Audio Sample

Sophocles

Oedipus

Performed by Michael Sheen, Nichola McAuliffe, Edward de Souza, Adam Kotz, Neville Jason, Bruce Alexander, John Moffatt, Jonathan Keeble, Heathcote Williams, Laura Brattan & Karen Archer

unabridged

This new translation of the great classic of Ancient Greece starts a cycle of drama recordings by Naxos AudioBooks. The anguished tale of Oedipus, who having solved the riddle of the Sphinx and become King of Thebes, gradually realises the crimes he has, unwittingly, committed, remains a drama of unremitting power 2,500 years after it was written. With full drama values, Naxos AudioBooks the atmosphere of the Greek amphitheatre to the soundworld of CD, with the outstanding young actor Michael Sheen – recently seen as Henry V (RSC) and Amadeus (West End) and on film and TV.

Running Time: 1 h 42 m

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More product details

Digital ISBN:	978-962-954-699-1
Cat. no.:	NA217712
Download size:	25 MB
Produced by:	Nicolas Soames
Translated by:	Duncan Steen
BISAC:	DRA006000
Released:	June 2000

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Michael Sheen

Michael Sheen’s many award-winning stage performances include Caligula and Frost/Nixon at the Donmar Theatre, and Hamlet at the Young Vic. He has starred in three films nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award: The Queen, Frost/Nixon and Midnight in Paris. His other film credits include The Damned United, Alice in Wonderland, Tron: Legacy, Far From the Madding Crowd, and the Twilight and Underworld series. On television, Sheen has earned multiple awards and nominations for his performances in shows such as Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa! (BBC), Dirty Filthy Love (ITV), The Special Relationship (HBO) and Masters of Sex (Showtime). He recently appeared alongside David Tennant in Neil Gaimon’s Good Omens (Amazon/BBC).

Titles read by Michael Sheen

Titles read by Michael Sheen: The Great Poets – Samuel Taylor Coleridge (selections); Crime and Punishment (abridged); Great Poets of the Romantic Age (unabridged); The Idiot (abridged); The Great Poets – John Keats (selections); Lady Windermere’s Fan (unabridged); A Lover’s Gift: From Him to Her (selections); Oedipus (unabridged); The Old Testament (selections); The Picture of Dorian Gray (abridged); Romeo and Juliet (unabridged); Stories from Shakespeare (unabridged)

Nichola McAuliffe

Nichola McAuliffe is a wonderfully talented and versatile actress. She starred in seven series of the hugely popular Surgical Spirit for Granada Television. Numerous theatre credits include several West End runs. She was presented with a Laurence Olivier Award for her role in Kiss Me Kate for the RSC.

Titles read by Nichola McAuliffe

Titles read by Nichola McAuliffe: Oedipus (unabridged)

Edward de Souza

Edward de Souza (Don Quixote, The Canterbury Tales, The Island Race, The New Testament, Hamlet Prince of Denmark, The Life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) has played leading roles in over a dozen West End plays and in several seasons with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford, at the Old Vic and the National Theatre. His film credits include The Thirty-Nine Steps and The Spy Who Loved Me.

Titles read by Edward de Souza

Titles read by Edward de Souza: The Canterbury Tales (unabridged); Classic Erotic Verse (selections); Classical Love Poetry (unabridged); Composers’ Letters (selections); Don Quixote (abridged); Hamlet (unabridged); The Island Race (abridged); The Life of Mozart (unabridged); Life & Works – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (unabridged); The New Testament (selections); Oedipus (unabridged); The Pilgrim’s Progress (abridged); Romeo and Juliet (unabridged)

Adam Kotz

Adam Kotz has worked extensively in leading roles with, in particular, The Royal National Theatre and Cheek by Jowl Theatre Company. Plays include Racing Demon, Measure for Measure, and A Family Affair. TV and film work includes Band of Gold, Touching Evil and Shot Through The Heart. For Naxos AudioBooks he plays Banquo in Macbeth and Creon in Oedipus the King.

