Romeo and Juliet
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Narrated by:
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Michael Sheen
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Kate Beckinsale
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full cast
About this listen
Here is the full-cast production of Shakespeare's classic love story, fully dramatized from the complete text, and starring Michael Sheen as Romeo and Kate Beckinsale as Juliet.
Download the accompanying reference guide.Public Domain (P)1997 NAXOS AudioBooks Ltd.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Miller, through Keats’s poetry, brilliantly resurrects and brings vividly to life, the man, the poet in all his complexity and spirit, living dangerously, disdaining respectability and cultural norms, and embracing subversive politics. Keats was a lower-middle-class outsider from a tragic and fractured family, whose extraordinary energy and love of language allowed him to pummel his way into the heart of English literature; a freethinker and a liberal at a time of repression, who delighted in the sensation of the moment.
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A Romantic Life
- By David on 05-03-22
By: Lucasta Miller
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Don Quixote
- By: John Ormsby - translator, Miguel de Cervantes
- Narrated by: Roy McMillan
- Length: 36 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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The most influential work of the entire Spanish literary canon and a founding work of modern Western literature, Don Quixote is also one of the greatest works ever written. Hugely entertaining but also moving at times, this episodic novel is built on the fantasy life of one Alonso Quixano, who lives with his niece and housekeeper in La Mancha. Quixano, obsessed by tales of knight errantry, renames himself ‘Don Quixote’ and with his faithful servant Sancho Panza, goes on a series of quests.
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More than funny
- By Colin on 08-21-11
By: John Ormsby - translator, and others
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Shakespeare by Another Name
- The Life of Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, the Man who Was Shakespeare
- By: Mark Anderson
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Abridged
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Actor William Shaksper of Stratford had little education, never left England, and apparently owned no books. How could he have written the great plays and poetry attributed to him? Journalist Mark Anderson's biography offers tantalizing proof that Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, courtier, spendthrift, scholar, traveler, soldier, scoundrel, and writer, was the real "Shakespeare".
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Brings the period to life
- By Dan on 01-15-06
By: Mark Anderson
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The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
- By: Samuel Taylor Coleridge
- Narrated by: B.J. Harrison
- Length: 32 mins
- Unabridged
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A bird of good omen is murdered. A fickle crew is punished by supernatural, spectral beings. A skeletal ship is sighted moving against the wind and tide. The figure of Death along with a singular, gruesome companion man the fiendish craft. And as they draw closer, it becomes clear that the two play at dice for the soul of the ancient mariner. The result is nothing short of cataclysmic.
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A classic well read
- By Gary on 08-08-16
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Tristram Shandy
- By: Laurence Sterne
- Narrated by: Anton Lesser
- Length: 19 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Laurence Sterne’s most famous novel is a biting satire of literary conventions and contemporary 18th-century values. Renowned for its parody of established narrative techniques, Tristram Shandyis commonly regarded as the forerunner of avant-garde fiction. Tristram’s characteristic digressions on a whole range of unlikely subjects (including battle strategy and noses!) are endlessly surprising and make this one of Britain’s greatest comic achievements.
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Like discovering Frank Zappa in 250 years
- By Darwin8u on 01-02-14
By: Laurence Sterne
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Waverley
- By: Sir Walter Scott
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 17 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Waverley by Sir Walter Scott is an enthralling tale of love, war and divided loyalties. Taking place during the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, the novel tells the story of proud English officer Edward Waverley. After being posted to Dundee, Edward eventually befriends chieftain of the Highland Clan Mac-Ivor and falls in love with his beautiful sister Flora. He then renounces his former loyalties in order actively to support Scotland in open rebellion against the Union with England. The book depicts stunning, romantic panoramas of the Highlands.
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Loved it
- By Tad Davis on 04-12-18
By: Sir Walter Scott
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The tragedy of King Lear receives an outstanding performance in an all-star cast led by Britain’s senior classical actor, Paul Scofield. He is joined by Alec McCowen as Gloucester, Kenneth Branagh as The Fool, Harriet Walter as Gonerill, Sara Kestelman as Regan and Emilia Fox as Cordelia. This is the ninth recording of Shakespeare plays undertaken by Naxos AudioBooks in conjunction with Cambridge University Press, and is directed by John Tydeman. It was released to mark the 80th birthday of Paul Scofield in January 2002.
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BBC Radio Shakespeare: A Collection of Six Tragedies
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A collection of BBC Radio 3's iconic Shakespeare productions: six tragedies with all star casts including Michael Sheen, Juliet Stevenson, Kenneth Cranham, Corin Redgrave, Ken Stott, Geraldine James, Bill Wallis, Siân Phillips and Sophie Dahl.
