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Cymbeline: The Arkangel Shakespeare

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Cymbeline: The Arkangel Shakespeare

By: William Shakespeare
Narrated by: Sophie Thompson, Ben Porter, Jack Shepherd, Suzanne Bertish, Stephen Mangan, Ron Cook
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About this listen

This strange, dark romance includes two songs composed by Shakespeare that are amongst the most beautiful in the English language.

Imogen, the daughter of King Cymbeline, is persecuted by her wicked stepmother, the Queen, and by Cloten, the Queen's doltish son. Disguised as a boy, she sets out to find her husband, the banished Posthumus. On her journey, she unwittingly meets her two brothers, stolen from the court as infants. Posthumus, meanwhile, has been convinced by the villainous Iachimo that Imogen is unchaste and agrees to a test of her faithfulness.

Sophie Thompson is Imogen, and Ben Porter is Posthumus. Cymbeline is played by Jack Shepherd; Suzanne Bertish is the Queen. Stephen Mangan plays Cloten, and Ron Cook plays Iachimo.

Public Domain (P)2014 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Classics Drama & Plays Entertainment & Performing Arts Shakespeare Entertainment Theatre
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This is a really good performance of a difficult and confusing play. Well done to all the actors. I would happily recommend it with one serious reservation; this production contains some of the worst music I have ever come across. At the beginning of each new scene you will be assaulted with lumbering recorders, seesawing violins, and flatulating horns playing utter nonsense on two bar loops. The musical settings of Shakespeare's songs are also horrible and actually make the text incomprehensible at one point. Beware - this music is so bad and there is so much of it that you may actually begin to feel fear towards the end of each scene, as I did, knowing that more of it is coming. How did this happen?

Excellent Performance with One Awful Flaw

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This version includes the king's dream which is sung and the lengthy resolution of all the plot twists which makes it feel drawn out. I can see why stage directors make cuts!

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