Performance audiobooks

The Soul of an Age - Abridged

By: William Shakespeare

Narrated by: Sir Ralph Richardson & Michael Redgrave

Length: TBA

Abridged: Yes

This recording contains readings from seven of Shakespeare’s histories, four of his comedies and two of his tragedies. It is an original-telecast recording of an NBC-TV documentary and includes scenes from Richard II, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Henry V, Hamlet, Twelfth Night, and others. Read more

Henry the Fourth, Part 2 - Abridged

By: William Shakespeare

Narrated by: Edith Evans & Anthony Quayle

Length: TBA

Abridged: Yes

The Second Part of Henry the Fourth continues the story with the defeat and deaths of Hotspur and his fellow conspirators. The Shakespeare Recording Society, directed by Peter Wood, presents the complete play. Performed by Dame Edith Evans, Anthony Quayle, and a Full Cast. Read more

Pericles - Abridged

By: William Shakespeare

Length: TBA

Abridged: Yes

Pericles is the Prince of Tyre but is forced to leave the city due to the atrocities that the wicked Emperor of Greece threatens to bestow should he stay. His courage, wisdom and goodness are recognized wherever he goes so much so that he marries the Queen of Pentapolis who bears him a child at sea, for he is forced to return to Tyre to pacify... Read more

Henry V - Abridged

By: William Shakespeare

Narrated by: Full Cast

Length: TBA

Abridged: Yes

Though he was wild and rambunctious in his youth, Prince Hal has now ascended the throne as King Henry V, the cunning and ambitious ruler of England. Embarking on a campaign in France, King Henry V deftly leads his fleet into the breach in an attempt to take the French territory of Agincourt during the Hundred Years’ War. Henry V is the last of... Read more

The Rape of Lucrece and Other Poems - Abridged

By: William Shakespeare

Length: TBA

Abridged: Yes

This is a fully annotated edition of all the poems which are now generally regarded as Shakespeare's, excluding the Sonnets. It contains Venus and Adonis, The Rape of Lucrece, The Phoenix and the Turtle, The Passionate Pilgrim, and A Lover's Complaint. The introduction to the two long narrative poems examines their place within the classical and... Read more

The Chicago Conspiracy Trial

By: Peter Goodchild

Narrated by: Tom Amandes, George Czarnecki, Christine Dunfor...

Length: 1 hour 59 minutes

Abridged: No

Reality is stranger than fiction when seven 1960’s radicals refuse to behave in Judge Julius Hoffman’s courtroom. Based on actual trial transcripts and starring a cast of top Chicago actors, this play centers on events following the protests and riots during the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago.

An L.A. Theatre Works full-cast performance... Read more

The House of Blue Leaves

By: John Guare

Narrated by: Mary Teresa Fortuna, Sharon Gless, Deb Gottesma...

Length: 1 hour 32 minutes

Abridged: No

John Guare poignant Obie Award-winning comedy unfolds in New York City on the day the Pope is expected to visit. Hearts are palpitating in the sleepy borough of Queens, but not entirely on account of His Holiness. Bunny Flingus, a femme-fatale from Flushing (or thereabouts) is stirring things up in the quiet, unfulfilled life of aspiring... Read more

The Heiress

By: Ruth Goetz & Augustus Goetz

Narrated by: Jane Beard, George Gaynes, Helen Hedman, Amy Ir...

Length: 2 hours 2 minutes

Abridged: No

A Tony Award-winning play based on the novel Washington Square by Henry James - one of James’ most complex and satisfying portraits of the American character. Set in New York City in 1850, the play centers on the painfully shy Catherine and her austere father. When Catherine falls in love with a handsome suitor, her father threatens to... Read more

The Code of the Woosters

By: P.G. Wodehouse

Narrated by: Rosalind Ayres, Patrice Egleston, Martin Jarvis...

