The Complete Arkangel Shakespeare: 38 Fully-Dramatized Plays Audio CD – Box set, April 7, 2003

If you have to empty your penny jar, if you have to cash in your IRA, do so. Get this. These are absolutely superb recordings of some of the best English ever written and some of the most memorable characters ever created. So you don't recognize every word. Doesn't matter. The excellent actors carry you along and draw you intimately into the drama.You can follow the play in text if you choose to -- they follow the readily available Complete Pelikan Shakespeare. But you don't need to -- if you aren't familiar with a play the brief four or five line summaries of each scene in the small fold-out accompanying each play are quite sufficient to know which characters are involved. It's possible to listen to these while driving, but you can't concentrate fully unless you're totally stuck in traffic. My number one recommendation is to take a Walkman and a pair of headphones to a hammock under a tree and indulge yourself. Second best is a comfy easy chair.However you listen to these, do get them and listen to them. Or persuade your local library to get the set.The price -- ...-- seems high until you figure that this is 38 complete plays -- less than the cost of the same play in paperback -- and there are a total of 83 disks, so you're paying just $5 per disk. Cheap! And these aren't some pop music you'll listen to once; these are a lifetime investment for yourself and your family.Get it. Period.

I'm French but an unquestioning admirer of Shakespeare's theater. I did already possess more than 200 records of the plays, either on CD or on DVD, almost everything more or less available. For years now, I was desiring to own this precious set. At first sight, it seemed a bit expensive to me, but only when forgetting that there are almost 100 CD in the box : all 38 plays complete, more than 100 hours of hearing. I now wonder why I waited so long to buy! Everything here is superlative : actors, direction, sound. I'll retire within a few weeks, so I'll now have plenty of time to listen to the records again and again. I highly recommend this fabulous collection to anybody desiring a vivid and respectful approach to the Bard's masterpieces. Reading Shakespeare is a must. Hearing him in such a marvelous production also is!

These are excellent audio productions of all the Shakespeare plays. Top notch actors and production values. The programming itself is worth five stars. The nuisance is when you rip it to mp3 for your portable sport player, some of the track attributes are inconsistent and even strangely wrong. Titles sometimes use Roman numerals (Act V scene ii) and sometimes arabic (Act 5 scene 2). Worse, in some cases the scene information in the title is off by one. You never know who the Contributing artists might be: "Soundtrack, arkangel, Shakespeare, William Shakespeare, " and within one play the CD's Album attribute will variously be "BBC Radio Shakespeare" or "All's Well That Ends Well",... And get this. In Merry Wives of Windsor, the track titles are, I kid you not, "Overture, Duett, Nein, Das Ist Wirklich Doch Zu Keck!, Rezitativ und Aire, Nun Eilt Herbeit, Witz, Heitre Laune, Finale So Hab Ich Dich Errungen, Du Schoner Edelstein! " ... and so on. Again, the actual audio program is always correct and wonderful, but I spent a looong time correcting track numbers and titles in the mp3 rips so things would work right on my portable sport player. Before their next production run, one of the Arkangel engineers needs to sit down and do some standardization and correction.

This is like having the Royal Shakespeare Company ready to put on a play for you whenever you feel like it. I have had my eye on this product for years. I first read about it in Rafe Esquith's books on teaching Shakespeare to kids and after doing my research realized what a treasure this was. I've skipped movies, dinners and other extras so I could afford to purchase this. Finally last month the price came down a little and I was able to finally get it. I'm having a ball listening to it. With out the visual "distraction" of a play or movie, I focus more on the gorgeous language and the expressiveness of the actors.I strongly recommend reading Marjorie Garber's "Shakespeare After All" because it'll give you additional tools to appreciate the play. Also, it's fun to listen to the plays in the order (we think) they were written. Interesting to listen to the evolution in the writing and storytelling.

The other reviews helped me decide to spend the money on this collection. They were all absolutely correct!!! Amazing treasure beautifully done... I will enjoy for many years to come. If you purchase it new..it comes with a replacement warranty...they will send you a replacement of a CD if you wear it out, so your collection will always be complete and available to enjoy.

Note that EVERYONE who has reviewed this product on Amazon has given it 5 stars. That's because it is worth it. So many lovers of Shakespeare can't be wrong. I have seen many bad productions of Shakespeare on stage. Not one of these recordings is anything less than excellent. As other reviewers have noted, the price works out to a bargain and is worth digging into your pockets for. If you love Shakespeare you must have this set.

I have studied, listened to, and viewed Shakespeare's plays in all available formats for thirty years and I am thoroughly pleased with the Archangel Complete Shakespeare audio. Having listened now to Hamlet and Macbeth, I judge these two productions to be perhaps the best vocal interpretations I have heard ever, any where. They are easy to listen to and easy to understand. The actors interpretations are neither over-done nor under-done. If the remaining plays are as good, this production of the totality of the plays is a gift to scholars and to groundlings as well. Thank you Archangel et al.

The audio is very clear. Individuals may react differently to the dramatizations. It is expensive but it is delivered in first class packaging and on a per CD basis, it fair enough. For those who really appreciate and study Shakespeare, it is greet to have a CD of every play.

Incredible collection of the Shakespeare plays. Great quality - I was so glad to be able to purchase these physical discs and not need to use Audible.

I have not yet listened to all of the presentations, but I find them at a very high level. I thought they would be video, but it turns out that I like the audio. I have all of Shakespeare in print, so I can follow the developments on the page, which is a big help. The dramatization is very good. I have recommended it to others.