Drama Audiobooks | LoveReading

Shakespeare wrote Much Ado About Nothing towards the middle of his career, sometime between 1598 and 1599. It was first published in quarto in 1600 and later collected into Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies in 1623. The earliest recorded performance of Much Ado About Nothing was performed for the newly-married Princess Elizabeth and Frederick the Fifth, Elector Palatine in 1613. Shakespeare's sources of inspiration for this play can be found in Italian culture and popular texts published in the sixteenth century. Gossip involving lovers deceived into believing each other false was often spread throughout Northern Italy. Works like Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando Furioso and Edmund Spencer's Fearie Queene also feature tricked lovers like Claudio and Hero. Besides these similarities, the idea of tricking a couple like Benedick and Beatrice into falling in love was an original and unusual idea at the time. The play focuses on two couples: upon the noblemen's return to Messina, Claudio and Hero quickly fall in love and wish to marry in a week; on the contrary, Benedick and Beatrice resume their verbal war, exchanging insults with each other. To pass the time prior to the marriage a plot to trick Benedick and Beatrice into falling in love has been set in motion. Unbeknownst to both our couples, a fouler plot to crush the love and happiness between Hero and Claudio has also begun to unfold.

William Shakespeare (Author), Susan Bones, Zacharias Prewett (Narrator)

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[German] - Neunzehn Stufen (Ungekürzt)

Neunzehn Treppenstufen, die alles verändern können. Die den Unterschied bedeuten zwischen Freiheit und Verlust, Leben und Tod, Liebe und Leid. London, 1942: Trotz des um sie herum tobenden Kriegs gibt die 18-jährige Nellie Morris alles dafür, um Ruhe und Ordnung in den Alltag ihrer Familie zu bringen. Ihrer Sehnsucht nach einer unbeschwerten Jugend und einem Leben in Freiheit hat sie längst abgeschworen - bis sie den amerikanischen Piloten Ray kennenlernt. Er zeigt ihr, dass es gerade in diesen Zeiten wichtig ist zu träumen und für diese Träume einzustehen. Doch als sich eine schreckliche Tragödie ereignet, droht das Glück des jungen Paares zu zerbrechen. Und auch Nellies Familie gerät in höchste Gefahr ... 'Inspiriert von den Erfahrungen meiner Großmutter Ruth, ist dieser Roman unglaublich persönlich für mich und liegt mir deshalb sehr am Herzen. Ich bin mit Ruths Erzählungen aus der Zeit des Zweiten Weltkriegs aufgewachsen, und es ist mir eine Ehre, ihre Geschichte durch dieses Buch am Leben erhalten zu können.' Millie Bobby Brown

Millie Bobby Brown (Author), Constanze Buttmann (Narrator)

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[French] - Bubu de Montparnasse

'Bubu de Montparnasse' de Charles-Louis Philippe, publié en 1901, est un roman poignant qui plonge dans la vie de Berthe, une jeune femme naviguant dans les épreuves de la pauvreté et de la prostitution dans les bidonvilles de Paris. Le livre offre un portrait brut et réaliste de ses expériences, capturant les aspects déchirants et profonds de sa vie. Grâce à une écriture simple mais puissante, l'œuvre de Philippe offre un aperçu convaincant des luttes des marginalisés dans le Paris du début du XXe siècle, ce qui en fait une pièce importante du réalisme littéraire français.

Charles-Louis Philippe (Author), Casting Complet (Narrator)

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George Bernard Shaw: Arms And The Man

Arms and the Man is a satirical drama play written by George Bernard Shaw published in 1898. It has become one of the most popular of his plays. Like his other works, Arms and the Man questions conventional values and uses war and love as his satirical targets. He delightfully pops the bubble of the 'brave soldier' always wishing to charge into battle and shows (I think) how people stay the same whether in uniform or not and are not magically changed into different people. A cautious soldier can be just as admirable as a reckless one.

