BBC Radio Drama Collection
- Seven BBC Radio Full-cast Productions
- By: Noel Coward
- Narrated by: Alex Jennings, Bill Nighy, Celia Imrie, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins
- Original Recording
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Seven BBC radio full-cast productions of Noël Coward’s classic plays – plus bonus material including a profile of Coward and extracts from his diaries....
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Sublime!
- By Beaver on 16-02-2019
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Twelfth Night
- Arkangel Shakespeare
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Niamh Cusack, Jonathan Firth, Amanda Root, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 11 mins
- Original Recording
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Shakespeare's most sophisticated comedy is a riotous tale of hopelessly unrequited passions and mistaken identity....
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The Bard
- By Mathew on 08-03-2018
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BBC Radio Shakespeare: A Collection of Eight Comedies
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Anne-Marie Duff, David Tennant, Full Cast, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 28 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
A collection of BBC Radio 3's iconic Shakespeare productions: eight comedies with all-star casts including David Tennant, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne-Marie Duff, Martin Jarvis, Siân Phillips and Miriam Margolyes....
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The Jane Austen BBC Radio Drama Collection
- Six BBC Radio Full-Cast Dramatisations
- By: Jane Austen
- Narrated by: Julia McKenzie, Benedict Cumberbatch, Juliet Stevenson, and others
- Length: 14 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
A collection of BBC radio full-cast dramatisations of Jane Austen's six major novels....
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Abridged, but well done.
- By Dean Spilias on 04-07-2016
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Bel Canto
- By: Ann Patchett
- Narrated by: Anna Fields
- Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Ann Patchett’s award winning, New York Times best-selling Bel Canto balances themes of love and crisis as disparate characters learn that music is their only common language. The author’s lyrical prose and lucid imagination make Bel Canto a captivating story of strength and frailty, love and imprisonment, and an inspiring tale of transcendent romance....
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A wonderful human story
- By Felicity on 20-10-2018
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Shakespeare: The Complete Works
- Argo Classics
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Ian McKellen, Derek Jacobi, Diana Rigg, and others
- Length: 98 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
For the first time, the complete works of Shakespeare are available to download as one. This collection includes all 37 plays, four narrative poems and the sonnets....
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not in order
- By Anonymous User on 22-01-2022
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The Noel Coward BBC Radio Drama Collection
- Seven BBC Radio Full-cast Productions
- By: Noel Coward
- Narrated by: Alex Jennings, Bill Nighy, Celia Imrie, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall
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Performance
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Seven BBC radio full-cast productions of Noël Coward’s classic plays – plus bonus material including a profile of Coward and extracts from his diaries....
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Sublime!
- By Beaver on 16-02-2019
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Twelfth Night
- Arkangel Shakespeare
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Niamh Cusack, Jonathan Firth, Amanda Root, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 11 mins
- Original Recording
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Shakespeare's most sophisticated comedy is a riotous tale of hopelessly unrequited passions and mistaken identity....
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The Bard
- By Mathew on 08-03-2018
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The Crucible
- By: Arthur Miller
- Narrated by: Stacy Keach, Richard Dreyfuss, Ed Begley Jr., and others
- Length: 1 hr and 58 mins
- Original Recording
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In the rigid theocracy of Salem, Massachusetts, rumors that women are practicing witchcraft galvanize the town....
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Adapted
- By Lucy on 18-01-2017
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The Tempest
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Sir Ian McKellen, Emilia Fox, Scott Handy, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Sir Ian McKellen, fresh from his performance as Gandalf in Lord of the Rings, is Prospero, and heads a strong cast in Shakespeare’s last great play....
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Shakespeare and McKellen - a Perfect Combination
- By Roderic on 12-08-2019
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Tom Stoppard: A BBC Radio Collection
- 14 full-cast productions including Arcadia, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead & others
- By: Tom Stoppard
- Narrated by: Rufus Sewell, Bill Nighy, Harriet Walters, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 45 mins
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This is the collected BBC radio productions of the internationally renowned playwright Tom Stoppard....
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William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Daniel Moore
- Length: 1 hr and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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A solo recording of A Midsummer Night's Dream in an American dialect....
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Twelve Angry Men
- By: Reginald Rose
- Narrated by: Dan Castellaneta, Hector Elizondo, Armin Shimerman
- Length: 1 hr and 50 mins
- Original Recording
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Over the course of a steamy and tense afternoon, twelve jurors deliberate the fate of a 19-year-old boy alleged to have murdered his own father....
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Reginald rose at his best
- By Bradley martin on 20-04-2023
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What Katy Did
- By: Susan Coolidge
- Narrated by: Eloise Oxer
- Length: 6 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Katy Carr is always dreaming of the time when something will happen to make her famous. But when it does, it's not at all what she wants.....
