Customer Reviews

All's Well That Ends Well (Arkangel Complete Shakespeare)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Well, I dislike Amazon's policy of linking dramatization of plays with books about the play - the two are entirely different things. But, that is a subject for another day.

This set of three CDs contains a really great dramatization of Shakespeare's play, All's Well That Ends Well. Arkangel brought together a battery of great actors (including Emily Woof, Sam West, Edward De Souza, and (a personal favorite!) Clive Swift), who really brought the story to life. My one and only complaint is that they story is produced straight out of the book - which means that there is very little introduction of the cast of characters or of the scenes. When you read the play, you see the scene described and the characters listed, and when you see the play performed you see the scenery and see the faces of the actors. But, in this purely audio play you have to get to know the characters from their voices alone, and sometimes it is a little hard to imagine where the action is actually taking place.

But, in spite of that little problem, I really did enjoy the play and had little problem following the broad outline of what was happening to whom and why. Yep, I found this to be a very enjoyable dramatization, and I do not hesitate to recommend it!

I am a latecomer to the Arkangel Shakespeares but, having now gone through six of them, I would bet my life on their quality and the creative ways they make an audio play as realistic and fun as possible. I've loved Shakespeare for 40 years but never much liked this particular play - and here I've just listened to a spectacular audio production that was better than any version I've ever seen onstage (as others have said, super actors in all roles). If you've never liked ALL's WELL, or if you've never seen it, or if you've read it and found it a problem play, you'll find in this performance that most of the problems disappear. Will did know how to write a good 'un. Our heroine's travails, the rise and fall of Parolles, the regeneration of Bertram, are delightful and highly recommended. And I say this, not having read the play in 25 years and hearing it cold out of the gate. Well done, Arkangel!

I needed to digest this play before seeing a performance of it. As there are not too many options for this work available, I ordered this after reading the posted reviews of this series. Listening to it reminded me of radio drama (when that medium had such fare) and of how powerful just the spoken word can be. I followed along with a downloaded text and it was a virtually 'effortless' experience. The reviews are of a mind on this and I with them. Looking forward to hearing some others.

Try as you might, you will have a hard time finding any redeeming social merit to the "hero" of this play. In an era of arranged marriages, "our hero" abandons his bride and runs off to the wars because she is not good enough for him. This opinion makes him a majority of one, since everyone else thinks she is too good for him. Before he leaves, however, he sets her an impossible task which will win his devotion, if not his love. The heroine then undertakes to fulfill the terms of the task. In order to accomplish the task she devises a plan which will wound everyone who loves her and take advantage of his unworthiness of her.

It's hard to see what she sees in him, but as the saying goes, love is not only blind, it is also deaf and dumb. The plot moves snappily along toward its foreordained happy conclusion, with the hero's aide-de-camp, a sort of cross between Iago and Falstaff, providing "comic" relief.

Arkangel Shakespeare has put on a five star production of a three star play. Many recordings of Shakespeare plays add poor sound quality to poor diction, resulting in a product that is difficult, if not impossible, to follow. The sound is good, the lines are well-spoken, and the dialog is easily followed.

This version is truley unabridged and the diction is very good. Every word is spoken and enounciated. However, if either you are trying to read along, or listen in the car, the speed of delivery is very fast. Almost too fast to follow reading and when listening, so fast bits get lost to the listener.

Never the less, with one exception, the two Dumain brothers, each voice is deserable form the others which is required.

Another excellent production in the Arkangel series of
Shakespeare plays. Clear verse speaking through-out
makes the language come alive and maintains the interest to the end. Highly recommended .