Audiobooks narrated by Gary Macfadden

Measure for Measure is one of darkest of Shakespeare’s comedies. Written in about 1603 and first performed in 1604, it immediately preceded the composition of the major tragedies Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth. Duke Vincentino, the ruler of Vienna, fears that under his mild sovereignty, the people may have become lazy and lax. He decides to “go over cover” in the disguise of a monk and appoint his deputy, Angelo, who is a reputed paragon of virtue, as temporary ruler. On assuming power, Angelo inaugurates draconian provisions regarding sexual propriety. One of the first victims of this new regime is young Claudio, who has impregnated his lover Juliet, and is accordingly sentenced to death. Claudio’s sister, Isabella, who is preparing to enter religious life, is encouraged to approach Angelo and plead for her brother’s life. Angelo is immediately smitten with the beautiful Isabella and makes her an offer: her brother will be spared if she yields to Angelo’s sexual advances. Isabella indignantly rejects this proposal, but finds herself unable to reveal Angelo’s hypocrisy publicly, as she fears her accusations will lack credence. Fortunately, the Duke, who has not left Vienna, befriends Isabella in his assumed role of friar, and hatches a plan to both save Claudio and to unmask Angelo. Featuring the voices of Denis Daly, Gary D. MacFadden, David Shears, Graham Scott, Josh Innerst, Kendra Murray, Blaise Doran, Simon Paxton, Roberta Jackson, Alexandra Lee Smith, and Alan Weyman. Audio edited by Denis Daly Tunes for songs provided by Alan Weyman. The text used for this performance was kindly provided by playshakespeare.com.

William Shakespeare (Author), A Full Cast, Alan Weyman, Alexandra Lee Smith, Blaise Doran, David Shears, Denis Daly, Gary Macfadden, Graham Scott, Josh Innerst, Kendra Murray, Roberta Jackson, Simon Paxton (Narrator)

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The Merchant of Venice

Antonio, a wealthy and popular merchant, is in financial difficulty. He approaches a Jewish money lender, Shylock, who agrees to provide 3000 ducats, with a very curious bond – a pound of the merchant’s flesh, to be levied if Antonio fails to make a timely repayment. Feeling confident that his argosies will arrive in time to cover the debt, Antonio agrees to this bizarre transaction. Meanwhile, a wealthy gentlewoman, Portia, must choose a suitor using a curious ritual mandated by her father’s will. Applicants must choose from three locked caskets, one of which contains a picture of Portia. He who chooses the casket with the picture will wed Portia immediately; the unsuccessful applicants will cease courting not only Portia, but all prospective partners. Portia’s preferred suitor is a young Venetian, Bassanio, who is a close friend of Antonio. Antonio’s ships fail to arrive in time to satisfy his debt to Shylock and Antonio is hauled into court. In a male disguise, Portia appears in court to represent Antonio. Will her skillful representation free Antonio from Shylock’s demands? Written between 1596 and 1598 and published in 1600, The Merchant of Venice most notably touches on the troubling subject of antisemitism. While critical debate rages about Shakespeare’s actual attitudes toward Jewish culture, it is difficult to deny that the eventual fate of Shylock is not in accord with today’s view of social justice. Featuring the voices of Denis Daly, Catherina Bilson, Alexandra Lee Smith, Gary D. Macfadden, Blaise Doran, Graham Scott, Roberta Jackson, Josh Innerst, Simon Paxton, Alan Weyman, Emma Faye and Marty Krz.

William Shakespeare (Author), A Full Cast, Alan Weyman, Alexandra Lee Smith, Blaise Doran, Catherine Bilson, Denis Daly, Emma Faye, Gary Macfadden, Graham Scott, Josh Innerst, Marty Krz, Roberta Jackson, Simon Paxton (Narrator)

