The Winter's Tale (version 2): Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

The Winter's Tale (version 2), credited to William Shakespeare, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of The Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare. Read in English by Sonia; Tony Addison; Tomas Peter; Craig Franklin The Winter's Tale—one of Shakespeare's final plays—tells the story of two neighboring kings, Leontes of Sicilia and Polixenes of Bohemia. Friends since childhood, their relationship is put under a grave test when a maddened and jealous Leontes publicly accuses his beautiful wife, Hermione, of infidelity. Turbulent chaos engulfs Sicilia as Leontes' miscalculations devastate his family line, but in an unusual move, Shakespeare quickly turns the needle toward redemption with the growls of a bear and the passage of sixteen years, as announced by a personified Time. Whereas the first half of the play portrays the tragic downfall of a man who lets his emotions severely cloud his reasoning, the second half is one of pastoral revelry and natural reverence, set in the lush Bohemian countryside and marked by the purity of amorous youthfulness. In this setting, past sins are allowed to dissolve, the paths to redemption are opened, and fallen lives are given a glorious renewal, all of which leads to one of the most moving set pieces in the entire Shakespearean canon. And to perform it all? Three men (Tony Addison, Craig Franklin, and Tomas Peter) and one woman (Sonia), determined to give you a performance of this magical play that you will never forget. You thought you knew your Shakespeare? Well, think again! ( Tomas Peter) Craig Franklin: Narrator; Polixenes; Antigonus; Old Shepherd; Dion; Dorcas; Gaoler; Second Lord; First Gentleman; Officer of a Court of Judicature; Second Lady & First Attendant. Tomas Peter: Camillo; Florizel; Mamillius; Clown; Cleomenes; Emilia; Servant to Leontes; First Lord; Third Gentleman; Crier & Second Attendant. Sonia: Hermione; Paulina; Perdita; Archidamus; Mopsa; Second Gentleman & Time. Tony Addison: Leontes; Autolycus; Mariner; Servant to the Old Shepherd & First Lady.

Recording facts

• Recording title: The Winter's Tale (version 2)
• Author credits: William Shakespeare
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 6
• Listed recording duration: 3:10:45

Catalogue topics

• drama
• romance
• Shakespeare
• the winter's tale

Track guide

1. 00 - Dramatis Personae — 3:06
2. 01 - Act 1 — 32:17
3. 02 - Act 2 — 28:55
4. 03 - Act 3 — 24:56
5. 04 - Act 4 — 1:06:01
6. 05 - Act 5 — 35:30

Listen to this recording

Open the complete recording and player on Internet Archive. The player includes the full track list and available download formats.

Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.