George Bernard Shaw (Author), Philip Chenevert (Narrator)

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[Spanish] - Noche de bodas

Un joven cura de pueblo sufre una verdadera crisis vital cuando, al salir del seminario, despierta el deseo en él y debe enfrentarse a la fuerza de sus sentimientos y al peso de las decisiones que tomó para salir de la miseria. Un retrato humano acerca de la fuerza de la pasión, y una aproximación muy naturalista al mundo rural del que proviene el protagonista. 'Noche de bodas' es uno de los cuentos valencianos de Blasco Ibáñez y una obra literaria de altura, de una prosa emocionante y evocadora. Diseño de portada: David Rubiales Suárez. A young rural priest suffers a real life crisis when, after leaving the seminary, desire awakens in him and he must face the strength of his feelings and the weight of the decisions he made to get out of misery. A human portrait about the strength of passion, and a very naturalistic approach to the rural world where the protagonist comes from. 'Noche de bodas' is one of Blasco Ibáñez's Valencian tales and a literary work of height, with an exciting and evocative prose. Cover art design: David Rubiales Suárez.

Vicente Blasco Ibáñez (Author), Rafael Baena Zapatero (Narrator)

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Late Night Fish

Michael and Tony are in the “Waste Management Business”. Without questions, they’ve been asked to dispose of a large “package” in a nearby lake. Join us on a tale of missing boats, existential questions, and gangster films as we take you on a trip into the average day of a “Union Representative”.

Liam Alexandru (Author), Joe Cooper, Marcus Day (Narrator)

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Until The Sky Runs Out of Rain

Performed and Recorded at The Gaiety Theatre in Ayr on the 15th of September 2023.Following warnings of an imminent catastrophic flood, everyone has been evacuated except for Elsie and Bert, who stubbornly decided to stay put. As the wind howls and the increasingly heavy rain batters the windows outside, they sit on their bed enjoying their “picnic at the end of the world”, made from the entire contents of their freezer. Reminiscing about happier times in their candlelit sanctuary, they’re oblivious to the rapidly rising water levels downstairs. The next morning, woken by the sun shining through a gap in the curtains, Bert goes to the window to survey the damage. He throws open the curtains, then stands in stunned silence, naked and swaying, as he tries to comprehend the view that greets him.

Neil Bebber (Author), Barry Robertson, Ian Lorimer Milne, Linda Lyon (Narrator)

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King of Scotland

King of Scotland is an award-winning, dark comedy and a free adaptation of Gogol's A Diary of a Madman. Long-term unemployed Tommy McMillan joins a government-funded retraining scheme, 'Up the Ladder'. Cited as a shining example of the government's employment policies and chosen for a media profile, Tommy is taken on by the Department of Upward Mobility. The department gets more than they bargained for; however, when they discover just how far up the ladder Tommy is expecting to go. Featuring trouserless bankers, talking dogs, flying taxis, and a razor-sharp parody of the workings of politics, King of Scotland is an outrageous Fringe First-winning monologue. About the author: Award-winning playwright Iain Heggie is one of Scotland's leading playwrights. His plays include the Mobil prize-winning play A Wholly Healthy Glasgow (1988) and the John Whiting Award-winning play American Bagpipes (1989). His other plays include An Experienced Woman Gives Advice, Don Juan, Love Freaks, and Wiping My Mother's Arse.

Iain Heggie (Author), Liam Brennan (Narrator)

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Building Bridges

Building Bridges is set in 1965 in Anderston, Glasgow and examines the reaction of deserted husband, Billy Speirs, and his family to the return of his estranged wife, Bernie, whose mother has been taken seriously ill. It is a tale of bitterness, betrayal, and the absolute enduring strength of love when a community was sliced up to make way for a stretch of inner city motorway and the Glasgow Kingston Bridge. Just as the earmarking of Anderston as a Glasgow Comprehensive Development Area faced mixed reactions, the couple’s tentative and nervous steps back to one another faced opposition and difficulty and like the opinion of much of the community at that time, it was clear that things were never going to be the same again. The heart was getting ripped out of the place, just as it had been ripped out of Billy. Decisions have to be made, loyalties examined, and painful truths faced. Better days were coming, however, in the promise of new corporation housing, and it is against this backdrop of demolition and renewal that Building Bridges opens.