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A Doll House
- By: Henrik Ibsen
- Narrated by: Calista Flockhart, Tony Abatemarco, Tim Dekay, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 10 mins
- Original Recording
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Nora Helmer has everything a young housewife could want: Beautiful children, an adoring husband, and a bright future. But when a carelessly buried secret rises from the past, Nora’s well-calibrated domestic ideal starts to crumble....
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Oedipus the King
- By: Sophocles
- Narrated by: Michael Sheen, full cast
- Length: 1 hr and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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In the hands of Sophocles, the master dramatist, the anguished tale of a man fated to kill his father and marry his mother retains its power to shock and move beyond any Freudian reference....
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The Man Born to Be King
- A BBC Radio 4 Drama Collection
- By: Dorothy L. Sayers
- Narrated by: full cast, Gabriel Woolf, John Westbrook, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Original Recording
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Dorothy L. Sayers's classic play cycle based on the life and times of Jesus....
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A lovely rendering of the life of our Lord Jesus
- By Shaz Ginns on 16-12-2021
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Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, The Secondary Phase Special
- By: Douglas Adams
- Narrated by: Peter Jones, Simon Jones, Geoffrey McGivern, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Stranded on Prehistoric Earth since the end of the first series, Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect are once again trying to hitch their way off the planet....
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Brilliant.
- By Typhus. on 06-04-2022
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Death of a Salesman
- By: Arthur Miller
- Narrated by: Stacy Keach, Jane Kaczmarek, Steven Culp, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 16 mins
- Original Recording
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Stacy Keach and Jane Kaczmarek star in this 1949 masterpiece by Arthur Miller, a searing portrait of the physical, emotional, and psychological costs of the American dream....
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Strong Story Very Well Performed
- By James on 21-07-2023
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Much Ado About Nothing
- Much Ado About Nothing (Dramatized)
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: David Tennant, Samantha Spiro, full cast
- Length: 2 hrs and 14 mins
- Original Recording
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In this BBC full-cast production of Much Ado About Nothing, some handsome soldiers return from battle. Yet one soldier finds himself locked in a merry war of his own....
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classical works with exceptional voice talents.
- By Discovering.Marina on 05-11-2022
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Angels in America
- A Gay Fantasia on National Themes
- By: Tony Kushner
- Narrated by: Andrew Garfield, Nathan Lane, Susan Brown, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Presenting an original audiobook performance of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, starring the cast of the National Theatre's 2018 Broadway revival....
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Strong voice performances
- By Jared Cockayne on 20-10-2022
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Hamlet: Fully Dramatized Audio Edition
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: full cast
- Length: 3 hrs and 32 mins
- Original Recording
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The Folger Shakespeare Library, home to the world’s largest Shakespeare collection, brings Hamlet to life with this new full-length, full-cast dramatic recording of its definitive Folger Edition....
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Not recommended if you don’t know the story
- By Brenda on 03-04-2019
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Unmade Movies: The Collection
- Seven BBC Radio 4 Adaptations of Unproduced Screenplays
- By: Alfred Hitchcock, Ernest Lehmann, Mark Gatiss, and others
- Narrated by: Michael Sheen, Peter Serafinowicz, Mark Strong, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins
- Original Recording
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The annals of movie history are full of lost treasures – spectacular scripts from world-renowned writers that could have been classics, had they only been made. Now, for the first time, some of these forgotten gems have been brought to life....
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Under Milk Wood and Other Plays
- By: Dylan Thomas
- Narrated by: Richard Bebb, Richard Burton, Dylan Thomas, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Under Milk Wood is Dylan Thomas's undisputed and unforgettable masterpiece - an affectionate, but hilarious portrait of a small Welsh town.....
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An Exquisite Use of Language
- By Anonymous User on 10-12-2022
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The Prophet
- By: Kahlil Gibran
- Narrated by: Stewart Crank
- Length: 1 hr and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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The Prophet is a book of 26 prose poetry fables written in English by the Lebanese-American poet and writer Kahlil Gibran. It is Gibran's best-known work....
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O Ano em que Morri em Nova York [The Year I Died in New York]
- um romance sobre amar a si próprio [A Novel About Loving Yourself]
- By: Milly Lacombe
- Narrated by: Ana Maria
- Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins
- Abridged
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A protagonista deste romance vai do paraíso ao inferno em poucas páginas. Casada com a mulher que ama, ela suspeita de que tenha sido traída durante uma de suas viagens de negócios....
