Hamlet: Fully Dramatized Audio Edition

By: William Shakespeare

Narrated by: full cast

Length: 3 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's Summary

Folger Shakespeare Library, The World’s Leading Center for Shakespeare Studies

The Folger Shakespeare Library, home to the world’s largest Shakespeare collection, brings Hamlet to life with this new full-length, full-cast dramatic recording of its definitive Folger Edition.

Hamlet, Shakespeare's most popular, and perhaps most puzzling play, follows the form of a "revenge tragedy", in which the hero, Hamlet, seeks vengeance against his father’s murderer, his uncle Claudius, now the king of Denmark. Much of its fascination, however, lies in its uncertainties.

This new full-cast recording - based on the most respected edition of Shakespeare's classic - expertly produced by the Folger Theatre, is perfect for students, teachers, and the everyday listener.

Public Domain (P)Simon & Schuster

It's worth listening to.

I was reading Hamlet for a class and I didn't have the time to see a performance. This audio version is an excellent supplement to reading the play and experiencing a performance of it (without, obviously, the visual component). I recommend this audio book.

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

Loved the voice actors

I liked the voice actors and that there was a woman for the woman speakers. Having background noises of their actions was also great! I think the voice actors did great, and I'd recommend this to anyone like me who struggles with understanding their tones while reading. (I read my book along while the audible played)

6 of 8 people found this review helpful

Something is Rotten in the State of Denmark 🎭

We loved this production; every performer is excellent, as are the audio quality, music, background sound effects, and production values generally. This is the next best thing to seeing a live performance. The only downside is that you can't always tell who's talking, and of course you can't see who might be listening in on any conversation between two characters, or see whatever other action might be happening silently onstage (e.g., my husband had to remind me that in the scene where Hamlet's uncle Claudius is on his knees trying but failing to pray earnestly for forgiveness for killing his brother the king, young Hamlet is standing behind him, sword raised, preparing to kill him).

Still, though, it's fantastic and we will definitely listen again. One thing that's fun to do is to listen specifically for famous quotations and phrases later used as titles for other plays (The Mousetrap; Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead), movies (The Undiscovered Country; What Dreams May Come; Murder Most Foul, North by Northwest), and books (Infinite Jest; This Above All; Time Out of Joint; The Glimpses of the Moon). There are so many! Every other line of this gorgeous poetry is a line we have absorbed into our collective consciousness and use/hear frequently, taking it almost for granted (e.g., To be or not to be). Keep an ear out also for advice it would behoove us to remember now in 2017, about how, when a leader of a nation appears crazy, he must be carefully watched!

Grade: A+

6 of 10 people found this review helpful

A great play

Of course Shakespeare would be awesome. Unfortunately, the actors were amateurish, and the music was synthesized. Yet still, it made for an excellent audio recording

5 of 9 people found this review helpful

Very good

I enjoyed hearing the story this way. My only problem was that sometimes you didn't know who was speaking to who, unless you were reading along.

1 of 3 people found this review helpful

Well done!

I really enjoyed the quick pacing of this recording. I've never been able to finish reading a Shakespeare play on my own, but after this experience I think audio books are the way to go.

1 of 3 people found this review helpful

great job<br />

this was well done. passionate. exciting.
the actors did a great job. I would love to listen to more of these

0 of 2 people found this review helpful

A bit overdone

The role of Hamlet is a bit over played. Otherwise an excellent full production of Hamlet.

0 of 2 people found this review helpful

As lief the town-crier spoke the lines....

The performances leave much to be desired, but the play survives it. Useful for students, especially if they plan to follow the text as they listen. However, the actors don't differentiate the characters as they might, so it would be hard to follow for those not familiar with the characters and the plot. A tough one for a radio play at any rate.

0 of 2 people found this review helpful

A very well done performance!

All the characters were well acted. The sound effects and music were also effective. overall, there is absolutely no reason to dislike this audio recording if Hamlet. #FullyCast

0 of 2 people found this review helpful