-
Much Ado about Nothing
- Arkangel Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Saskia Reeves, Samuel West, Paul Jesson, Jason O'Mara, Abigail Docherty, Bryan Pringle
- Length: 2 hrs and 8 mins
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $13.96
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
As You Like It
- Arkangel Shakespeare
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Niamh Cusack, Stephen Mangan, Victoria Hamilton, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rosalind, daughter of the deposed Duke Senior, is exiled from the court by her wicked uncle. Disguising herself as a young man and accompanied by her cousin Celia, she takes refuge in the Forest of Arden. In the forest Rosalind meets Orlando with whom she is in love, but her male disguise complicates matters, especially when Rosalind finds she has unwittingly attracted the shepherdess Phebe. But out of the confusion comes reconciliation and forgiveness, and all ends happily.
-
-
Incredibly Easy To Follow
- By Shannon Long on 03-19-15
-
Twelfth Night
- Arkangel Shakespeare
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Niamh Cusack, Jonathan Firth, Amanda Root, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 11 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Shakespeare's most sophisticated comedy is a riotous tale of hopelessly unrequited passions and mistaken identity. Duke Orsino is in love with the noblewoman Olivia. She, however, has fallen for his servant Cesario, who is actually Viola, a woman disguised as a man, who loves Orsino: Confusion is rife. Meanwhile, Olivia's arrogant steward Malvolio is cruelly tricked by her uncle Sir Toby Belch, his friend Sir Andrew Aguecheek, and the maidservant Maria into believing his mistress loves him.
-
-
Absolutely loved
- By Shiloah Baker on 06-28-15
-
The Merchant of Venice
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Hugh Griffith, Dorothy Tutin, Harry Andrews, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of William Shakespeare's greatest plays, The Merchant of Venice is also his most controversial. A tale of the triumph of true love, it is packed with witty dialogue, philosophizing, and lyrical flourishes. But the comedy is often overshadowed by concerns about anti-Semitism swirling around the character of the Jewish moneylender, Shylock. Listen as this production by the Shakespeare Recording Society brings the play to life, warts and all, and demonstrates that an exploration of religious intolerance makes this work even more vital and compelling than ever.
-
-
Great play, acting not bad
- By Donald on 06-18-04
-
The Call of the Wild
- By: Jack London
- Narrated by: Frank Muller
- Length: 3 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1897 Buck, a shepherd dog, is kidnapped and shipped to the Klondike gold fields. Pressed into service as a sled dog, Buck is abused by humans and tormented by the other dogs - until he learns "the law of club and fang." Along with the skills Buck needs to survive - how to keep warm in the frozen land, the ability to scent dangerous weather changes, and how to fight ferociously - he learns the song of the wolves and the powerful attraction it exerts.
-
-
A Classic
- By Louis Madigan on 09-03-05
By: Jack London
-
Churchill
- By: Paul Johnson
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 4 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Churchill, Johnson applies a wide lens and an unconventional approach to illuminate the various phases of Churchill's career. From his adventures as a young cavalry officer in the service of the Empire to his role as an elder statesman prophesying the advent of the Cold War, Johnson shows how Churchill's immense adaptability combined with his natural pugnacity to make him a formidable leader for the better part of a century.
-
-
Superlative Account of Churchill
- By Darrell on 12-08-09
By: Paul Johnson
-
Macbeth: The Arkangel Shakespeare
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Hugh Ross, Harriet Walter
- Length: 2 hrs and 18 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The brave warrior Macbeth allows himself to be persuaded by Lady Macbeth, his wife, to slay good King Duncan and seize the throne of Scotland for himself. Macbeth achieves his ambition, but one murder proves not to be enough as he desperately attempts to eliminate all who might threaten his ill-gotten power. Descending into paranoia, Macbeth achieves his ambition but ravages his soul.
-
-
Best theatrical recording for teaching!!!
- By Amazon Customer on 11-19-18
-
As You Like It
- Arkangel Shakespeare
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Niamh Cusack, Stephen Mangan, Victoria Hamilton, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rosalind, daughter of the deposed Duke Senior, is exiled from the court by her wicked uncle. Disguising herself as a young man and accompanied by her cousin Celia, she takes refuge in the Forest of Arden. In the forest Rosalind meets Orlando with whom she is in love, but her male disguise complicates matters, especially when Rosalind finds she has unwittingly attracted the shepherdess Phebe. But out of the confusion comes reconciliation and forgiveness, and all ends happily.