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Romeo and Juliet: The Fully Dramatized Audio Edition
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: full cast
- Length: 2 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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The Folger Shakespeare Library, home to the world's largest Shakespeare collection, brings Romeo and Juliet to life with this new full-length, full-cast dramatic recording of its definitive Folger Edition....
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Couldn’t get past the American-style performances and accents
- By kkel on 03-07-2023
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Brian Friel: A BBC Radio Drama Collection
- Translations, Faith Healer & More
- By: Brian Friel
- Narrated by: Adrian Dunbar, Samuel Barnett, Dermot Crowley, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 23 mins
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Dramatisations and short stories by the award-winning playwright—plus bonus programmes....
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Othello
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Edward Beesley
- Length: 3 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Othello is a tragedy play by William Shakespeare, written in the middle of his career in 1603. The story follows Othello, a general in the Venetian army, and Iago, a treacherous soldier who conspires against him to make him believe that his wife is unfaithful....
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Copenhagen
- By: Michael Frayn
- Narrated by: Simon Russell Beale, Benedict Cumberbatch, Greta Scacchi
- Length: 1 hr and 59 mins
- Original Recording
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Benedict Cumberbatch, Greta Scacchi and Simon Russell Beale star in Michael Frayn's award-winning play about the controversial 1941 meeting between physicists Bohr and Heisenberg. Copenhagen, Autumn 1941....
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A Christmas Carol (Simon & Schuster Edition)
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Patrick Stewart
- Length: 1 hr and 47 mins
- Abridged
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Tiny Tim, Bob Cratchit, and Ebenezer Scrooge come to marvelous life in Patrick Stewart's critically-acclaimed solo interpretation of A Christmas Carol....
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Years to come.
- By Kindle Customer on 19-05-2020
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Henry V
- Argo Classics
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Ian McKellen, Derek Jacobi, Prunella Scales, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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After an insult from the French Dauphin, King Henry V of England invades France to claim the throne he believes should be his....
New Releases
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The Music of Erich Zann
- By: H. P. Lovecraft
- Narrated by: Kenneth Elliot
- Length: 22 mins
- Unabridged
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The Music of Erich Zann is a horror short story by American author H. P. Lovecraft. Written in December 1921, it was first published in National Amateur, March 1922. Due to lack of funds, a university student is forced to take up lodging in an almost empty apartment building on a street named "Rue d'Auseil". One of the few other tenants is an old German man named Erich Zann. The old man is mute and plays the viol[a] with a local theater orchestra. He lives alone on the top floor and at night he plays strange melodies the student has never heard before.
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The Tragedy of Julius Caesar
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Mark Bowen
- Length: 2 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is a history play and tragedy by William Shakespeare first performed in 1599. It is one of several plays written by Shakespeare based on true events from Roman history, such as Coriolanus and Antony and Cleopatra. Set in Rome in 44 BC, the play depicts the moral dilemma of Brutus as he joins a conspiracy led by Cassius to murder Julius Caesar to prevent him from becoming dictator of Rome. Following Caesar's death, Rome is thrust into a period of civil war, and the republic the conspirators sought to preserve is lost forever.
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Reasons for Waking
- A Novel
- By: Karen Foster
- Narrated by: W. Keith Tims
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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When reclusive Philip teams with a determined young woman to unravel the tragedy that shattered both their lives, he's forced to confront his estranged family. The lies-and devastating truths-he discovers expose his family's secrets and compel him to face his flawed assumptions. Reasons for Waking is a tale of how secrets and silence can hide the truth that can heal us.
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The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Mark Bowen
- Length: 4 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, often shortened to Hamlet, is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1602. Set in Denmark, the play depicts Prince Hamlet and his revenge against his uncle, Claudius, who has murdered Hamlet's father in order to seize his throne and marry Hamlet's mother.
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The Comedy of Errors
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Kendra Murray, Gary MacFadden, Claudia Anglade, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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A merchant of Syracuse has twin sons and buys twin servants for them. His wife, with one twin and one servant, is soon separated from him by a shipwreck, and comes to live in Ephesus. When grown, the other son and his slave start out to find their brothers, and the father, some years later, starts out in turn to find them. Once in Ephesus, an amusing series of errors begins.
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Shakespeare's Sonnets
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: NM Few
- Length: 2 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Shakespeare's sonnets have long been considered some of the greatest poetry ever written. It’s hard to find someone who hasn’t heard the phrase, “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?" Marvel at the use of syllables, or simply sit back and enjoy all Shakespeare’s sonnets in one handy volume.