Marie Dunlop (Author), Barry Robertson, Diane Books, Etta Mcgroarty, John Scougall, Lucy Goldie, Natalie Moore Williams (Narrator)

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[Portuguese] - O Anticristo

Um dos livros mais polêmicos e impactantes de Nietzsche, O Anticristo traz uma crítica avassaladora aos princípios da fé cristã, considerada por ele como decadente e negadora da vida. Filósofo ateu, Nietzsche vinha elaborando pareceres controversos ao cristianismo ao longo de toda a sua vida filosófica. Nesta obra, ele os apresentou de uma forma incomum e nitidamente feroz, antes de se entregar à total loucura, poucos anos depois. Mais do que qualquer outro filósofo, Nietzsche desafia o leitor a questionar suas próprias crenças ao mesmo tempo em que apresenta uma nova perspectiva acerca das principais questões existenciais

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (Author), Francisco Carlos (Narrator)

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[Italian] - 'Il Processo'

'Il Processo' di F. Kafka, adattamento di A. Battistini, è la prima opera audio grafica della Costantino Films. Il capolavoro dell'autore ceco diviene un'opera che va ben oltre la classica narrativa dell'audio libro. Al pari di un'opera cinematografica, la cura degli effetti digitali, unita alla straordinaria prova attoriale di G. Costantino, che interpreta tutti i personaggi, 'Il Processo' ci catapulta ed avvolge nelle spirali dell'incubo kafkiano regalandoci una esperienza di straordinaria intensità. La leggenda narra che Kafka scrisse in una notte 'Il processo'. Si parte dunque da quella notte. Kafka sta scrivendo. Il rintocco di un orologio e l'autore cade addormentato nel proprio incubo per risvegliarsi Joseph K. Incastonato nell'inquietante struttura sonora, l'opera si modifica con la rapidità di un montaggio cinematografico. Un elemento claustrofobico del testo si amplifica nella sua profonda sostanza. Come in un incubo si materializzano decine di personaggi che ossessivamente sembrano tagliare la strada al protagonista, negandogli ogni via di fuga. Un dedalo di ombre, suoni, corpi, parole, si dipana attorno a K con una forza centrifuga inarrestabile, fino a triturarlo 'come un cane', dirà. Siamo nella 'tana' della mente, nel letto di K, nella pensione che lo ospita poi in banca, dall'avvocato, nel tribunale e ancora uffici, sgabuzzini poi nelle prigioni fino alla fine.

Franz Kafka (Author), Giovanni Costantino (Narrator)

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Jet Ride To Hell, Journey to Freedom

A riveting storyline that includes a sting operation carried out by 20-armed federal agents on the tarmac of a South Florida runway, and the tales of a prisoner living inside America’s maximum security prison, Leavenworth Penitentiary – this autobiography will captivate you from start to finish.Arrested With a Stolen JetIt was 9:05 in the morning. The sun was shining as our crew drove the silver Mercedes to meet the pilot of the Cessna Citation II jet taxiing toward us on the tarmac of the executive airfield in Florida.Something seemed off, but it was too late for the four of us to abort the mission.We were committed.The door of the plane opened, and off stepped the pilot I’d met with two days earlier at a Kansas City hotel room. He had agreed, for a price, to deliver a jet that was on our laundry list of planes we were stealing from the United States and delivering to the Colombians in South America.This was our second plane in a month. The pick-up place was Boca Raton, and the delivery location, Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands, where the plane would be repainted in a hanger, data plates changed, and then used in the cocaine trafficking world by the Cali Cartel.Later, I would discover two things: Boca Raton is translated, Mouth of the Rat, and a big rat was among us.I pulled a bag filled with cash from our vehicle and stepped onto the plane to meet the pilot to hand over a partial payment. The rest would be delivered once the plane was safely in the air. My pilot entered behind me in preparation to take the captain’s seat.In a matter of seconds, 20+ federal agents descended on us from all four sides, in unmarked vehicles and running on foot, all with weapons.The next thing I knew, a chrome 45 caliber pistol was pointed in my face while the agent was yelling, “Get your hands up, YOU ARE UNDER ARREST!”Everything was happening so fast. My head was spinning. My hands automatically went up in the air to display the international sign of surrender.

David C Hairabedian (Author), Rod Howard (Narrator)

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