10 Best Shakespeare Audiobooks

If there’s one writer whose work translates spectacularly to audio format, it’s the Bard. Hearing Shakespeare’s dialog masterfully performed by professionals with the correct emphasis and tone can mean the difference in catching the jokes and innuendos, picking up on subtle foreshadowing, and even sometimes understanding the plot itself. Taking into account both the best of Shakespeare’s plays and the most well-performed adaptations for audio, here are our choices for the top 10 best Shakespeare audiobooks in our catalog.

Hamlet: Fully Dramatized Audio Edition

De: William Shakespeare

Narrado por: full cast

Duración: 3 h y 32 m

Fecha de lanzamiento: 08-05-14

Idioma: Inglés

4.5 out of 5 stars 1,172 calificaciones

It should come as no surprise that Hamlet occupies a spot on our list, as it is widely considered to be one of Shakespeare’s best plays. (In fact, some would argue it is the greatest play of all time...but we’ll leave you to decide that on your own). A multilayered tragic drama of love, lust, power, and revenge, Hamlet follows the events that take place after a young prince learns that his recently deceased father was murdered by his uncle, the treacherous Claudius, who now sits on the late king’s throne. The Folger Shakespeare Library’s audio adaptation does the work absolute justice, with a full cast of both male and female players as well as sound effects to help spark the listener’s visual imagination. This lovingly rendered production will hold up to even the most exacting Shakespeare aficionado’s standards.
Othello: Fully Dramatized Audio Edition

De: William Shakespeare

Narrado por: full cast

Duración: 2 h y 59 m

Fecha de lanzamiento: 08-05-14

Idioma: Inglés

4.5 out of 5 stars 355 calificaciones

The second Shakespearean tragedy and Folger production on our list is one of the Bard’s most contextually relevant works for the modern listener. Dealing in topics of race, sex, and prejudice, Othello tells the story of a Moorish general whose marriage to a Venetian woman and promotion of a less-experienced soldier provokes his jealous subordinate, Iago, to weave a web of lies and subterfuge that ultimately results in widespread death and despair. It is in this play that Shakespeare coined two now-ubiquitous phrases: jealousy is the green-eyed monster and wear my heart upon my sleeve.A full cast of talented voice actors makes Iago’s otherwise complex net of intentional misunderstandings easy to follow, and each cast member’s emotional performance ensures the impact of the jealousy, rage, and ultimate regret that are the foundation of this classic.
Macbeth: Fully Dramatized Audio Edition

De: William Shakespeare

Narrado por: full cast

Duración: 2 h y 12 m

Fecha de lanzamiento: 08-05-14

Idioma: Inglés

4.5 out of 5 stars 923 calificaciones

The Scottish play, as it's widely known among those who’ve performed it, is shrouded in an air of the unnatural—evidenced by not only actors refusing to refer to it by name for fear of superstitious consequences but also the eerie, otherworldly aura that permeates the work itself. Narrated in part by a trio of witches, Macbeth is the story of a man who, at the urging of his nefarious wife, murders a king in order to seize his throne. But instead of finding fortune and contentment in power, Macbeth is instead driven to madness by guilt and fear. A comparatively quick listen at just over two hours, Macbeth’s brevity only serves to heighten its impact as a tragic fable about morality, power, and hubris.
Julius Caesar

A Fully-Dramatized Audio Production From Folger Theatre

De: William Shakespeare

Narrado por: full cast

Duración: 2 h y 21 m

Fecha de lanzamiento: 02-24-15

Idioma: Inglés

4.5 out of 5 stars 451 calificaciones

Like many of the Bard’s tragedies, Julius Caesar focuses on a tormented hero caught in an ill-fated power dynamic. Unlike most of his other works, though, this entry is semi-biographical, based on the writings of the historian Plutarch, who recorded the events of the real Roman emperor’s life and tragic end. Grappling with complex questions about loyalty, democracy, and power, Julius Caesar brings us some of Shakespeare’s notable quotations—“Et tu, Brute,” “Friends, Romans, countrymen,” and “It was Greek to me,” among the most famous—as well as some of his greatest character development and tragic irony. As always, the Folger Theatre’s full cast adaptation ensures that every plot twist and turn of phrase lands perfectly, making this easily one of the best ways to experience the Bard’s classic.
King Lear

De: William Shakespeare

Narrado por: Paul Scofield, Alec McCowen, Kenneth Branagh

Duración: 3 h y 6 m

Fecha de lanzamiento: 08-18-11

Idioma: Inglés

4.5 out of 5 stars 136 calificaciones

Any Shakespeare enthusiast will recognize the names narrating this selection immediately, as all are among the ranks of the most decorated Shakespearean actors in all of Britain. (Though those less familiar with Shakespearean actors may still recognize Kenneth Branagh as Professor Gilderoy Lockhart of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets fame.) The cast members of this recording have built their careers on performing and interpreting Shakespeare’s works thousands of times over, and their expertise in producing this audio adaptation is second to none. In King Lear, the titular monarch's attempts to divide his kingdom fairly among his three daughters are foiled by the jealous manipulation of two of his children and his own susceptibility to their obvious flattery. As a whole, King Lear acts as a searing indictment of narcissism, greed, and just plain foolishness.
Twelfth Night