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As You Like It

Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, and As You Like It are usually regarded as Shakespeare’s crowning achievements in the world of mirth and humor. In this group of plays, written during the playwright’s Second Period (1595–1600), the author depicts chiefly the cheerful, energetic side of life. In As You Like It, a wicked Duke expels his virtuous brother, the lawful ruler, from his domains. The banished Duke takes refuge with his followers in the Forest of Arden, where they live as free a life as did Robin Hood and his merry men. They are presently sought out by the Duke’s daughter Rosalind and her cousin Celia, who have been banished by the usurper. Also among the banished is Orlando, a virtuous young man, who is being pursued by his wicked brother Oliver, pursuant to the orders of the usurping duke. Orlando and Rosalind immediately fall in love, and she, disguised as a boy under the name of Ganymede, makes sport with him throughout the play. Eventually all ends happily – with conversions, repentance and revelations of love. Featuring the voices of Linda Barrans, Blaise Doran, Laura Richcreek, Emma Faye, Claudia Anglade, P J Morgan, Gary MacFadden, Denis Daly, Marty Krz, Dara Brown, Trisha Rose, John Burlinson, and Kendra Murray. Audio edited by Denis Daly Tunes for songs provided by Alan Weyman. The text used for this performance was kindly provided by playshakespeare.com. Production copyright 2024 is held by Voices of Today.

William Shakespeare (Author), A Full Cast, Blaise Doran, Claudia Anglade, Dara Brown, Denis Daly, Emma Faye, Gary Macfadden, John Burlinson, Kendra Murray, Laura E. Richcreek, Linda Barrans, Marty Krz, Pj Morgan, Trisha Rose (Narrator)

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The Comedy of Errors

Mistaken identity (which the Elizabethans called “Error”) is nearly always amusing, whether on the stage or in actual life. The Comedy of Errors is a play in which this situation is developed to the extreme of improbability – but we lose sight of this improbability in the roaring fun which results. Nowadays we should call a play of this type a farce, since most of the fun comes from situations which are improbable and the play depends on these for success, rather than on characterization or dialogue. Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors draws on a much older play, Menaechmi, written by the ancient Roman playwright Plautus (254–184 B.C.). A merchant of Syracuse has twin sons and buys twin servants for them. His wife, with one twin and one servant, is soon separated from him by a shipwreck, and comes to live in Ephesus. When grown, the other son and his slave start out to find their brothers, and the father, some years later, starts out in turn to find them. Once in Ephesus, an amusing series of errors begins. The wife takes the wrong twin for her husband, the master beats the wrong slave, the wrong son disowns his father, the twin at Ephesus is arrested instead of his brother, and the twin slave Dromio of Syracuse is claimed as a husband by a black kitchen girl of Ephesus. The situation gets more and more mixed, until at last the real identity of the strangers from Syracuse is established, and all ends happily. Featuring the voices of Susan Iannucci, Gary MacFadden, David Shears, Dara Brown, Blaise Doran, Aisling Gray, Claudia Anglade, Kendra Murray and P.J. Morgan

William Shakespeare (Author), A Full Cast, Aisling Gray, Blaise Doran, Claudia Anglade, Dara Brown, David Shears, Gary Macfadden, Kendra Murray, Pj Morgan, Susan Iannucci (Narrator)

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Much Ado About Nothing

Much Ado About Nothing appears to have been written about 1599, shortly before As You Like It and Twelfth Night. The action combines two narrative threads: the spirited comedy of the courtship of Benedick and Beatrice, and the sombre tale of confused love between Hero and Claudio. The first is a creation by Shakespeare and the second appears to have been drawn from an Italian source, either by Bandello or Ariosto. The action takes place in Messina. Eponymous lovers Hero and Claudio seem to be ideally matched and nearly everyone is looking forward to their impending marriage. The odd man out is the sinister Don John, brother and former enemy of Don Pedro, Prince of Aragon, but recently restored to the Prince’s favour. Being of a morose and jealous temperament, Don John plots to disrupt the wedding and cause division between the lovers, with the aid of his fellow conspirators, Borachio and Conrade. However, this evil plan is thwarted by an unexpected incursion by the bumbling constables Dogberry and Verges. The young couple are finally reunited, but only after Claudio has first been led to believe that his rejected spouse, Hero, has died of shame and grief. The matching of Beatrice and Benedick, encouraged by some artful chicanery by Hero and Claudio, and marked by many witty and sardonic exchanges of repartee, serves to lighten the texture of the darker elements of the action. Featuring Emma Faye as Hero, Kendra Murray as Beatrice, Dara Brown as Claudio, Lillian Rachel as Benedick, Cate Barratt as Dogberry, and Gary Macfadden as Don John. Also featuring the voices of Catherine Bilson, Ron Altman, Alan Weyman, P J Morgan, Claudio Anglade, John Burlinson and Linda Barrans. Songs arranged by Alan Weyman Audio edited by Denis Daly Text kindly provided by playshakespeare.com

