Product Description

Kenneth Branagh heads an outstanding cast in playing one of Shakespeare's strongest characters. The eighth production in the series of Shakespeare plays presented by Naxos AudioBooks in association with Cambridge University Press.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #187265 in Books
• Published on: 2001-04-02
• Released on: 2005-03-07
• Formats: Abridged, Audiobook, Box set, Compilation
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 3
• Dimensions: .45 pounds
• Binding: Audio CD
• 3 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
"Now is the winter of our discontent," intones Richard, Duke of Gloucester at the beginning of Shakespeare's Richard III, one of his most abidingly popular plays, and one of the most chilling portrayals of political tyranny ever seen on stage. Richard emerges from the chaos which surrounds the reign of Henry VI, already dramatised by Shakespeare earlier in his career, determined to become king by removing his elder brother Edward IV by convincing him that their brother Clarence is plotting against the crown. The deaths of both Clarence and Edward take Richard inexorably towards the crown, and the series of murders and conspiracies that Richard masterminds confirms his claim that "I am determined to prove a villain". Richard's political and sexual charisma are truly chilling, and his seduction of Lady Anne, over her husband's corpse is one of the most disturbing scenes in Shakespeare. At another level, the play is also a strongly anti-Yorkist play, which has a vested interest in portraying Richard as such as vicious tyrant before seeing him toppled, ushering in a period of rule which prefigured the Tudor dynasty of which Elizabeth I was herself a part. The play has had a deep and lasting influence on audiences and writers; Brecht rewrote the play as The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, while both Laurance Olivier and Ian Mckellen have produced memorable film versions of Richard III, the latter updating the play into a 1930s fascist state ruled over by a Richard akin to Oswald Mosley. --Jerry Brotton

About the Author
Kenneth Branagh, a leading figure in film, TV and on stage, is equally at home with classic and contemporary subjects. However, as director and adaptor, he has made a particular contribution to Shakspearean performance with his films such as Much Ado About Nothing, Henry V, Hamlet, Othello and Love's Labour's Lost. His recording of Richard III is the first for Naxos AudioBooks.

Customer Reviews

Richard III is alive
This audio book is a fantastic work of art. The play is well spoken and very well acted.When listening to it one feels as if sitting in a theatre. The play comes alive in front of your inner eye, you forget where you are and what you do. You'll be thrilled!

Richard III
If studying this novel the CD works brilliantly alongside it, you can hear HOW the lines would be delivered and get a better overall effect of the play! Def worth it