Shakespeare's Original Pronunciation
Speeches and Scenes Performed as Shakespeare Would Have Heard Them
Distributed for British Library
How did the actors of Shakespeare’s stage sound to the audiences of his day? For the first time, this disc offers listeners the chance to hear England’s greatest playwright performed by a company of actors using the pronunciations of the Elizabethan era. Under the guidance of Ben Crystal—actor, author of Shakespeare on Toast, and an expert in original Shakespearian pronunciation—the company performs scenes from Shakespeare’s plays and several of his best-known poems. Listeners will hear new meanings uncovered, new jokes revealed, and poetic effects enhanced. The CD is accompanied by an introductory essay by Shakespeare authority David Crystal.
“The British Library's new CD, Shakespeare’s Original Pronunciation, is the first of its kind featuring speeches and scenes which claim to be performed as Shakespeare would have heard them. The CD is said to bring to life rhymes and jokes that are not audible in contemporary English—as well as to illustrate what Hamlet meant when he advised his actors to speak ‘trippingly upon the tongue.’ ”—Telegraph
“An enthusiastic bunch of actors demonstrate how the Bard’s sonnets, songs and various famous scenes from his plays would have sounded to Elizabethan audiences. Pronounce ‘hour’ as a 16th-century actor would have, that is, to rhyme with ‘whore,’ and listen to the double entendres multiply. Eng lit aficionados will love it.”
In modern English
Reader: Ben Crystal
2. Sonnet 116
In original pronunciation
Reader: Ben Crystal
3. Sonnet 18
Reader: Joan Walker
4. Sonnet 71
Reader: Natalie Thomas
5. Sonnet 154
Reader: Matthew Mellalieu
6. A Midsummer Nights' Dream (from Act 3)
Oberon: Philip Bird
7. As You Like It (from Act 2)
Jaques: Colin Hurley
8. Hamlet (from Act 3)
Hamlet: Matthew Mellalieu
9. Henvry V (from Act 3)
Henry V: Benjamin O'Mahony
10. Macbeth (from Act 2)
Macbeth: Colin Hurley
11. Richard II (from Act 5)
Richard II: Ben Crystal
12. The Winter's Tale (from Act 3)
Hermione: Rebecca Pownall
13. As You Like It (from Act 2)
Jaques: Philip Bird
14. The Merchant of Venice (from Act 4)
Portia: Natalie Thomas
15. The Two Gentlemen of Verona (from Act 4)
Launce: Matthew Mellalieu
16. Richard III (from Act 4)
Queen Margaret: Joan Walker
17. Richard III (from Act 1)
Gloucester: Colin Hurley
18. The Tempest (from Act 5)
Prospero: Hilton McRae
19. Twelfth Night (from Act 2)
Malvolio: Ben Crystal
Viola: Rebecca Pownall
20. The Comedy of Errors (from Act 3)
Antipholus of Syracuse: Colin Hurley
Dromio of Syracuse: Benjamin O'Mahony
21. Romeo and Juliet (from Act 2)
Romeo: Benjamin O'Mahony
Juliet: Natalie Thomas
22. Much Ado about Nothing (from Act 4)
Benedick: Ben Crystal
Beatrice: Rebecca Pownall
23. Julius Caesar (from Act 3)
First Plebeian: Benjamin O'Mahony
Third Plebeian: Colin Hurley
Antony: Philip Bird
Fourth Plebeian: David Crystal
Second Plebeian: Rebecca Pownall
24. Twelfth Night (from Act 3)
Feste: Hilton McRae
Viola: Rebecca Pownall
25. Hamlet (from Act 2)
Hamlet: Ben Crystal
Rosencrantz: Simon Manyonda
Guildenstern: Benjamin O'Mahony
26. Othello (from Act 4)
Desdemona: Natalie Thomas
Æmilia: Joan Walker
27. King Lear (from Act 1)
King Lear: Hilton McRae
Goneril: Suzanne Sylvester
Cordelia: Natalie Thomas
Regan: Rebecca Pownall
28. Macbeth (from Act 2)
Lennox: Simon Manyonda
Macbeth: Colin Hurley
Macduff: Philip Bird
Lady Macbeth: Suzanne Sylvester
Banquo: Mattew Mellalieu
Donalbain: Benjamin O'Mahony
Malcolm: Ben Crystal
Duration: 75 minutes
Literature and Literary Criticism: British and Irish Literature
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