Showing results by author "William Shakespeare" in All Categories

One of Shakespeare's late romances, The Tempest centres on the banished sorcerer Prospero, rightful Duke of Milan, who initially uses his magical powers to punish his enemies when he raises a tempest that drives them ashore. The entire play takes place on an island under his control, where the native inhabitants, Ariel and Caliban, respectively aid or hinder his work.

William Shakespeare is of course England's greatest play right and revered the World over. The Merchant of Venice is a masterly tale and is on a par with many of his other works. In his creation of Venice Shakespeare revels in his characters and story. Perhaps best well known for the creation of the character Shylock in a world of money lending the play has survived admirably down the years. This play is performed by a quite magnificent cast and in the lead role of Shylock we have Michael Redgrave.

Immerse yourself in the forest of arden where all the action happens—including usurped dukes, love sick young men, a clown, and, of course, an impossible love story that eventuality works itself out.

An award winning Drama from SmartPass. Unabridged with guided description to set the scene and fill in visual moments.

At this time of the year, as the nights close in and the temperature drops, winter seems like a season that nobody really enjoys, and we look forward all the more to spring. For many children, however, it is the bounty of Christmas that steals their attention, and for others the renewal of the New Year. But for Nature it is a pause for breath, to take stock of what has gone by in the year to date and ready herself for the energies and dramatic development to the landscape that spring will bring.

Here, a simplified version of Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens is presented for your entertainment. Listeners are free to enjoy the all the action and drama that the Bard intended, without getting bogged down with complex dialogue and difficult language. Free of original text, this production is suitable for all listeners, including children.

LibriVox volunteers bring you 32 recordings of Sonnet 29 by William Shakespeare. This was the Fortnightly Poetry project for April 23, 2019. ------ A perennial Shakespeare favorite. The sober, almost depressed beginning ends with the sun shining through. Here is a playful video performance, a visual treat, by LV member iBeScotty - https://youtu.be/5WEdVfiSoE0 (William Allan Jones)

Shakespeare writes about the plight of Romeo and Juliet with a lot of empathy and views their tragedy as a result of bad fate, rather than a problem with their characters. We sense from the very start that their relationship is doomed. Romeo and Juliet are portrayed as sincere and virtuous young people who are madly in love, but because of the feud between their families, their relationship has to end. As they won't even consider a separation, the only way out of the situation they find themselves in is by taking their own lives.

A solo recording of Julius Caesar in an American dialect.

The deadly feud between the Montagues and the Capulets forces Romeo and Juliet to wed in secret. What could possibly go wrong?

Baptista, a rich Paduan merchant, announces that his fair young daughter, Bianca, will remain unwed until her older sister, Katharina, a hellish shrew, has wed. An unabridged cast performance of Shakespeare's comedy about the courtship of Petruchio, a gentleman of Verona, and Katherina, the headstrong, obdurate shrew.

The Rape of Lucrece is a brilliant, brutal narrative poem giving an account of the terrible crime of rape and its dreadful consequences for victim and perpetrator. As ever, though, Shakespeare goes beyond the obvious, following the ramifications of the crime wherever they take him, shining a light on a band of human behaviour encompassing the bestial and the beautiful.

The Passionate Pilgrim, a collection of beautiful verses by Shakespeare and other contemporary poets, is here paired with the Bard's intriguing allegorical work The Phoenix and the Turtle, which focuses on the love and death of two birds - a Phoenix and a Turtle Dove. Mysterious and haunting, these rarely recorded works are richly rewarding, performed to perfection by Gerard Logan.

""How shall we beguile the lazy time,if not with some delight?"" Features a unique cover illustration by Maurice Sendak (Where the WildThings Are), specially commissioned for the Shakespeare on Compact Discseries. An introductory essay by Harvard scholar Harold Bloom accompanies the CD...

Award-winning drama from SmartPass. The play is unabridged, with guided description to set the scene and fill in visual moments.

Shakespeare's play is often cited as the greatest of all plays. The tragic life of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, is brought to stunning life by Sir john Gielgud and his fellow actors of London's Old Vic Company. A rare treat for Shakespeare lovers and the performances of great actors.

Both Ovid and Spenser also treat this ancient myth, but Spenser alters the ending, converting the tale into an archetype of fulfilled love, whereas Ovid, like Shakespeare, combines humor with pathos as a buffer against sentimentality. Ovid’s Venus behaves absurdly out of character, becoming a huntress to keep her lover company in the woods. Shakespeare, however, preserves decorum; his Venus remains at all times the queen of love. The humor arises rather from the fact that the would-be paramour isn’t interested. This endows the goddess’s wooing with nearly slapstick over-exertion, and yet...

William Shakespeare gilt als der bedeutendste Dramatiker der Weltliteratur. Seine Werke erzählen von Liebe und Macht, Intrige und Leidenschaft, von Tragik und Komik – und vor allem vom Menschen in all seinen Widersprüchen. Diese Hörbuch-Edition eröffnet einen besonderen Zugang zu seinem Schaffen: In 20 meisterhaft nacherzählten Geschichten bringen Charles und Mary Lamb die großen Dramen Shakespeares in eine klare, erzählerische Form, ohne ihren poetischen Kern zu verlieren.

Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young "star-cross'd lovers" whose untimely deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. Read by an all star cast that include Albert Finney and Claire Bloom this audio recording is a...

"All the World’s a Stage" is a sobering monologue from Shakespeare’s comedic piece: As You Like It first published in 1623. This avant-garde, spoken word tour de force, is pontificated by the sombre Jacques in Act II, Scene VII. The content of his speech is not only a powerful instance of art imitating life, but also life imitating art, specifically a stage and the changeable drama which ensues. A thought-provoking masterpiece!