King Lear Audiobook By William Shakespeare cover art

King Lear

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King Lear

By: William Shakespeare
Narrated by: Paul Scofield, Rachel Roberts, Cyryl Cusak, full cast
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I am a man more sinned against than sinning.

A Shakespeare Society Production.

The complete play in five acts.

©1965, 1995 HarperCollins Publishers Drama & Plays European Shakespeare World Literature Classics
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Excellent version of Lear. Scofield is awesome, particularly in mad scenes, and the rest of the cast is strong as well. Edmund is particularly good, though I don't know who the actor is. The fool is slightly annoying but not too bad. I have no idea why this has been rated so poorly. I recommend it.

Very Good Lear

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A Tour de Force performance that captures the brilliance of Scofield and the genius of Shakespeare to the apex of imagination. Wow, just wow.

Paul Scofield at the height of his powers

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KING LEAR, Shakespeare's great tragedy, is beautifully rendered here. Paul Scofield is majestic as the mad, doomed and very human king. It is a heartbreaking performance in a play almost too painful to endure. It is a staggering dramatic work.

Powerhouse Lear.

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The best recording of a Shakespeare play ever made. Repeated listenings over fifty years have confirmed this opinion.

Ne Plus Ultra

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I first heard this recording when I was an undergraduate some forty years ago. It made a Shakespeare-lover out of me for life. Now that I encounter it again, I find it every bit as moving as before. I've seen King Lear many times on the stage, but no performance has ever moved me as the memory of this audio did. If you've a budding Shakespearean in your family, buy this audio as the best Christmas or birthday present he or she will ever receive. Scofield's performance is simply one of the best ever preserved for us.

Okay, have I made my point? Spend this ten bucks; you'll not regret it.

A true classic

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The play sounded like the actors were yelling their parts; yelling to be heard, not understood. Could not finish it.

More noise than performance

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