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missing important parts
- By raphael turra sprenger on 11-10-21
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Well played!
- By April M. on 09-01-17
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Romeo and Juliet
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A collection of BBC Radio 3's iconic Shakespeare productions: six tragedies with all star casts including Michael Sheen, Juliet Stevenson, Kenneth Cranham, Corin Redgrave, Ken Stott, Geraldine James, Bill Wallis, Siân Phillips and Sophie Dahl.
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missing important parts
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This edition of Romeo and Juliet is an adaptation of Shakespeare's eponymous play, the incredible romantic story full of passion and wisdom retold in plain modern English, capturing the very essence and key elements of the original Shakespeare's drama.
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Do Not Buy!
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Gandalf is great
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Much Ado About Nothing
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In Shakespeare's comedy of wit, love and miscommunication, Beatrice and Benedick and Hero and Claudio are pushed into and pulled out of love, their friends playing cupid with life-changing consequences. David Tennant and Samantha Spiro star as the famous sparring partners Benedick and Beatrice, with Chiwetel Ejiofor and Emilia Fox as Claudio and Hero. The supporting cast includes Maxine Peake and Julian Rhind-Tutt
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Come...bid me do anything for thee.
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The Merchant of Venice
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Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, agrees to lend Antonio, a Venetian merchant, three thousand ducats so that his friend Bassanio can afford to court his love, Portia. However, Shylock has one condition: Should the loan go unpaid, he will be entitled to a pound of Antonio's own flesh. Meanwhile in Belmont, according to the terms of her father's will, Portia's many suitors must choose correctly from three caskets. Bassanio arrives at Portia's estate and they declare their love for one another before he picks the correct casket.
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Great production, difficult play
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BBC Radio Shakespeare: A Collection of Eight Comedies
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A collection of BBC Radio 3's iconic Shakespeare productions: eight comedies with all-star casts including David Tennant, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne-Marie Duff, Martin Jarvis, Siân Phillips and Miriam Margolyes. The plays included in this collection are: Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, The Tempest, The Taming of the Shrew, and All's Well That Ends Well.
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Not told entirely
- By Gabsalot on 12-11-21
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Hamlet
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For use in my English class
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Julius Caesar
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Julius Caesar is one of Shakespeare’s most compelling Roman plays. The plot against Caesar and the infamous assassination scene make for unforgettable listening. Brutus, the true protagonist of the play, is mesmerizing in his psychological state of anguish, forced to choose between the bonds of friendship and his desire for patriotic justice.
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The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars
- By David on 04-05-14
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Romeo and Juliet
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Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about two young Italian star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately reconcile their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with Hamlet, is one of his most frequently performed plays. Today, the title characters are regarded as archetypal young lovers.
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Horrible audio problems and voice acting
- By FDSF on 09-30-22
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Othello: Fully Dramatized Audio Edition
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In Othello, Shakespeare creates powerful drama from a marriage between the exotic Moor Othello and the Venetian lady Desdemona. Shakespeare builds many differences into his hero and heroine, including race, age, and cultural background. Yet most audiences believe the couple’s strong love would overcome these differences were it not for Iago, who sets out to destroy Othello.
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Good cast
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Hamlet
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Not sure that a modernized movie-version of Hamlet is your goblet of tea? Hear Frank Muller, the preeminent narrator of the audiobook world, play every part in arguably the best audio version of Hamlet available.
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Madness in great ones must not unwatched go
- By Darwin8u on 08-14-17
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A Midsummer Night's Dream: Fully Dramatized Audio Edition
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In A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare stages the workings of love in unexpected ways. In the woods outside Athens, two young men and two young women sort themselves into couples - but not before they form first one love triangle, and then another. The king and queen of fairyland, Oberon and Titania, battle over custody of an orphan boy. Oberon uses magic to make Titania fall in love with a weaver named Bottom, in an effort to distract Titania from the custody battle.
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wow
- By Giovanni Panaro on 02-15-19
What listeners say about Romeo and Juliet
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Susan
- 03-12-13
Romeo & Juliet
Where does Romeo and Juliet rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
As for this recording, it's professional, for sure. The actors go a bit too fast (which tends to suck the meaning and sencerity out) so if I listen to it again I'll slow it down so I can get more out of the words. I'm glad for these recordings. I'd never be able to do all the reading I want if I had to actually only read these long ones. Thanks Audible!!
What did you like best about this story?
Well, who doesn't like Shakespeare? But some story lines are meatier than others. This one starts out as a comedy and ends up quite the opposite. Ends as a cautionary tale. Parents beware! You got plans for your kids? Hopes are good, but concrete plans that your kid will do this, or that, when they grow up... Well, look out!