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The Music of Erich Zann
- By: H. P. Lovecraft
- Narrated by: Kenneth Elliot
- Length: 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The Music of Erich Zann is a horror short story by American author H. P. Lovecraft. Written in December 1921, it was first published in National Amateur, March 1922. Due to lack of funds, a university student is forced to take up lodging in an almost empty apartment building on a street named "Rue d'Auseil". One of the few other tenants is an old German man named Erich Zann. The old man is mute and plays the viol[a] with a local theater orchestra. He lives alone on the top floor and at night he plays strange melodies the student has never heard before.
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The Tragedy of Julius Caesar
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Mark Bowen
- Length: 2 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is a history play and tragedy by William Shakespeare first performed in 1599. It is one of several plays written by Shakespeare based on true events from Roman history, such as Coriolanus and Antony and Cleopatra. Set in Rome in 44 BC, the play depicts the moral dilemma of Brutus as he joins a conspiracy led by Cassius to murder Julius Caesar to prevent him from becoming dictator of Rome. Following Caesar's death, Rome is thrust into a period of civil war, and the republic the conspirators sought to preserve is lost forever.
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Reasons for Waking
- A Novel
- By: Karen Foster
- Narrated by: W. Keith Tims
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
-
Story
When reclusive Philip teams with a determined young woman to unravel the tragedy that shattered both their lives, he's forced to confront his estranged family. The lies-and devastating truths-he discovers expose his family's secrets and compel him to face his flawed assumptions. Reasons for Waking is a tale of how secrets and silence can hide the truth that can heal us.
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The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Mark Bowen
- Length: 4 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, often shortened to Hamlet, is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1602. Set in Denmark, the play depicts Prince Hamlet and his revenge against his uncle, Claudius, who has murdered Hamlet's father in order to seize his throne and marry Hamlet's mother.
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The Comedy of Errors
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Kendra Murray, Gary MacFadden, Claudia Anglade, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
A merchant of Syracuse has twin sons and buys twin servants for them. His wife, with one twin and one servant, is soon separated from him by a shipwreck, and comes to live in Ephesus. When grown, the other son and his slave start out to find their brothers, and the father, some years later, starts out in turn to find them. Once in Ephesus, an amusing series of errors begins.
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Shakespeare's Sonnets
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: NM Few
- Length: 2 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Shakespeare's sonnets have long been considered some of the greatest poetry ever written. It’s hard to find someone who hasn’t heard the phrase, “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?" Marvel at the use of syllables, or simply sit back and enjoy all Shakespeare’s sonnets in one handy volume.
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Antony and Cleopatra
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Mark Bowen
- Length: 4 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Antony and Cleopatra (First Folio title: The Tragedie of Anthonie, and Cleopatra) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The play was first performed, by the King's Men, at either the Blackfriars Theatre or the Globe Theatre in around 1607; its first appearance in print was in the Folio of 1623. The plot is based on Thomas North's 1579 English translation of Plutarch's Lives (in Ancient Greek) and follows the relationship between Cleopatra and Mark Antony from the time of the Sicilian revolt to Cleopatra's suicide during the Final War of the Roman Republic.
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Much Ado About Nothing
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Dara Brown, Emma Faye, Linda Barrans, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Much Ado About Nothing appears to have been written about 1599, shortly before As You Like It and Twelfth Night. The action combines two narrative threads: the spirited comedy of the courtship of Benedick and Beatrice, and the somber tale of confused love between Hero and Claudio. The first is a creation by Shakespeare and the second appears to have been drawn from an Italian source, either by Bandello or Ariosto. The action takes place in Messina. Eponymous lovers Hero and Claudio seem to be ideally matched and nearly everyone is looking forward to their impending marriage.
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The Theogony
- By: Hesiod
- Narrated by: Peter Coates
- Length: 1 hr and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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The Theogony "the genealogy or birth of the gods" is a poem by Hesiod (8th – 7th century BC) describing the origins and genealogies of the Greek gods, composed c. 730–700 BC. It is written in the Epic dialect of Ancient Greek and contains 1022 lines. Hesiod's Theogony is a large-scale synthesis of a vast variety of local Greek traditions concerning the gods, organized as a narrative that tells how they came to be and how they established permanent control over the cosmos. It is the first known Greek mythical cosmogony.
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The Odes of Anacreon
- By: Anacreon, Thomas Moore - translator
- Narrated by: Mark Bowen
- Length: 1 hr and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Anacreon (582 BCE–485 BCE) was a Greek lyric poet born in Teos, an Ionian city on the coast of Asia Minor. He likely moved to Thrace in 545 BCE with others from his city when it was attacked by Persians. He then moved to Samos, to Athens, and possibly again to Thessaly, seeking a safe place to write his poems as his patrons (including Polycrates, tyrant of Samos, and Hipparchus, brother of Athenian tyrant Hippias) kept being murdered. It is unknown where Anacreon died, though he lived to the unusually advanced age of 85.
