I put out a call on Facebook looking for some new listens on Audible and a good friend directed me towards William Shakespeare's Star Wars. He prefaced his remarks with, "Hear me out" and while I was a little skeptical I had only to listen to the sample audio to find myself grinning like a madman. Here is the Audible page for Verily a New Hope and the Empire Striketh Back Listen to them yourself. It's honest to goodness iambic pentameter and Shakespearean language fitted nicely with the Star Wars characters and world. The story is one that many are familiar with. If not, it may be helpful to watch movie prior to listening to the book simply so you can focus on the words and characters instead of trying to figure out why Chewebacca is called a rug and doesn't have many lines. The descriptions are good, they are just insufficient to introduce the characters to a new audience. With that said, I think someone could still enjoy the story regardless of their Star Wars experience. There was a cast of narrators including: Daniel and Jonathan Davis, Ian Doescher, January LaVoy and Marc Thompson and I enjoyed their performance quite a bit. As the production was licensed by George Lucas they used the original score for many scenes as well as a full range of sound effects. It sounded a lot like a classic radio play than an audio book and it was well done.
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Plot: A long time ago, in a galaxy far far way the Galactic Empire is in the process of tracking down the Rebel Alliance which has recently stolen plans to their soon to be completed space station - the Death Star. With the power to destroy an entire planet the Death Star will ensure compliance and security for the Empire. There search takes to them to the planet Tatooine where a young farmer is dreaming of adventure. What happens, though, when the adventure is over and the consequences come looking for you.
My personal favorites: As a lover of Shakespeare I know that lots of people have adapted Shakespeare for different settings. My sister saw a version of Macbeth set in Japan. My cousin played in Much Ado about Nothing that was post WWII, and we won't even start on the Romeo and Juliet adaptations. Why can't Star Wars be adapted? Ian Doescher does a great job of giving us Star Wars as read by Elizabethans. The exceptional aspect of the production was that the story is written in context with the other stories of the original trilogy. For example, Obi-Wan Kenobi gives the audience an aside where he debates how much to tell Luke of his father. The tradition of soliloquies and asides gives us a deeper understanding of the characters, especially R2-D2 and Lando Calrissian . All in all it was a lot of fun.
Considerations: The only considerations I can mention are ones that people already think of when they hear the title of these books i.e. "What the Heck!" I did not find any offensive content or anything I would object to my children listening to.
Both stories were well done with afterwards explaining nuances drawing attention to some of the things the author did to adapt the story. I look forward to listening to this like an old radio play with my kids when they are old enough to appreciate it. I'm also looking out for The Jedi Doth Return due to come out next month. While I do have other books ahead of it in my cue I look forward to finishing out the trilogy. The length of both stories was the length of an average Shakespearean play, that is 3 and half hours.
Plot: A long time ago, in a galaxy far far way the Galactic Empire is in the process of tracking down the Rebel Alliance which has recently stolen plans to their soon to be completed space station - the Death Star. With the power to destroy an entire planet the Death Star will ensure compliance and security for the Empire. There search takes to them to the planet Tatooine where a young farmer is dreaming of adventure. What happens, though, when the adventure is over and the consequences come looking for you.My personal favorites: As a lover of Shakespeare I know that lots of people have adapted Shakespeare for different settings. My sister saw a version of Macbeth set in Japan. My cousin played in Much Ado about Nothing that was post WWII, and we won't even start on the Romeo and Juliet adaptations. Why can't Star Wars be adapted? Ian Doescher does a great job of giving us Star Wars as read by Elizabethans. The exceptional aspect of the production was that the story is written in context with the other stories of the original trilogy. For example, Obi-Wan Kenobi gives the audience an aside where he debates how much to tell Luke of his father. The tradition of soliloquies and asides gives us a deeper understanding of the characters, especially R2-D2 and Lando Calrissian . All in all it was a lot of fun.
Considerations: The only considerations I can mention are ones that people already think of when they hear the title of these books i.e. "What the Heck!" I did not find any offensive content or anything I would object to my children listening to.
Both stories were well done with afterwards explaining nuances drawing attention to some of the things the author did to adapt the story. I look forward to listening to this like an old radio play with my kids when they are old enough to appreciate it. I'm also looking out for The Jedi Doth Return due to come out next month. While I do have other books ahead of it in my cue I look forward to finishing out the trilogy. The length of both stories was the length of an average Shakespearean play, that is 3 and half hours.
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