Staging Shakespeare: Audio Versions of the Plays ROCK!
Monday, February 16th, 2009
As if I don’t have enough literature books on my shelves - now I have to get hooked on audio versions of Shakespeare’s plays!
I’m sure there are going to be people who read this, particularly other teachers, and think, “Good heavens, how could she not have known about audio books of the plays?!?” I’ve just never been one to enjoy audio books In the past, when I would try to listen to audio books, especially on road trips, I would fall asleep…must be something from my childhood…being lulled to sleep by the words of a good book! And because of the dangers of sleeping and driving, I pretty much gave up on audio books a long time ago.
Then I discovered Naxos Audiobooks and their selection of Shakespeare’s plays. These aren’t just the plays being read aloud by someone - they are fully dramatized renditions of the plays, and I have found them to be exciting and fun to listen to! So far I’ve collected these dramatizations of Henry V, Richard III, The Tempest, Macbeth, and King Lear, as well as Great Speeches and Soliloquies of William Shakespeare. Right now I’m enjoying Kenneth Branagh as Richard III, along with other great actors like Michael Maloney, Geraldine McEwan, and Nicholas Farrell.
Another great find has been the SmartPass CDs of the plays. I bought the CDs of Macbeth, and have thoroughly enjoyed the great analysis of each scene, as well as a fully dramatized version of the play! I also have the one for Henry V, which I was able to download from audible.com.
The benefits to my classes are tremendous, particularly my new class, Shakespeare and the English Renaissance. They are about to start reading Richard III, and my plan is to have them listen to parts of the dramatized version, in addition to watching scenes from the Ian McKellen film. In addition, the SmartPass Macbeth, and the dramatized version of Macbeth from Naxos Audio, will help my summer cast really get a feel for the play, their roles, the action…everything that will help them to bring this amazing play to the stage for our audiences!
Interestingly, the other day I was looking for extra copies of Macbeth for our after school reading group that just got started on the play. I was short two copies, so I went to this great used bookstore over in Pullman (8 miles from Moscow), Brused Books (yes, it really is spelled “brused”). I managed to find exactly two copies of Macbeth, as well as two great textbooks on theatrical design and production. In addition to these treasures, however, I found a set of tapes (cassette tapes…remember those? I think the dinosaurs enjoyed them tremendously…me being one of said dinosaurs!) of the Renaissance Theatre Company’s production of Hamlet, starring Kenneth Branagh and several other actors from his film version of Henry V. I kind of had the sensation of having died and gone to heaven…not only did I find the books I needed, but I also found books that are super cool, and an audio version of a play I didn’t have yet - with Branagh! It was a very good day of shopping! ![]()



