This Rough Magic
A Peer-Reviewed, Academic, Online Journal
Dedicated to the Teaching of Medieval & Renaissance Literature
Dedicated to the Teaching of Medieval & Renaissance Literature
~Aural Shakspeare~
Perhaps the hardest thing about Shakespeare is introducing individuals to the text itself. One way 
to achieve this goal is to allow your audience the opportunity of listening to what Shakespeare has to say. Below are some links to various audio recordings of Shakespeare - both plays and monologues - that you may find interesting. Visitors to many of these sites may download performances and read along as trained actors and actresses perform a variety of Shakespearean comedies, tragedies, histories, and romances. Be an auditor....
Orson Welles Shakespearean Collection
This site provides adapted radio performances and smaller clips of Welles' Shakespearean radio productions. Example performances may be found below, with Welles' hour/two hour long productions of Twelfth Night, Macbeth, and Julius Caesar.
Radio Recordings via YouTube
YouTube is a treasure trove of original Shakespearean radio recordings if one has the patience to look through them all. Below are just two examples of performances worth listening to. The first is a version of Richard III starring Laurence Olivier - originally broadcast June 2, 1946 via CBS. The second is a version of Hamlet, starring John Gielgud and Dorothy McGuire - originally broadcast March 4, 1951.
Speak the Speech - Universal Shakespeare Broadcasting
This site provides full recordings of the following plays:
- As You Like It;
- 1 and 2 Henry IV;
- The Tempest;
- Twelfth Night;
- Romeo and Juliet;
- The Winter's Tale;
- The Merry Wives of Windsor;
- Cymbeline;
- Antony and Cleopatra;
- Julius Caesar;
- King John;
- Richard II;
- Henry V.