Arkangel Shakespeare

De: William Shakespeare

Narrado por: Niamh Cusack, Jonathan Firth, Amanda Root, Dinsdale Landen, Julian Glover

Duración: 2 h y 11 m

Fecha de lanzamiento: 05-09-14

Idioma: Inglés

4.5 out of 5 stars 246 calificaciones

At long last, one of Shakespeare’s comedies appears on our list and it’s a listen unlike any other: Twelfth Night is the funniest and most well-written of his works in the genre. The play is an altogether hilarious romantic comedy of errors, driven by gender-bending mistaken identities and hopelessly unrequited love. The cast once again features some of the UK’s most prominent Shakespearean actors, among them Jonathan Firth (prolific screen actor Colin Firth’s brother, who is an accomplished performer himself) and the Laurence Olivier Award-winning actor Julian Glover. Through a plot driven by intentional deceptions and confusions of identity, the cast’s brilliant character acting brings every nuance and innuendo into detailed focus, resulting in a hilarious audio experience for the listener.
A Midsummer Night's Dream: Fully Dramatized Audio Edition

De: William Shakespeare

Narrado por: full cast

Duración: 2 h y 7 m

Fecha de lanzamiento: 08-05-14

Idioma: Inglés

4.5 out of 5 stars 636 calificaciones

Chock-full of all of the elements that make the Bard’s more lighthearted fare great, A Midsummer Night’s Dream brings together magic, cunning, love, jealousy...and one truly dismal play put on by a troupe of hopelessly incompetent actors being manipulated by the fairies that inhabit the forest in which the story is set. The Folger’s Theatre players’ voice acting is stellar as always, but it’s the gleeful, dynamic performance of the sly sprite Puck that truly makes this adaptation soar.
Romeo and Juliet: The Fully Dramatized Audio Edition

De: William Shakespeare

Narrado por: full cast

Duración: 2 h y 56 m

Fecha de lanzamiento: 08-05-14

Idioma: Inglés

4.5 out of 5 stars 739 calificaciones

Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy that can also be read as a sly satire highlighting the absurdity inherent in the infatuation stages of young romance. The Folger Library’s full-cast production is acted to perfection, with Romeo and Juliet’s frantic infatuation played at a veritable fever pitch, while Mercutio, the Nurse, and the rest of the cast provide the dry wit and juxtapositional irony for which Shakespeare is famous. And as Shakespeare’s shortest play, it’s just barely over two hours in length, making it easy to digest in the span of an afternoon.
The Tempest

De: William Shakespeare

Narrado por: Sir Ian McKellen, Emilia Fox, Scott Handy, Ben Owukwe

Duración: 2 h y 7 m

Fecha de lanzamiento: 08-18-11

Idioma: Inglés

4.5 out of 5 stars 730 calificaciones

If written today, The Tempest might be described as a dark comedy. The play begins when Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, harnesses his supernatural powers to cause a violent storm at sea to shipwreck a vessel carrying, among others, the brother who usurped his position over a decade ago. With the intention of restoring himself and his daughter to their rightful positions, Prospero’s shipwreck sets in motion an unexpected series of events including a comically ill-fated plot against his own life. As though this cocktail of dramatic intrigue weren’t enough, the cast is led by the incomparable Sir Ian McKellen as Prospero, making this adaptation of The Tempest an irresistible listen.
The Merchant of Venice

Arkangel Shakespeare

De: William Shakespeare

Narrado por: Trevor Peacock, Bill Nighy, Haydn Gwynne, Julian Rhind-Tutt

Duración: 2 h y 16 m

Fecha de lanzamiento: 05-09-14

Idioma: Inglés

4.5 out of 5 stars 349 calificaciones

The last selection on our list is another of Shakespeare’s works that explores concepts as relevant to society today as they were at the time of his writing. The Merchant of Venice, though classified a comedy and certainly featuring its fair share of humorous scenes, remains one of Shakespeare’s most controversial plays for what many argue are anti-Semitic central themes. The action centers on the Venetian merchant Antonio’s decision to borrow money from a Jewish lender named Shylock, who carries a hateful grudge against Antonio for his past prejudicial treatment of the Jewish community. When Antonio is bankrupted and forced to default on the loan, he must contend with the consequences of agreeing to Shylock’s gruesome terms, which require he part with “a pound of flesh” in lieu of timely repayment. Played by a skilled cast of Shakespearean actors (you may recognize Bill Nighy from his roles in Emma and Love Actually as well as the Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean films), The Merchant of Venice allows the listener to laugh and be looped into the lush world of Renaissance Venice while pondering important questions about the long-lasting wounds of cultural bias.