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Much Ado About Nothing
- Narrated by: Dara Brown, Emma Faye, Linda Barrans, Cate Barratt, Alan Weyman, PJ Morgan, Catherine Bilson, Gary MacFadden, Kendra Murray, John Burlinson, Claudia Anglade, Lillian Rachel, Ron Altman
- Length: 2 hrs and 38 mins
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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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Overall
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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. The wronged duke raises a tempest to shipwreck his old opponents on his island so that he can ensure justice is done. With Emilia Fox as Miranda, Scott Handy in the pivotal role of the sprite Ariel, and Ben Owukwe as Caliban.
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Shakespeare and McKellen - a Perfect Combination
- By Roderic on 12-08-2019
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Romeo and Juliet
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Laurie Ann Walden
- Length: 3 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about two young Italian star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately reconcile their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with Hamlet, is one of his most frequently performed plays. Today, the title characters are regarded as archetypal young lovers.
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Richard II
- By: William Shakespeare, Bill Rauch - director
- Narrated by: Oregon Shakespeare Festival
- Length: 2 hrs and 46 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Richard II is dangerously out of touch with his kingdom. He wastes money, raises taxes to support his lavish lifestyle, plays favorites, and cares more about his vanity than the common good. When Henry Bolingbroke - father of the future Henry V - challenges Richard for the throne, it's a fight the king can't win. But in losing his crown he gains far greater things: his humanity and his soul.
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The Taming of the Shrew
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: David Hickling
- Length: 2 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The Taming of the Shrew is a classic comedy by William Shakespeare featuring characters Petruchio and Katherina. The work is deeply laden with sexism and gender issues as Petruchio "tames" Katherina in an increasingly abusive relationship. A classic throughout the ages, you simply must hear this story.
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The Winters Tale
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Flo Gibson
- Length: 2 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Leontes, suspecting his wife's infidelity, imprisons her and exiles her infant daughter to a faraway island. Years later, his wife, presumed dead, is returned to him as a statue.
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Love's Labor's Lost: The Arkangel Shakespeare
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Alex Jennings, Emma Fielding, Samantha Bond, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 26 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The young king of Navarre and three of his courtiers have vowed to lock themselves away for three years of study and fasting, and to forswear the company of women for this period. No sooner is their vow made than it is tested, however, as the princess of France and three of her ladies arrive in Navarre on a diplomatic mission. The young men fall instantly and hopelessly in love, and the tension between their vow and their passion forms the subject of this charming and sparkling early comedy.
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Brilliant
- By Anonymous User on 14-04-2023
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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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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. The wronged duke raises a tempest to shipwreck his old opponents on his island so that he can ensure justice is done. With Emilia Fox as Miranda, Scott Handy in the pivotal role of the sprite Ariel, and Ben Owukwe as Caliban.
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Shakespeare and McKellen - a Perfect Combination
- By Roderic on 12-08-2019
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Romeo and Juliet
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Laurie Ann Walden
- Length: 3 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about two young Italian star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately reconcile their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with Hamlet, is one of his most frequently performed plays. Today, the title characters are regarded as archetypal young lovers.
-
Richard II
- By: William Shakespeare, Bill Rauch - director
- Narrated by: Oregon Shakespeare Festival
- Length: 2 hrs and 46 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Richard II is dangerously out of touch with his kingdom. He wastes money, raises taxes to support his lavish lifestyle, plays favorites, and cares more about his vanity than the common good. When Henry Bolingbroke - father of the future Henry V - challenges Richard for the throne, it's a fight the king can't win. But in losing his crown he gains far greater things: his humanity and his soul.
-
The Taming of the Shrew
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: David Hickling
- Length: 2 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Taming of the Shrew is a classic comedy by William Shakespeare featuring characters Petruchio and Katherina. The work is deeply laden with sexism and gender issues as Petruchio "tames" Katherina in an increasingly abusive relationship. A classic throughout the ages, you simply must hear this story.
-
The Winters Tale
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Flo Gibson
- Length: 2 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Leontes, suspecting his wife's infidelity, imprisons her and exiles her infant daughter to a faraway island. Years later, his wife, presumed dead, is returned to him as a statue.
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Love's Labor's Lost: The Arkangel Shakespeare
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Alex Jennings, Emma Fielding, Samantha Bond, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 26 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The young king of Navarre and three of his courtiers have vowed to lock themselves away for three years of study and fasting, and to forswear the company of women for this period. No sooner is their vow made than it is tested, however, as the princess of France and three of her ladies arrive in Navarre on a diplomatic mission. The young men fall instantly and hopelessly in love, and the tension between their vow and their passion forms the subject of this charming and sparkling early comedy.
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Brilliant
- By Anonymous User on 14-04-2023
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As You Like It
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Edward James Beesley
- Length: 3 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
As You Like It follows the lives of men and women who have been banished from their home after ruler, Duke Senior, was usurped by his younger brother. Duke Senior’s companions begin living in the forest outside of the duchy, where they encounter a man named Orlando, who has been secretly in love with the Duke’s daughter Rosalind.
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The Winter's Tale
- Arkangel Shakespeare
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Sinead Cusack, Ciaran Hinda, Eileen Atkins, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 52 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
King Leontes of Sicilia is seized by sudden and terrible jealousy of his wife Hermione, whom he accuses of adultery. He believes the child Hermione is bearing was fathered by his friend Polixenes, and when the baby girl is born he orders her to be taken to some wild place and left to die. Though Hermione's child escapes death, Leontes' cruelty has terrible consequences. Loss paves the way for reunion, and life and hope are born out of desolation and despair.