Length: 1 hour 58 minutes

Abridged: No

In the best known of the Bertie and Jeeves series, Bertie's aunt pressures him to steal a silver creamer, and he nearly gets lynched, arrested and engaged by mistake. As always, Jeeves is on hand with a last-minute brainstorm to set everything straight.

An L.A. Theatre Works full-cast performance featuring Rosalind Ayres, Patrice Egleston, Martin... Read more

The Two Gentlemen of Verona - Abridged

By: E.A. Copen, Pierre Arthur Laure, William Shakes...

Narrated by: Michael Maloney, Damian Lewis & a full cast

Length: 1 hour 59 minutes

Abridged: Yes

Proteus loves Julia in Verona, Valentine loves Silvia in Milan. But when Proteus meets Silvia, he falls for her too, and the heartbroken Julia sets out in pursuit. This delightful and sometimes disquieting early comedy of love lost and found offers lyrical poetry, disguise, clowning, outlaws, and a most unreliable dog. Proteus is played by... Read more

The Lee Mack Show

By: Lee Mack

Narrated by: Lee Mack

Length: 2 hours 56 minutes

Abridged: No

Lee Mack, Bafta award-winner and host of BBC One’s ‘They Think It’s All Over’, star of ITV’s ‘The Sketch Show’ and BAFTA Award winner, stars in this hilarious six-part comedy show as heard on BBC Radio 2. Participating in the manic mix of sketches and stand-up are special musical guests Toyah Willcox, Midge Ure, Suggs, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Tom... Read more

Be Creative

By: BBC, Bill Lucas & Guy Claxton

Narrated by: Bill Lucas & Guy Claxton

Length: 1 hour 11 minutes

Abridged: No

Being creative is a state of mind. Techniques may help, though some, like brainstorming, can, surprisingly, do more harm than good. And the climate at work and play matters too. But essentially, creativity is an attitude. We either meet life's challenges with a spirit of adventure, or we keep trying to make it fit old habits that don't work any... Read more

Porridge Another Helping

By: BBC Audio & Dick Clement

Narrated by: Fulton Mackay, Richard Beckinsale & Ronnie Barker

Length: 2 hours 35 minutes

Abridged: No

Four more episodes from the classic prison sitcom, starring Ronnie Barker as Fletcher, with Richard Beckinsale and Fulton Mackay in support. Those included here are: 'No Peace For The Wicked' - 14 November 1975 'Poetic Justic' - 25 February 1977 'Rough Justice' - 4 March 1977 'A Test of Character' - 18 March 1977 Read more

Measure for Measure - Abridged

By: E.A. Copen, Pierre Arthur Laure, William Shakes...

Narrated by: Simon Russell Beale, a full cast, Roger Allam &...

Length: 2 hours 28 minutes

Abridged: Yes

Telling his followers he is leaving the city on affairs of state, the Duke of Vienna appoints the puritanical Angelo to govern in his absence. Will Angelo prove as virtuous as he seems once power is in his hands? Roaming the city disguised as a friar, the duke looks on as Angelo’s lust for the virtuous Isabella sweeps him into the corruption he... Read more

Coriolanus - Abridged

By: Tom Wheelwright, E.A. Copen, Pierre Arthur Laur...

Narrated by: a full cast, Paul Jesson, Ewan Hooper, Marjorie...

Length: 3 hours 10 minutes

Abridged: Yes

Rome is a city divided, nobility and common people locked in mutual suspicion. The patrician Caius Marcius, later called Coriolanus, is Rome’s greatest soldier, but his proud refusal to accommodate himself to the demands of the plebeians leads to banishment and death.A Roman history as well as tragedy, Coriolanus is a complex and subtle... Read more

Dusty and Lefty

By: Garrison Keillor

Length: 1 hour 15 minutes

Abridged: No

Lefty: Haven't you read about the dangers of drinking?



Dusty: I have. And it led me to give up reading.



Like the News from Lake Wobegon and Guy Noir, Private Eye, The Lives of the Cowboys sketch has become a signature part of A Prairie Home Companion. Each week, radio listeners can't wait to hear Lefty's latest poem and Dusty's latest rant.