Titles read by Adam Kotz

Titles read by Adam Kotz: Macbeth (unabridged); Oedipus (unabridged); Twelfth Night (unabridged)

Neville Jason

Born in 1934, Neville Jason trained at RADA where he was awarded the diction prize by Sir John Gielgud. His first appearance in the theatre was in Peter Brook’s production of Titus Andronicus starring Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. He was a member of the Old Vic Company, the English Stage Company, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Birmingham Repertory Company. In addition, Neville appeared in numerous musicals, including Kiss Me Kate and Irma La Douce.

Television appearances included Maigret, Dr Who, Hamlet, Crime and Punishment, Dixon of Dock Green, When the Boat Comes In, Minder, Dempsey and Makepeace, and Windmill Near a Frontier. Amongst his film work was the Bond movie From Russia With Love. He was a member of the BBC Radio Drama Company three times, and was often heard in radio plays, documentaries and arts programmes.

Neville began his association with Naxos AudioBooks in the very early days of the label and was a prolific contributor to its output. Perhaps most notable was his Remembrance of Things Past by his beloved Proust, but his readings extended to the literary classics of Russia (War and Peace; Evgenii Onegin) and England (The Once and Future King and Far from the Madding Crowd). His work for Naxos was recognised on several occasions: as a director, he won Talkie Awards for Great Expectations and Poets of the Great War; and as a reader, he won AudioFile Earphone Awards for The Captive, Time Regained, The Once and Future King and War and Peace (Best Audiobooks of the Year 2007 and 2009).

Nicolas Soames, former Publisher of Naxos AudioBooks, has fond memories of his time working with Neville. ‘Over two decades of close association I had nothing but complete admiration for Neville and his craft as a reader. The sheer range of subjects among the 60 recordings he read for Naxos AudioBooks showed his versatility and his impeccable preparation. However, there is no doubt that he will be remembered particularly for his recordings of Proust, where his urbane, measured, insightful performances, sustained over 120 hours in the unabridged version, have resulted in one of the greatest audiobook landmarks of all time. It truly was a privilege to be involved in this momentous, unmatched achievement.’

Shortly before his death, Neville recorded The Periodic Table by Primo Levi, an idea for audiobook that he himself had suggested. Happily, he was able to hear the edited recording during his final days.

Our sympathy goes to his wife, Gillian, and his family.

Titles read by Neville Jason

Titles read by Neville Jason: Life & Works – Ludwig van Beethoven (unabridged); Birds in Town and Village (unabridged); Life & Works – Johannes Brahms (unabridged); Candide, and Zadig (unabridged); The Candle in the Wind & The Book of Merlyn (unabridged); The Captive – Part I (abridged); The Captive – Part II (abridged); The Captive (unabridged); The Castle of Otranto (abridged); The Castle of Otranto (unabridged); Life & Works – Frédéric Chopin (unabridged); The Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire – Part 1 (abridged); The Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire – Part 2 (abridged); Discourse on the Origin and the Foundations of Inequality Among Men (unabridged); Dracula (abridged); The Essential Remembrance of Things Past (abridged); Evgenii Onegin (unabridged); Young Adult Classics – Far From the Madding Crowd (abridged); Far From the Madding Crowd (abridged); Favourite Essays: An Anthology (selections); Very Short Introductions – Freud (abridged); The Fugitive (abridged); The Fugitive (unabridged); The Guermantes Way Part 1 (abridged); The Guermantes Way Part 2 (abridged); The Guermantes Way (unabridged); Gulliver’s Travels (abridged); The History of the Peloponnesian War (abridged); Jude the Obscure (unabridged); King Richard III (unabridged); The Life & Work of Marcel Proust (unabridged); The Life and Works of Beethoven (unabridged); The Life and Works of Chopin (unabridged); The Life and Works of Liszt (unabridged); Selections from The Lives of the Artists (abridged); The Moonstone (abridged); The Name of the Rose (unabridged); Oedipus (unabridged); The Once and Future King (unabridged); Pamela (unabridged); The Periodic Table (unabridged); Resurrection (unabridged); Shamela (unabridged); The Social Contract (unabridged); Sodom and Gomorrah (unabridged); Sodom and Gomorrah – Part I (abridged); Sodom and Gomorrah – Part II (abridged); Swann in Love (abridged); Swann’s Way (abridged); Swann’s Way (unabridged); The Sword In The Stone (unabridged); The Sword in the Stone (abridged); The Tempest (unabridged); Tevye the Milkman (unabridged); Time Regained (abridged); Time Regained (unabridged); Torrents of Spring (unabridged); The Trial and Death of Socrates (unabridged); War & Peace - Volume I (unabridged); War & Peace - Volume II (unabridged); War and Peace (abridged); Wessex Tales (unabridged); The Witch in the Wood & The Ill-Made Knight (unabridged); Within a Budding Grove (unabridged); Within a Budding Grove – Part 1 (abridged); Within a Budding Grove – Part 2 (abridged)

