Overview

This full cast presentation includes Part 1 and Part 2 of Shakespeare's Henry IV. In 1598 appeared a Quarto with the following title: The History of Henrie the Fourth; With the Battell at Shrewsburie, betweene the King and Lord Henry Percy, surnamed Henrie Hotspur of the North. With the humorous conceits of Sir John Falstaffe. At London. Printed by P. S. for Andrew Wise, dwelling in Paules Churchyard, at the signe of the Angell. 1598. This was the First Part of Shakespeare's Henry IV, which must have been written in 1597. This play is the first in which Shakespeare really demonstrated his great and overwhelming individuality. Its dramatic structure is fairly loose, though is closer knit and technically stronger than that of the Second Part. However, as a poetical creation, it is one of the great masterpieces of the world's literature, at once heroic and burlesque, thrilling and side-splitting. Yet these contrasted elements are not brought into hard-and-fast rhetorical antithesis, but move and mingle with a natural freedom. The driving elements of the plot are the machinations of the guilt-ridden King Henry IV to establish the legitimacy of his accession and the inevitable revolt by the former supporters who helped him to gain the throne. One of the leaders of the opposing faction is the warlike Henry Percy, nicknamed Hotspur, who the king compares unfavourably with his own son, the self-indulgent and riotous Prince Hal. The prince spends much of his time cavorting with a group of boon companions, the most notable of which is the dissipated and unscrupulous knight, Sir John Falstaff, who acts as something of a surrogate parent. At the end of the First Part, the revolt is suppressed; in the conflict, Prince Hal reveals his true character as a doughty defender of the realm. In the Second Part, the king's health progressively declines and Hal begins to assert his royal prerogative. Eventually, the king dies, and Hal, now having shed all his adolescent impertinence, ascends to the throne. Falstaff, in expectation of elevation to high office and new-found prosperity, publicly accosts the new king and is rudely rebuffed, together with his disreputable retinue. Audio edited by Denis Daly The text used for this performance was kindly provided by playshakespeare.com. Welsh dialogue and tune for Lady Mortimer's song in Henry IV Part One provided by Noni Lewis.

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""The ripest fruit of historic or national drama, the consummation and the crown of Shakespeare's labours in that line, must of course be recognised and saluted by all students in the supreme and sovereign trilogy of King Henry IV and King Henry V."" -- ""A. C. Swinburne, author of A Study of Shakespeare""

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William Shakespeare (1564-1616) is the most famous poet and playwright in the English language. Tim Dehn is an English voice actor in Melbourne who has worked with local and international television and radio broadcasters. He has recorded for a wide variety of media, including corporate, training, and documentary voiceovers, radio programs such as ABC Classic and 3MBS, commercials, and audiobooks for the Christian Blind Mission for vision-impaired listeners. Rory Barnett is a voice talent and audiobook narrator. Denis Daly is an audiobook narrator and codirector of Voices of Today, an Australian spoken word production house. Graham Scott is a narrator and voice actor based in the UK. As well as solo performances of works by authors including PG Wodehouse, Charles Dickens, R Austin Freeman, Dorothy L. Sayers, Jules Verne, Anna Katherine Green, Joseph Conrad, GK Chesterton, and John Buchan, Graham is also a regular performer in group productions with both Voices of Today and the Online Stage. Website: www.GrahamScottAudio.com Gregory Dwyer is a New Zealand-born Australian voice actor. He spent twenty-four years working internationally in theatre, film, television, and radio before a hiatus of twenty-two years, much of which was spent as a Forensic Crime Scene Examiner. Now, he has returned to performing as a voice actor, specializing in audiobooks. Josh Innerst is an accomplished classical stage actor and AudioFile Earphones Award-winning audiobook narrator. He continues to pursue his craft in film/TV and is currently based in the Midwest with his family. When he's not onstage or on-set, he spends his days in the booth or out putzing in the garden. Roberta Jackson has audiobooks on Audible, Learning Ally, the National Library Service for the Blind, and other platforms. She has narrated audiobooks for publishers and production companies including Simon & Schuster, Dreamscape, Lycan Valley, John Marshall Media, Voices of Today, and many more. Her work includes multiple characters in multi-cast productions: fantasy, thrillers, poetry, and Shakespeare. Roberta has also narrated character voice roles in audio dramas, podcasts, video games, and web comics.

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