-
-
Incredibly Easy To Follow
- By Shannon Long on 03-19-15
-
Twelfth Night
- Arkangel Shakespeare
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Niamh Cusack, Jonathan Firth, Amanda Root, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 11 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Shakespeare's most sophisticated comedy is a riotous tale of hopelessly unrequited passions and mistaken identity. Duke Orsino is in love with the noblewoman Olivia. She, however, has fallen for his servant Cesario, who is actually Viola, a woman disguised as a man, who loves Orsino: Confusion is rife. Meanwhile, Olivia's arrogant steward Malvolio is cruelly tricked by her uncle Sir Toby Belch, his friend Sir Andrew Aguecheek, and the maidservant Maria into believing his mistress loves him.
-
-
Absolutely loved
- By Shiloah Baker on 06-28-15
-
The Merchant of Venice
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Hugh Griffith, Dorothy Tutin, Harry Andrews, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of William Shakespeare's greatest plays, The Merchant of Venice is also his most controversial. A tale of the triumph of true love, it is packed with witty dialogue, philosophizing, and lyrical flourishes. But the comedy is often overshadowed by concerns about anti-Semitism swirling around the character of the Jewish moneylender, Shylock. Listen as this production by the Shakespeare Recording Society brings the play to life, warts and all, and demonstrates that an exploration of religious intolerance makes this work even more vital and compelling than ever.
-
-
Great play, acting not bad
- By Donald on 06-18-04
-
The Call of the Wild
- By: Jack London
- Narrated by: Frank Muller
- Length: 3 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1897 Buck, a shepherd dog, is kidnapped and shipped to the Klondike gold fields. Pressed into service as a sled dog, Buck is abused by humans and tormented by the other dogs - until he learns "the law of club and fang." Along with the skills Buck needs to survive - how to keep warm in the frozen land, the ability to scent dangerous weather changes, and how to fight ferociously - he learns the song of the wolves and the powerful attraction it exerts.
-
-
A Classic
- By Louis Madigan on 09-03-05
By: Jack London
-
Churchill
- By: Paul Johnson
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 4 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Churchill, Johnson applies a wide lens and an unconventional approach to illuminate the various phases of Churchill's career. From his adventures as a young cavalry officer in the service of the Empire to his role as an elder statesman prophesying the advent of the Cold War, Johnson shows how Churchill's immense adaptability combined with his natural pugnacity to make him a formidable leader for the better part of a century.
-
-
Superlative Account of Churchill
- By Darrell on 12-08-09
By: Paul Johnson
-
Macbeth: The Arkangel Shakespeare
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Hugh Ross, Harriet Walter
- Length: 2 hrs and 18 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The brave warrior Macbeth allows himself to be persuaded by Lady Macbeth, his wife, to slay good King Duncan and seize the throne of Scotland for himself. Macbeth achieves his ambition, but one murder proves not to be enough as he desperately attempts to eliminate all who might threaten his ill-gotten power. Descending into paranoia, Macbeth achieves his ambition but ravages his soul.
-
-
Best theatrical recording for teaching!!!
- By Amazon Customer on 11-19-18
-
The Comedy of Errors
- Arkangel Shakespeare
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: David Tennant, Brendan Coyle, Alan Cox, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 27 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chaos and confusion mount to a crescendo in a wild and fast-paced comedy of mistaken identity, one of Shakespeare's earliest plays. Young Antipholus of Syracuse is searching the world for his identical twin brother, separated from him at birth. With him is his servant Dromio, who lost his twin brother at the same time. The pair arrive in Ephesus where, unbeknownst to them, their twins are living.
-
-
Outstanding! Clive Brill is a genius.
- By Andy Capo on 01-23-19
-
The Tempest
- Arkangel Shakespeare
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Jennifer Ehle, Adrian Lester, Bob Peck, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 11 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This haunting drama of vengeance and forgiveness crowns the group of tragicomic romances that Shakespeare composed at the end of his career. Sometimes read as his farewell to the stage, the play contains some of Shakespeare's most lyrical verse. Prospero, wise Duke of Milan, has been deposed by Antonio, his wicked brother, and exiled with his daughter Miranda to a mysterious island. But Prospero possesses supernatural powers. Aided by the spirit Ariel, Prospero uses his magical art to bring his enemies under his control.
-
-
Love ArkAngel's interpretation of Shakespeare
- By lavalleem on 12-10-16
-
All's Well That Ends Well
- Arkangel Shakespeare
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Samuel West, Emily Woof
- Length: 2 hrs and 36 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The young and virtuous physician's daughter Helena desperately loves Count Bertram, but he regards her as beneath his notice. When Helena cures the king of France of a mortal illness, he rewards her with Bertram's hand, but before their marriage can be consummated the count flees. To win her husband back again, Helena forms a daring and resourceful plan. A plot to unmask the strutting soldier Parolles makes up another strand in this sometimes disturbing comedy of deception and disguise.
-
-
“Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.”