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Cymbeline (BBC Radio 3: Drama on 3)
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Bill Wallis, Nia Roberts, William Houston, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
A BBC Radio 3 full-cast dramatisation of Shakespeare’s classic ‘Cymbeline’, starring Bill Wallis. Originally broadcast in December 2006 as part of the ‘Drama on 3’ collection.Shakespeare's play, set during the Roman invasion of Britain, centres around the banishment of the man who has incurred the wrath of the king by secretly marrying his daughter. Confusion follows in an intricate plot in which nobody is quite who they seem to be.
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Measure for Measure
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Gary MacFadden, David Shears, Graham Scott, and others
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Duke Vincentino, the ruler of Vienna, fears that under his mild sovereignty, the people may have become lazy and lax. He decides to “go over cover” in the disguise of a monk and appoint his deputy, Angelo, who is a reputed paragon of virtue, as temporary ruler. On assuming power, Angelo inaugurates draconian provisions regarding sexual propriety. One of the first victims of this new regime is young Claudio, who has impregnated his lover Juliet, and is accordingly sentenced to death.
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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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Overall
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Performance
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Story
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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A Lesson Before Dying
- By: Ernest J. Gaines
- Narrated by: Lionel Mark Smith, Roger Guenveur Smith
- Length: 3 hrs and 3 mins
- Abridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Jefferson is an innocent and unwitting party to a deadly liquor store shoot-out in the 1940s. As the only survivor, he is tried and convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Grant Wiggins, a university-trained teacher at the plantation school, is persuaded to visit Jefferson in his cell. Wiggins is torn between staying in his native Cajun community or moving on. The 2 men gradually form a bond as they jointly discover the simple heroism of resisting - and denying - the expected.
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Great but missing information
- By Aaron on 28-01-2015
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Our Oriental Heritage
- The Story of Civilization, Volume 1
- By: Will Durant
- Narrated by: Robin Field
- Length: 50 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The first volume of Will Durant's Pulitzer Prize-winning series, Our Oriental Heritage: The Story of Civilization, Volume I chronicles the early history of Egypt, the Middle East, and Asia.
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If you love 'holistic' history, get this!
- By Parnos Munyard on 05-08-2016
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Antony and Cleopatra
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Kenneth Branagh, Alex Kingston
- Length: 2 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
Kenneth Branagh and Alex Kingston star in Shakespeare's tragedy of love and power. As part of BBC Radio 3's celebration of the 450th anniversary of the birth of William Shakespeare, Kenneth Branagh and Alex Kingston star in this brand-new production. Lovers, politicians, superstars... Antony & Cleopatra is Shakespeare’s late and epic tragedy of mature love, and the catastrophic fall from grace and power that it brings about.
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Beloved
- By: Toni Morrison
- Narrated by: Toni Morrison
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
Sethe was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but eighteen years later she is still not free. Sethe has too many memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. And Sethe’s new home is haunted by the ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved.
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A challenging listen
- By Fiona O'Connell on 02-12-2016
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M. Butterfly
- By: David Henry Hwang
- Narrated by: John Lithgow, B.D. Wong, David Dukes, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 51 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
John Lithgow and B.D. Wong here recreate their original roles from the Tony Award-winning production. Inspired by an actual espionage scandal, a French diplomat discovers the startling truth about his Chinese mistress.
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King John
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Craig Franklin, Andy Harrington, Alan Weyman, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The Life and Death of King John was probably written in the 1590s but not published until the First Folio in 1623. Of Shakespeare's 11 history plays, King John is the one which deals with the story of a monarch most removed from Shakespeare's time. The historical remoteness of this ruler, and also the fact that he had no genealogical links with the Tudor dynasty, enabled Shakespeare to present him in a warts and allà fashion.
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Romeo and Juliet
- By: William Shakespeare, Jim Weiss
- Narrated by: Jim Weiss
- Length: 1 hr and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
Meet naive, lovestruck Romeo and Juliet, the swashbuckling Mercutio, Juliet's comical nurse, wise Friar Laurence and more. A perfect introduction to this classic play.
Publisher's Summary
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. The odd man out is the sinister Don John, brother and former enemy of Don Pedro, Prince of Aragon, but recently restored to the Prince’s favor. Being of a morose and jealous temperament, Don John plots to disrupt the wedding and cause division between the lovers, with the aid of his fellow conspirators, Borachio and Conrade. However, this evil plan is thwarted by an unexpected incursion by the bumbling constables Dogberry and Verges. The young couple are finally reunited, but only after Claudio has first been led to believe that his rejected spouse, Hero, has died of shame and grief.
The matching of Beatrice and Benedick, encouraged by some artful chicanery by Hero and Claudio, and marked by many witty and sardonic exchanges of repartee, serves to lighten the texture of the darker elements of the action.
Featuring Emma Faye as Hero, Kendra Murray as Beatrice, Dara Brown as Claudio, Lillian Rachel as Benedick, Cate Barratt as Dogberry, and Gary Macfadden as Don John. Also featuring the voices of Catherine Bilson, Ron Altman, Alan Weyman, P J Morgan, Claudio Anglade, John Burlinson and Linda Barrans.
Songs arranged by Alan Weyman
Audio edited by Denis Daly
Text kindly provided by playshakespeare.com
Originally published in 1623.