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- ANON
- 10-31-22
The classic you love
If you love Romeo and Juliet you will very much enjoy this version of the classic story. The voices are wonderful. And the text, well it's tragic.
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- Caitlin
- 03-15-22
Perfection!
This is the best version I've ever heard/seen. I LOVE Michael Sheen as Romeo! I listen to this as familiar background noise while I work, it is so comforting and beautiful.
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1 person found this helpful
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- mstratt
- 11-26-23
Phenomenal
Michael Sheen and Kate Beckinsale are electric! So fiery and tender. I loved it so much.
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- The Beyonder
- 02-04-20
Michael and Kate; Romeo and Juliet
Here we have a wonderfully-immersive dramatization by a full cast of eminently/talented British thespians-1aided by a dash of haunting music and sound effects—of the greatest tragic romance of all time. Honestly, the sound quality could have been a bit better, but of course the recording was made some time ago now; at the turn of the millennium. The instrumental bookends and wind in the crypt poignantly evoke the passage of centuries. Romeo’s lament that “there is no world without Verona walls” hearkens back to a time when the world was far larger and more mysterious, and to journey even so near as a neighboring city could be a perilous and onerous undertaking. Fear of the unknown persists evermore, of course, as humans remain creatures of habit and prone to homesickness even in our hyperconnected era.
I love that the parts of Romeo and Juliet were played by a real couple, Michael Sheen and Kate Beckinsale having been romantically involved for years at the time of this recording in 2001. Though their relationship ended a couple years later, they remain close friends and share a wonderful daughter, Lily.
This listen was the first time I’d spent with any version of the story in over a decade, when I read in high school the original play and viewed the daringly unorthodox Leonardo DiCaprio/Claire Danes adaptation, which transposes the original language, verbatim, into a modern setting, as has been done exceedingly few times, Ralph Fiennes’ Coriolanus being another example. I shall always clearly recall how fascinated I was with this juxtaposition, and how struck with anger at fate’s cruelty as Leonardo’s Romeo and Claire’s Juliet despair upon realizing their heartwrenching mistake in their final moments.
Even knowing the outcome in advance, their cinematically-visceral rendition cut deep, and will likely always be the one which affects me most. My teacher graciously lent me the DVD to watch at home on my laptop since I was desperate to see the whole film at once, rather than watch it piecemeal across several class periods. As promised, I arrived early the next morning to return it to him so that he could continue the viewings for his other classes.
Our English class also watched Zeffirelli’s traditional period version for comparison, which emphasized the universality of the human experience and condition across time and place. As men and nature alike conspire always against lasting happiness, we craft and cling to stories such as this so as to affirm to ourselves that with true and great effort, we may yet find true and great love—even if for only but a glorious glimmer of a magical moment.
Michael, Kate, and cast are forever amongst the ranks of the many thousands who have honored this timeless story, in land after land, generation after generation. Retold thousands of times—including by the Bard himself, who is not, in fact, its originator!—it will be retold for thousands of years. One day, the immortal tale of the all-too-mortal star-cross’d lovers will be staged among the stars, and all the universal Earth will be in love with night.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall
- Shelly M. Felton
- 07-13-08
Sound Quality is the only drawback
The sound quality of this production made me imagine someone propping a microphone in front of a television showing Romeo & Juliet being performed. It's tinny-sounding, and there are background sounds of birds, wind, feet scuffling, etc, which dilute and diminish the voices to a small degree. It's not unbearable, just a bit distracting.
On the positive side, the actors are very good. Listening to this play was different from reading it on paper, or seeing it performed live... I caught different strands of relationship between the characters. The Nurse, played by Fiona Shaw, was especially brilliant.
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14 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Lauren Freston
- 09-11-10
Good for classroom use
I use this audio to allow students to follow the story while still using their imagination. However, the kiss is so cheesy that we had to stop the tape and let the class laugh for a long time. A year later, they still chuckle over that kiss.
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- Benjamin
- 11-21-22
Audio Quality
Overall, not bad. The audio could be better. I almost stopped listening in the first 5 minutes but I am glad I didn't.
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- Mike
- 03-23-24
Original Romeo & Juliet
Play I watched in 9th grade. This is the audio version. It’s really good, Shakespeare audio books are better than most of the dry reads on audible unless you have an interest in that subject. Tremendous!
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Overall
- Michael
- 09-15-03
Great Language
Romeo and Juliet is one of my favorite Shakespearean works. The language is so beautiful and the voices bring out the wonderfulness of the book. The full cast is the best way to listen to a book on tape. They even have celebrity readers (Kate Beckinsale: Pearl Harbor, Serendipity). If you like Shakespeare, romance, or tragedy than this is a great choice. If not, this is still worthwhile just for the beautiful language.
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18 people found this helpful