- By Darwin8u on 09-17-17
-
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
- By: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
- Narrated by: Frank Muller
- Length: 4 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn’s startling book led, almost 30 years later, to Glasnost, Perestroika, and the "Fall of the Wall". One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich brilliantly portrays a single day, any day, in the life of a single Russian soldier who was captured by the Germans in 1945 and who managed to escape a few days later. Along with millions of others, this soldier was charged with some sort of political crime, and since it was easier to confess than deny it and die, Ivan Denisovich "confessed" to "high treason" and received a sentence of 10 years in a Siberian labor camp.
-
-
Non Soviet Citizens, You Need To Know This!
- By MyKidsMom on 08-23-18
-
Julius Caesar
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Andrew Buchan, Sean Barrett
- Length: 2 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Julius Caesar is one of Shakespeare’s most compelling Roman plays. The plot against Caesar and the infamous assassination scene make for unforgettable listening. Brutus, the true protagonist of the play, is mesmerizing in his psychological state of anguish, forced to choose between the bonds of friendship and his desire for patriotic justice.
-
-
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars
- By David on 04-05-14
-
Slapstick
- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: Adam Grupper
- Length: 4 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Perhaps the most autobiographical (and deliberately least disciplined) of Vonnegut's novels, Slapstick (1976) is in the form of a broken family odyssey and is surely a demonstration of its eponymous title. The story centers on brother and sister twins, children of Wilbur Swain, who are in sympathetic and (possibly) telepathic communication and who represent Vonnegut's relationship with his own sister who died young of cancer almost two decades before the book's publication.
-
-
Lonely No More!
- By Darwin8u on 11-16-16
By: Kurt Vonnegut
-
Macbeth
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Stephen Dillane, Fiona Shaw, full cast
- Length: 2 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By the time Shakespeare came to write Macbeth - almost certainly in 1605/1606 - he had already completed three of the great tragedies with which modern audiences are so familiar: Hamlet (1601), Othello (1603), and King Lear (1605). Each of those plays gives us an eponymous hero who is in some significant way flawed, but for whom we also inevitably feel deep sympathy, whatever his errors or crimes. But in MacBeth, Shakespeare has chosen for his tragic hero a man guilty of the most terrible crime imaginable to a Jacobean audience, that of regicide - the murder of a king.
-
-
Hoping for Enhanced Format
- By Tad Davis on 05-29-09
-
The Two Gentlemen of Verona
- Arkangel Shakespeare
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Michael Maloney, Damian Lewis, Saskia Wickham, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 59 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Proteus loves Julia in Verona, Valentine loves Silvia in Milan. But when Proteus meets Silvia, he falls for her too, and the heartbroken Julia sets out in pursuit. This delightful and sometimes disquieting early comedy of love lost and found offers lyrical poetry, disguise, clowning, outlaws, and a most unreliable dog.
-
-
Prentice work
- By Tad Davis on 06-08-14
-
Troilus and Cressida
- Arkangel Shakespeare
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Ian Pepperell, Julia Ford
- Length: 3 hrs and 4 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Troy is besieged by the invading Greeks, but the young Trojan prince Troilus can think only of his love for Cressida. Her uncle Pandarus brings the two together, but after only one night news comes that Cressida must be sent to the enemy camp. There, as Troilus looks on, she yields to the wooing of the Greek Diomedes. The tragic story is undercut by the commentary of Thersites, who provides a cynical chorus.
-
-
Wounds Heal Ill That Men Do Give Themselves
- By Darwin8u on 08-30-17
-
Cymbeline: The Arkangel Shakespeare
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Sophie Thompson, Ben Porter, Jack Shepherd, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 19 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Has its moments but it has a lot less than I hoped
- By Darwin8u on 12-21-17
-
Timon of Athens
- Arkangel Shakespeare
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Alan Howard, Norman Rodway, Damian Lewis
- Length: 2 hrs and 18 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The fabulously rich Timon believes all his friends to be as open-hearted and generous as himself. When his wealth suddenly evaporates, however, he discovers the truth and his altruism turns to a bitter hatred of mankind. Stirred up by the cynical Apemantus, Timon retreats to the woods where he plots the destruction of Athens, the city that had formerly seemed to embody everything pleasurable and civilized. The cosmic scope of his hatred is communicated in a series of powerful and disturbing dramatic tableaux.
-
-
Here lies a wretched corse of wretched soul bereft
- By Darwin8u on 11-01-17
-
Tales from Shakespeare
- The Lambs' Tales (Puffin Classics)
- By: Charles Lamb, Mary Lamb, William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Alan Cumming, Nigel Davenport, Andrew Sachs, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A perfect introduction for all ages to the breadth and beauty of Shakespeare's work, Tales from Shakespearehas become a classic work in its own right. The tales bring vividly alive the power of Hamlet and Macbeth, the fun of A Midsummer Night's Dream, and the drama of The Tempest. Blending detailed narrative with original dialogue and poetic language, they fully convey the wit, wisdom, and imagination of Shakespeare's magnificent plays.