In six... Read more

It's Only a Show

By: Garrison Keillor

Length: 2 hours 12 minutes

Abridged: No

It's Only a Show offers the best of the best of Guy Noir, Dusty and Lefty, ads from the show's commercial sponsors, and—of course—the News from Lake Wobegon.



With laughter, stories, songs, and special guests, It's Only a Show has everything fans know and love about A Prairie Home Companion. Read more

The Winter’s Tale - Abridged

By: E.A. Copen, Pierre Arthur Laure, William Shakes...

Narrated by: a full cast

Length: 2 hours 52 minutes

Abridged: Yes

King Leontes of Sicilia is seized by sudden and terrible jealousy of his wife Hermione, whom he accuses of adultery. He believes the child Hermione is bearing was fathered by his friend Polixenes, and when the baby girl is born he orders her to be taken to some wild place and left to die. Though Hermione's child escapes death, Leontes' cruelty... Read more

Much Ado about Nothing - Abridged

By: E.A. Copen, William Shakespeare, Pierre Arthur ...

Narrated by: a full cast

Length: 2 hours 8 minutes

Abridged: Yes

Young Claudio has fallen for the lovely heiress Hero, who also loves him. Their path to the altar looks smooth, until the evil Don John intervenes. All ends happily, thanks to his incompetent assassins and the lucky discoveries of the bungling constable Dogberry. Central to the play, one of Shakespeare's best-loved comedies, are Beatrice and... Read more

Henry VIII - Abridged

By: E.A. Copen, Pierre Arthur Laure, William Shakes...

Narrated by: a full cast

Length: 2 hours 48 minutes

Abridged: Yes

King Henry is married to Catherine of Aragon, but he has been smitten by the charms of the queen's maid of honor, Anne Boleyn, and is tempted to divorce his dignified and noble wife. Meanwhile, the lords of England resent the influence of Henry's trusted advisor, Cardinal Wolsey, who is gradually drawing power into his own hands. As Catherine... Read more

Our Mutual Friend

By: Charles Dickens

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 31 hours 20 minutes

Abridged: No

This sinister masterpiece was Dickens’ last completed novel and perhaps his ultimate vision of a dark, macabre London and the corrupting power of money. Opening with a father and daughter scavenging for corpses on the Thames, this chilling tale unfolds around drownings, disguises and doubles, violence, murder, and triumphant love.Young John... Read more

Paul Temple And The Alex Affair

By: Francis Durbridge

Narrated by: Full Cast, Marjorie Westbury & Peter Coke

Length: 3 hours 36 minutes

Abridged: No

For thirty years the fictional crime novelist and detective Paul Temple, together with his Fleet Street journalist wife Steve, solved case after case in one of BBC Radio's most popular series. They inhabited a sophisticated world of chilled cocktails and fast cars, a world where Sir Graham Forbes, of Scotland Yard, usually needed Paul's help... Read more

Paul Temple And The Margo Mystery

By: Francis Durbridge

Narrated by: Full Cast, Marjorie Westbury & Peter Coke

Length: 3 hours 35 minutes

Abridged: No

For thirty years the fictional crime novelist and detective Paul Temple, together with his Fleet Street journalist wife Steve, solved case after case in one of BBC Radio's most popular series. They inhabited a sophisticated world of chilled cocktails and fast cars, a world where Sir Graham Forbes, of Scotland Yard, usually needed Paul's help... Read more

Top Girls

By: Caryl Churchill

Narrated by: Amy Brenneman, Megan Austin Oberle, Kirsten Pot...

Length: 1 hour 38 minutes

Abridged: No

In this play by Caryl Churchill, it's the middle of the high-flying, go-getting 80's in Maggie Thatcher's England and Marlene finally has something to celebrate—she's just been made Managing Director of Top Girls Employment Agency. But with no friends to speak of, and a past she'd just as soon forget, the guests at Marlene's party are a... Read more