Bruce Alexander

Bruce Alexander is best known as Superintendent Mullett in A Touch of Frost and has appeared in many other TV shows such as Berkeley Square, Casualty and Peak Practice. He has also played major roles in the theatre, notably with the RSC. He is a director of ACTER, which annually tours Shakespeare to US campuses. He has featured in the Naxos AudioBooks recordings of Macbeth and Oedipus, and also reads Plato’s The Republic for Naxos AudioBooks.

Titles read by Bruce Alexander

Titles read by Bruce Alexander: Ancient Greek Philosophy – An Introduction (unabridged); King Richard III (unabridged); Macbeth (unabridged); Oedipus (unabridged); The Republic (abridged); The Trial and Death of Socrates (unabridged); Winter Words (unabridged)

John Moffatt

John Moffat’s distinguished theatre career encompasses two hundred roles across the UK, forty-two major London productions and two Broadway appearances. He played Malvolio in Twelfth Night at the Open Air Theatre, Regents Park, appeared in Ingmar Bergman’s production of Hedda Gabler and in Married Love directed by Joan Plowright. Film credits include Prick Up Your Ears, and he has been seen on UK TV in productions as varied as Love in a Cold Climate and Maigret. He also reads Sterne’s Tristram Shandy and The Faerie Queene for Naxos AudioBooks and appears as Peter Quince in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

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Titles read by John Moffatt: 1,000 Years of Laughter (unabridged); The Canterbury Tales II (unabridged); The Christmas Collection (unabridged); Classic Comic Verse (selections); The Great Poets – Samuel Taylor Coleridge (selections); Selections from The Faerie Queene (abridged); Great Narrative Poems of the Romantic Age (unabridged); Krapp’s Last Tape (unabridged); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (unabridged); Oedipus (unabridged); Tristram Shandy (abridged)

Jonathan Keeble

Jonathan Keeble’s theatre work includes leading roles at Manchester’s Royal Exchange, Coventry, Liverpool, Exeter, Lancaster and West Yorkshire Playhouse. TV includes People Like Us, The Two of Us and Deptford Graffiti. Jonathan has featured in over 250 radio plays for the BBC and was a member of the Radio Drama Company. For Naxos AudioBooks he has recorded Black Beauty, Classic Chilling Tales, Macbeth, Oedipus the King and Krapp’s Last Tape.

