King Lear

Shakespeare Appreciated: (Unabridged, Dramatised, Commentary Options)

By: William Shakespeare, Mike Reeves, Phil Viner

Narrated by: Joan Walker, Terrence Hardiman, Lucy Robinson

Experience King Lear as a powerful full-cast drama with entertaining and enlightening commentary that explains what's what and who's who as the plot unfolds.

To help you get the most out of Shakespeare, the narrator offers historical insights and background information, so you can enjoy the jokes, appreciate the references, and get a real sense of Shakespeare's world. The unabridged drama is also presented without commentary.

If school turned you off Shakespeare, find out what you've been missing all these years with this beautifully crafted audio presentation.

From the creators of SmartPass audio education study guides, voted third in a national poll to find the UK's favourite audibook (2008). Winners of 3 Spoken Word Awards for Best Drama (2004), Best Original Audio and Best Publishing Initiative (2005).

©2007 SmartPass Ltd (P)2007 SmartPass Ltd

King Lear In All Its Nuanced Brilliance!

As someone who has spent a greater part of my life working in theater, studying and working on many Shakespeare productions, this is by far the best means to access this complicated and dark play. First, the production of the text is outstanding, and then the annotation of the text, literally line by line, is extremely enlightening. Making it very, very simple to understand. It has taken one of my favorite Shakespeare plays and made it even greater. I gained a lot of new insight into this text that I had overlooked before. It will be greatly enhanced if you download or read along in the text with them as they go.

I don't know how it compares to similar audiobooks

Any additional comments?

The commentary does its job, which is to explain in simpler language what might be hard to understand in the original text of the play.

I thought the narrator was too overexcited about every single scene. Her lively tone of voice seemed more appropriate for a naturalist talking excitedly at the camera as she comments on gorillas in the wild doing unusual things right next to her. Not enough to irritate me, but I feel some people might either love or hate it.

As for the actors voices in the play, it's not like the Royal Shakespeare Company live, but it's good enough for me.

You can either listen to the actors performing the text (with the perky narrator giving you the stage directions), or listen to the actors followed by explanation/interpretation of the text that was just performed.

I don't know how it compares to similar audiobooks, but I think the this particular audiobook is meant for school or university students who'd like to understand what's going on in the play.

Excellent in Every Way!

If you could sum up King Lear in three words, what would they be?

I'm reading "King Lear" for the first time and this audio really helped me to enjoy the story and appreciate the play more fully. The cast brings the play to life and the commentary helps make everything clear and easy to understand.

SmartPass makes you smarter

I found this oral theatrical reading of the play, along with interspersed analysis ala Cliffnotes style, to be a fantastic way to consume Shakespeare. No more tedious cross referencing footnotes. No more struggling with the language. Just an entertaining reading of a fantastic play with a solid dose of background and history to expand one's appreciation of a genius' work.

Appreciated much Appreciated

What made the experience of listening to King Lear the most enjoyable?

A powerful drama made more enjoyable through the "appreciated" method of explaining the lines in play-by-play fashion. I wish more classics were presented this way.