William Shakespeare (Author), A Full Cast, Alan Weyman, Cate Barratt, Catherine Bilson, Claudia Anglade, Dara Brown, Emma Faye, Gary Macfadden, John Burlinson, Kendra Murray, Lillian Rachel, Linda Barrans, Pj Morgan, Ron Altman (Narrator)

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Alls Well That Ends Well

This play is a dramatization of Boccaccio’s story of Gillette of Narbonne. Only the comic parts were of Shakespeare’s invention; he added the characters of the pusillanimous Parolles, the lofty courtier Lafew, the Clown Lavatch, and the long suffering Countess. He gave new depth and vitality to the leading characters, who are mere outlines in Boccaccio’s tale. The comedy has for its heroine a young woman who loves the haughty Bertram with an unrequited and despised passion, cures the King of France of a dangerous sickness, claims as her reward the right to choose a husband from among the courtiers, chooses Bertram, is repudiated by him, and, after a nocturnal meeting at which she takes the place of another woman whom he believes himself to have seduced, at last overcomes his resistance and is acknowledged as his wife. In Helena, Shakespeare drew a portrait of familiar type of loving and cruelly maltreated womanhood—the woman who suffers everything in inexhaustible tenderness and humility, and never falters in her love until in the end she wins the rebellious heart.

William Shakespeare (Author), A Full Cast, Aisling Gray, Claudia Anglade, David Shears, Denis Daly, Emma Faye, Gary Macfadden, John Burlinson, Kendra Murray, Linda Barrans, Marty Krz, Pj Morgan (Narrator)

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A Midsummer Night's Dream

Together with The Tempest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of Shakespeare’s most magical plays. One night, two parties creep from Athens into the surrounding forest. One party includes sweethearts Lysander and Hermia, fleeing from Athenian law and the disapproval of Hermia’s father to get married. In pursuit is Demetrius, the suitor of Hermia favored by her father, and the doleful Helena, formerly affianced to Demetrius. Six tradesman (the “rude mechanicals”) make up the other party. They hope to present a play at the upcoming nuptials of Theseus, Duke of Athens, and are seeking a private place for rehearsal. Surveying these disparate interlopers are the forest fairies, whose King Oberon and Queen Titania are engaged in a ferocious marital dispute. A magical love potion throws all into disarray. Attachments are disrupted, new ones are formed—but finally, conjugal harmony is established between lovers. In the last act the “rude mechanicals” win their chance to present their clumsy dramatic piece to the amusement and satisfaction of the aristocratic audience.

William Shakespeare (Author), A Full Cast, Blaise Doran, Claudia Anglade, Emma Faye, Gary D. Macfadden, Gary Macfadden, Kendra Murray, Linda Barrans, Mark Crowle-Groves, Marty Krz, Pj Morgan, Tom Saer (Narrator)

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Myth Agent

Ruttledge Rosenbaugh, a professor of science devoted to his students at Hensley University, has spent years learning from his mentor, whose mantra was that time travelers are constantly around and unnoticed. But nothing Ruttledge has ever heard or read about time travel prepares him for what he witnesses in 1910, when a child travels back in time to his secret laboratory in the basement of his university's science building.