-
-
Not all of the stories
- By GPH on 08-22-18
By: Charles Lamb, and others
Publisher's Summary
Young Claudio has fallen for the lovely heiress Hero, who also loves him. Their path to the altar looks smooth, until the evil Don John intervenes.
All ends happily, thanks to his incompetent assassins and the lucky discoveries of the bungling constable Dogberry. Central to the play, one of Shakespeare's best-loved comedies, are Beatrice and Benedick, masters of wit and sworn foes to marriage - until a plot is hatched to bring them together.
Beatrice is played by Saskia Reeves, while Samuel West plays Benedick. Paul Jesson is Don Pedro, Jason O'Mara is Claudio, and Abigail Docherty is Hero. Dogberry is played by Bryan Pringle.
Featured Article: 50+ Timeless Shakespeare Quotes
From knock-knock jokes to the wild goose chase, we owe many of our most-used and best-loved phrases to the talent of the Bard. His words are timeless in their direct wisdom, their witty humor, and their surprising applicability to modern life: its nature, its purpose, and its pitfalls. We’ve collected some of our favorite William Shakespeare quotes for when you want to think about life’s big questions, wax poetic on the nature of love, or just need a good laugh. Immerse yourself in these Shakespeare quotes to dive into the comedies and tragedies penned by the Bard of Avon.
What listeners say about Much Ado about Nothing
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Darwin8u
- 06-29-17
Live in thy heart, die in thy lap
A good, light Shakespeare comedy. Many of the usual Shakespeare tropes (mistaken identities, smart women, dumb men, fools, gender roles, marriage folies). It probably isn't top half of my favorites, but that is partially because I have a slight bias against Shakespeare's comedies. I prefer his tragedies and histories. But that is me. And there are plenty of ticket-buying people that disagree. 'Much Ado About Nothing' is still one of the more common plays of Shakespeare to see performing in schools, with Shakespeare companies, and in movies. It is a gambol that apparently plays.
Favorite lines:
“I can see he's not in your good books,' said the messenger.
'No, and if he were I would burn my library.” (Act 1, Scene 1)
“He that hath a beard is more than a youth, and he that hath no beard is less than a man. He that is more than a youth is not for me, and he that is less than a man, I am not for him.” (Act 2, Scene 1)
“Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps.” (Act 3, Scene 1)
“I love you with so much of my heart that none is left to protest.” (Act 4, Scene 1)
“For it falls out
That what we have we prize not to the worth
Whiles we enjoy it, but being lacked and lost,
Why, then we rack the value, then we find
The virtue that possession would not show us
While it was ours.” (Act 4, Scene 1)
12 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- hopelessromantic007
- 10-20-18
Great performance!
This is an unabridged performance of Much Ado About Nothing. It is well performed and a joy to listen to!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- lavalleem
- 11-05-17
Always love Arkangel
No one does Shakespeare justice like Arkangel performance. The actors, the supplemental music and sound effects, always brings the Globe Theatre to life. A sure fire win each and every time.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Christina Henry
- 11-02-16
loved it!
The most memorable moment is the beatrice monologue I will now learn for mfa acting auditions! she learns of Benedick's supposed love. thanks!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Nobody's wife
- 04-08-22
Dissatisfied
Much Ado about Nothing is by far my absolute favorite play by Shakespeare. I was really looking forward to hearing this since I have never met a rendition that I didn’t like… Until this one. Very disappointing.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 12-31-21
Loud music but good actors
I listen to this while falling asleep and I love it! The music is loud (which docked it a little bit for me) but the performance is well-done and distinct and this is my favorite Shakespearean play! It has comedy, drama, romance, and a little murder mystery moment. It's got everything!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 12-09-21
keeping the characters clear
Delightfully written (no surprise- lol) and marvelously well performed but unless you know the play very well, its hard to keep the characters clear during the dialogue (with no playbill to reference) Perhaps each voice actor could state their own character's name up front as an intro to tie the voice to the character so that you could recognize each of the voices better, throughout. Or include a little stage direction as to which characters are in the scene. "scene opens with Beatrice and Hero in the courtyard at don Leonardo's castle" etc. I guess its best to read the play before listening to this.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mrs. D.M. Gibbs
- 07-12-21
Great Performance! Exceptional aid for study!
Voices and acting are great but I would recommend a buying the hardcopy for reference.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Benjamin
- 03-30-21
Faster than I thought
I loved how fast paced it was read because this book was required for one of my classes.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Denise
- 05-11-20
Shakespeare in audio takes some editorial skill
Samuel West is a fine Benedick, but this production phones in some of the adaptive process required for Shakespeare to work well in an audio format, in order to grasp changes in context, as in through sound design, and being able to quickly identify characters through casting distinct voices, some of this just does not seem to be done with an ear towards enhancing the experience properly.