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Eumenides
- By: Aeschylus
- Narrated by: Mark Bowen
- Length: 1 hr and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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The final play of the Oresteia, called The Eumenides (Εὐμενίδες, Eumenídes), illustrates how the sequence of events in the trilogy ends up in the development of social order or a proper judicial system in Athenian society. In this play, Orestes is hunted down and tormented by the Furies, a trio of goddesses known to be the instruments of justice, who are also referred to as the "Gracious Ones" (Eumenides). They relentlessly pursue Orestes for the killing of his mother.
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Agamemnon
- By: Aeschylus
- Narrated by: Mark Brown
- Length: 2 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Agamemnon is the first of the three linked tragedies which make up The Oresteia trilogy by the ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus. Trilogy as a whole, originally performed at the annual Dionysia festival in Athens in 458 BCE, where it won first prize, is considered to be Aeschylus' last authenticated, and also his greatest, work. Agamemnon describes the homecoming of Agamemnon, king of Argos, from the Trojan War, and his return to his wife, Clytemnestra, who had been planning his murder (in concert with her lover, Aegisthus) as revenge for Agamemnon's earlier sacrifice of their daughter, Iphigenia.
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The Choephori
- By: Aeschylus
- Narrated by: Mark Bowen
- Length: 1 hr and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Produced in 458 BC, Aeschylus' Choephori is the second play in the Oresteian trilogy. The bloodshed begun in the first play with the murder of Agamemnon by his wife Clytemnestra is here continued when Agamemnon's son Orestes avenges his father's death by killing Clytemnestra. It is not until the third and final play, Eumenides, that peace is restored to the family of the Atreidae. The introduction discusses the pre-Aeschylean 'Orestes' tradition in literature and art, as well as the place of Choephori within the Oresteia.
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The Tragedy of Macbeth
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Mark Bowen
- Length: 2 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Macbeth and his wife show how bad the evil that can possess human souls is. But evil is not all powerful. On the one hand, Macbeth is the gloomiest of the great Shakespeare's tragedies; on the other hand, it's more encouraging than Hamlet, Othello or King Lear. In no other tragedy as in Macbeth the evil is confronted by so many people, and nowhere else they are so active. Shakespeare is the author of the world famous sonnets and plays: Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth and Othello, as well as comedies Twelfth Night, A Midsummer's Night Dream, Love's Labour's Lost, etc.
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Troilus and Cressida
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Mark Bowen
- Length: 3 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Troilus and Cressida is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1602. It was described by Frederick S. Boas as one of Shakespeare's problem plays. The play ends on a very bleak note with the death of the noble Trojan Hector and destruction of the love between Troilus and Cressida. The work has in recent years "stimulated exceptionally lively critical debate". Throughout the play, the tone lurches wildly between bawdy comedy and tragic gloom, and readers and theatre-goers have frequently found it difficult to understand how one is meant to respond to the characters.
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Titus Andronicus
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Mark Bowen
- Length: 3 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Titus Andronicus is the main character and tragic hero in William Shakespeare's play of the same name, Titus Andronicus, a Senecan tragedy. Titus is a Roman nobleman and a general in the war who distinguished himself in ten years of service against the Goths. Despite his exemplary service the war's toll on him is sufficient that he declined the emperorship. Nonetheless, he begins the play as an exemplary citizen. However faith in the traditions of the Roman system of government eventually leads to his death as others seek revenge.
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The Tragedy of Timon of Athens
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Mark Bowen
- Length: 2 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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The Tragedy of Timon of Athens (The Life of Tymon of Athens) is a play by William Shakespeare, probably written in collaboration with Thomas Middleton in about 1605–1606, which was published in the First Folio in 1623. It is about the fortunes of an Athenian named Timon. The central character is a beloved citizen of Athens who through tremendous generosity spends his entire fortune on corrupt hangers-on only interested in getting the next payout. The earliest-known production of the play was in 1674, when Thomas Shadwell wrote an adaptation under the title The History of Timon of Athens, The Man-hater.
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The Tragedy of King Lear
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Mark Bowen
- Length: 3 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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King Lear is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It tells the tale of a king who bequeaths his power and land to two of his three daughters, after they declare their love for him in an extremely fawning and obsequious manner. His third daughter gets nothing, because she will not flatter him as her sisters had done. When he feels disrespected by the two daughters who now have his wealth and power, he becomes furious to the point of madness. He eventually becomes tenderly reconciled to his third daughter, just before tragedy strikes her and then the king.