L.A. Macfadden (Author), Gary Macfadden (Narrator)

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Zero Harm: How to Achieve Patient and Workforce Safety in Healthcare

From the nation's leading experts in healthcare safety-the first comprehensive guide to delivering care that ensures the safety of patients and staff alike. One of the primary tenets among healthcare professionals is, "First, do no harm." Achieving this goal means ensuring the safety of both patient and caregiver. Every year in the United States alone, an estimated 4.8 million hospital patients suffer serious harm that is preventable. To address this industry-wide problem-and provide evidence-based solutions-a team of award-winning safety specialists from Press Ganey/Healthcare Performance Improvement have applied their decades of experience and research to the subject of patient and workforce safety. Their mission is to achieve zero harm in the healthcare industry, a lofty goal that some hospitals have already accomplished-which you can, too. Combining the latest advances in safety science, data technology, and high reliability solutions, this step-by-step guide shows you how to implement 6 simple principles in your workplace. 1. Commit to the goal of zero harm.2. Become more patient-centric.3. Recognize the interdependency of safety, quality, and patient-centricity.4. Adopt good data and analytics.5. Transform culture and leadership.6. Focus on accountability and execution. In Zero Harm, the world's leading safety experts share practical, day-to-day solutions that combine the latest tools and technologies in healthcare today with the best safety practices from high-risk, yet high-reliability industries, such as aviation, nuclear power, and the United States military. Using these field-tested methods, you can develop new leadership initiatives, educate workers on the universal skills that can save lives, organize and train safety action teams, implement reliability management systems, and create long-term, transformational change. You'll read case studies and success stories from your industry colleagues-and discover the most effective ways to utilize patient data, information sharing, and other up-to-the-minute technologies. It's a complete workplace-ready program that's proven to reduce preventable errors and produce measurable results-by putting the patient, and safety, first.

Carole Stockmeier, Craig Clapper, James Merlino (Author), Gary Macfadden (Narrator)

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The Caterpillar Way: Lessons in Leadership, Growth, and Shareholder Value

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! How one tenacious company found the drive to succeed--on a global scale In the early 1980s, Caterpillar, Inc. lost one million dollars per day for three consecutive years. Its continuing existence came into question. Today, 'CAT' is the world's most profitable manufacturer of construction and mining equipment and large engines. The now legendary global company made numerous well-calculated, though risky decisions for three consecutive decades--in the process scaling to heights unimaginable to even the finest business enterprises. How did they do it? The Caterpillar Way. Senior management at CAT facilitated the authors' one-year odyssey through the hallways and intriguing history of the construction industry giant. This inspiring book takes you behind the scenes with the CEOs, executive vice presidents, managers, dealers, customers, union bosses, and Wall Street analysts who were players in Caterpillar's drive to global dominance. You'll discover: CAT's change-or-die approach to restructuring How a local firm from central Illinois became a local firm on a global basis The secret behind Caterpillar's decades-long revenue explosion How to use branding and product financing effectively What true dedication and commitment to Six Sigma really entails Why Caterpillar became the mecca for HR officers negotiating with unions The authors' prediction of CAT's stock price through 2020 The Caterpillar Way provides essential management lessons in powerful behind-the-scenes stories. You'll learn how the Caterpillar leaders responded quickly to changing markets, allocated capital efficiently throughout the firm, and nourished a cultish team spirit that wins. Innovative leaders make game-changing decisions. If any company is built to last, it's Caterpillar, Inc. With its trademark yellow trucks, cranes, machinery and engines, this home-grown manufacturer has survived more than its share of ups and downs to become the #1 industry leader of construction equipment in the world. The Caterpillar Way reveals, for the first time, the remarkable inside story, written with full access to the way CAT runs its business, from bottom to top. They blaze their own trail. This is The Caterpillar Way. PRAISE FOR THE CATERPILLAR WAY: 'The Caterpillar Way is a very sophisticated analysis of one of the great organizational stories of the past 30 years. Bouchard and Koch delve into the details of leadership, risk, and culture that allowed this company to excel. From branding to comparative advantage, this is an extraordinary example of vision and execution.' -- Sam Zell, Chairman, Equity Group Investments 'The Caterpillar Way brings to life the progress a company can make by having a plan and sticking to it quarter by quarter and year over year. The company never stands still and has a keen focus on delivering high-quality products on time to its customers. They have been a great partner of ours for many years.' -- Dave Cote, Chairman and CEO, Honeywell 'There's no way you can't learn from The Caterpillar Way--a classic example of how to bring strategy, structure, and culture together to drive breakthrough results.' -- David C. Nova k, Chairman and CEO, Yum! Brands Inc.

Craig Bouchard, James Koch (Author), Gary Macfadden (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Gary Macfadden