King Lear


Read by LibriVox Volunteers

(4.3 stars; 64 reviews)

King Lear is widely held as the greatest of Shakespeare's tragedies; to some, it is the greatest play ever written. King Lear abdicates the British throne, to divide his kingdom among his three daughters in proportion to their professed love of him. His plan misfires when Cordelia, his youngest and favourite daughter, refuses to flatter her father; she is disinherited and banished.
This LibriVox recording marks the 400th anniversary of the first performance of the play, on December 26th 1606. (Summary by David Barnes)
LibriVox trivia….. This entire project was completed in just a week, from conception to delivery… A LibriVox record for a major dramatic work!

Cast list

(3 hr 23 min)

Chapters

Act 1 53:42 Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Act 2 38:56 Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Act 3 38:38 Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Act 4 42:54 Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Act 5 28:52 Read by LibriVox Volunteers

Reviews

Cordelia by Kristin Hughes


(5 stars)

King Lear is one of fav. Shakespeare, most of the readers were bad , some v.bad except for Kristin Hughes , whse voice was heavenly and seemed rather out of place amongst the rest , Lear was also bad , as a kid I had pictured Lears voice very differently

Nice book


(3.5 stars)

Beautiful composition of work, it was difficult to understand one of the daughters, her voice wash harshly and too low. Not very appropriate to have a female voice for male roles, it is hard to follow for non native English language people. Makes it very confusing... the rest was very nice. Thanks.

pretty good


(4 stars)

It was pretty good. There were quite a few mistakes in wording and a few lines got missed. But overall it was pretty good. The only other thing is that Regen sounded like a old lady rather than a young woman.


(4 stars)

Really well done, Lear is wonderful. Having women playing some men’s parts, without a text to follow, had me confused about who was speaking at times.

Great revision for test


(4 stars)

A great study resource for any test on the King Lear

This is a bit gruesome in some places, but overall a great book!


(4.5 stars)

Thank you


(5 stars)

Thanks to the volunteers. Great work. 😊

FAIRLY WELL DONE


(3.5 stars)

Most of the readers did a credibke job, although a couple succumbed to the "emotting" one often encounters in the unpracticed Shakespearean actor. A bit of the dialogue was too soft to hear properly--this was unfortunate. BUT, to have a female read the role of a man? UNFORGIVEABLE!!!