King Richard III

By: William Shakespeare

Narrated by: Kenneth Branagh, Geraldine McEwan, Nicholas Farrell, Stella Gonet, Michael Maloney

Length: 3 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

Written in 1593, King Richard III is one of Shakespeare's earliest plays. This play differs from its predecessors, being amore structured piece, examining the development and motivations of a single character, Richard Duke of Gloucester, who will stop at nothing to gain control of the throne occupied by his brother Edward IV.

Richard III is a self-motivating character who defies determinism (a life preordained by God) and sets his life on a course chosen by his own will and desire, as he puns in the opening soliloquy: "I am determined to be a villain. Determined by birth and God, and determined in the other sense, by his own will."

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©2001 NAXOS AudioBooks (P)2001 NAXOS AudioBooks

Awesome Performance

Kenneth Branagh and the entire cast are phenomenal. Highly recommend this one for any Shakespeare fan.

Out Of This World

Out of all the plays I listened to, this was by far the best. This version is just perfect. It brings the play to life in an unbelieveable way. Some seens stuck in my head. The acters and actresses were great. I would just like to know who was who. Is there a way?

Sound quality

This is a marvelous (and relevant) political thriller and the cast are first rate. BUT it sounds like it was recorded with a cell phone. This is particularly challenging in scenes where many characters are present - the sound quality obscures who's speaking.

Great, but read with accompaniment

Would you listen to King Richard III again? Why?

Fantastic reading by an all star cast. I am an actor and to hear the way that these actors, specifically Kenneth Branagh aka Richard, interpret these characters and live in their words is absolutely phenomenal. I would highly recommend reading this with an accompaniment of the play itself to better understand who is speaking and who is on stage as I'm sure it could be very difficult to tell if you don't know the play already. However, it is a great tool to understanding how this tale is supposed to be told.

Another NAXOS masterpiece!

The NAXOS productions of Shakespeare's plays are ALL very well done. There is never a hint of overacting, and the lines are always read in a way that makes the language seem natural and the emotions genuine.

This should not be regarded as a Branaugh play so much as a NAXOS play. He is not the only amazing actor in this cast. Geraldine McEwan steals many scenes as the rotten old deposed Queen Margaret. This is no small feat, considering the one-dimensionality of Margaret's character. John Shrapnel is also fantastic in the role of Lord Hastings, as is Nicholas Farrell in the role of Buckingham, and Barrie Jaimeson is always fun to listen to, no mater which role he's reading.

I absolutely love this production of this play. I own this version as well as the Caedmon production, and the contrast is just remarkable. The NAXOS characters seem so alive and natural in contrast to the Caedmon cast, which seems quite artificial and grandiose. Shakespeare wrote plays about humans, and he intended these plays to be enjoyed by all people, not just the nobles and the snobs. NAXOS has certainly succeeded in that mission.

LOVED IT

The cast does a fantastic job and the extra acoustic features, storms and the like are wonderful.

Branagh does it again

Kenneth Branagh, one of the most well known contemporary Shakespearean actors, once again leads a wonderful cast in one of my personal favorite plays. The tormented, and tormenting, Richard is brought to life with great zeal by Branagh. The rest of the cast supports this unabridged production with excellent timing and diction. Although occasionally the voices are a little low for listening on airplanes or while driving over rough roads, the recording is excellent. Very professionaly done.

Who can top Brannaugh?

Where does King Richard III rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Best dramatization I've listened too.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Brannaugh's Richar both approachable and mysterious.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Terrific that much of his cast from Much Ado through As You Like It joined in.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Of course!

Bloody thou art, bloody will be thy end

“Bloody thou art, bloody will be thy end;
Shame serves thy life and doth thy death attend.”
― William Shakespeare, Richard III, Act IV.4

Shakespeare's first Masterpiece. I find it hard to not think of this as the beginning of Shakespeare's real reign. His characters are amazing. His images are haunting. His monologues are beautiful. Yes, certainly I still think his best is yet to come, but if he died only producing this, we would still sing his name for the next 1000 years. King Richard is a beast, but one you can't take your eyes off of. Many of Shakespeare's best characters are fools and murderers. I also think this is the play where William Shakespeare has grown up and thrown off many of this earlier, more childish crutches. Most of the action in this play takes place off stage. We are left transfixed not by swords and blood, but by sharper and scarier things -- words and mother's curses.

There were also several nice lines, specifically:

- “Now is the winter of our discontent.”
- “Dispute not with her: she is lunatic.”
- "All springs reduces their currents to mine eyes,
That I, being governed by the watery moon,
May send forth plenteous tears to drown the World."
- “So wise so young, they say, do never live long.”
- “Shine out fair sun, till I have bought a glass,
That I may see my shadow as I pass.”
- "Come, lead me to the block; bear him my head.
They smile at me who shortly shall be dead."
- "Be the attorney of my love to her:
Plead what I will be, not what I have been -"
- “I have set my life upon a cast,
And I will stand the hazard of the die.”

I could go on and on, for there are multitudes.

Richard III - Kenneth Branaugh

Excellant!! Great for students of Shakespeare. Follows exactlly Oxford printing of Richard III.