AUDIO BOOKS: Various Arkangel Shakespeare Releases
Published by Audiopartners
Reviewed by Erick Mertz

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Modern productions of William Shakespeare's plays are either representative or interpretive. Since the beginning of recording technology - when film supplanted stage on the American cultural landscape - both takes seem to have been given equal attention, with perhaps the more lavish, wild-eyed techniques coming of late. The contemporary Shakespeare connoisseur is as likely to consider Ethan Hawkes' Orwellian portrayal of Hamlet as "classic" as Sir Laurence Olivier's.

That only makes the returns of classic Shakespeare all the more enthusing, example being the reception given the likes of Kennth Bragnagh who worked to bring the Bard's work back from surrealism. In recent years, Arkangel has released a treasure trove of audio books, chronicling the complete works, and they deserve nothing short of a professor's praise for their elaborate, yet succinct, revelry in plays seemingly understated through time. While the set might have proven too onerous for the average buyer, now individual plays are being released in reasonable installments. In recent months the classic, and well represented, Julius Caesar has been given a 3 CD release as well as Henry IV Parts I & II, any of which making a fine foray into some of the world's truly classic tales.

© 2005 - Erick Mertz