Titles read by Jonathan Keeble

Titles read by Jonathan Keeble: 1,000 Years of Laughter (unabridged); The Great Poets – Matthew Arnold (selections); Barry Lyndon (unabridged); Black Beauty (abridged); The Compleat Angler (unabridged); A Concise History of Italy (unabridged); The Confessions of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (unabridged); Dangerous Liaisons (unabridged); Selections from The Decameron (abridged); Don Juan (unabridged); Life & Works – Antonín Dvořák (unabridged); Elidor (unabridged); Eminent Victorians (unabridged); The First Men in the Moon (unabridged); The Flowers of Evil (unabridged); From Shakespeare – with love (selections); The Haunted Hotel (unabridged); Henry V (unabridged); The History of English Literature (unabridged); A History of Western Philosophy (unabridged); In a Glass Darkly (unabridged); The Island of Doctor Moreau (unabridged); King Richard III (unabridged); La Vita Nuova (unabridged); Lady Susan (unabridged); Lorna Doone (abridged); Lorna Doone (unabridged); Macbeth (unabridged); Machiavelli: His Life and Times (unabridged); The Metaphysical Poets (selections); The Moonlit Road (selections); Oedipus (unabridged); Oliver Twist (unabridged); Oliver Twist: Retold for Younger Listeners (abridged); Othello (unabridged); The Perfumed Garden (unabridged); Piers Plowman (unabridged); Robinson Crusoe: Retold for Younger Listeners (abridged); The Satyricon (unabridged); Life & Works – Franz Schubert (unabridged); Stories from Shakespeare – The Plantagenets (unabridged); The Swiss Family Robinson (abridged); Twelfth Night (unabridged); Vathek (unabridged); A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (unabridged)

Heathcote Williams

Heathcote Williams, poet, playwright and actor, made a significant contribution to many fields. He is best known for his extended poems on environmental subjects: Whale Nation, Falling for a Dolphin, Sacred Elephant and Autogeddon. His plays also won acclaim, notably AC/DC produced at London’s Royal Court, and Hancock’s Last Half Hour. As an actor he was equally versatile – taking memorable roles in Orlando, Wish You Were Here, and Derek Jarman’s The Tempest, in which he played Prospero.

Titles read by Heathcote Williams

Titles read by Heathcote Williams: Dracula (abridged); The Inferno (unabridged); The Life of Mozart (unabridged); The Middle Way (unabridged); The New Testament (selections); Oedipus (unabridged); Paradise (unabridged); Purgatory (unabridged); The Revelation of St John the Divine (unabridged); Romeo and Juliet (unabridged); Sacred Elephant (unabridged); Whale Nation (unabridged)

Laura Brattan

Laura Brattan trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She has appeared in the films Crime Time and Tomorrow Never Dies. Her many television credits includes Casualty, The Bill, Wycliffe, Little Lord Fauntleroy, Melissa, Five Children, and Touching Evil.

Titles read by Laura Brattan

Titles read by Laura Brattan: Famous People in History – Volume 2 (unabridged); Oedipus (unabridged)

Karen Archer

Karen Archer has worked for the Royal Shakespeare Company in Nicholas Nickleby and as Mrs Erlynne in Lady Windermere’s Fan, as well as across the country in plays such as Ghosts, She Stoops to Conquer and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Her television appearances include The Chief, Ruth Rendell Mysteries, Casualty and Chancer, and she has been seen in the films The Secret Gardenand Forever Young.

Titles read by Karen Archer

Titles read by Karen Archer: Life & Works – Ludwig van Beethoven (unabridged); Life & Works – Johannes Brahms (unabridged); Life & Works – Frédéric Chopin (unabridged); Classical Love Poetry (unabridged); The Life and Works of Beethoven (unabridged); The Life and Works of Chopin (unabridged); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (unabridged); Oedipus (unabridged); Life & Works – Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky (unabridged)

Cast

Michael Sheen: Oedipus
Nichola McAuliffe: Jocasta
Edward de Souza: Priest
Adam Kotz: Creon
Neville Jason: A Messenger from Corinth
Bruce Alexander: A Shepherd
John Moffatt: Tiresias/Narrator
Jonathan Keeble: A Messenger from the Palace
Heathcote Williams: Head Chorus
Bruce Alexander, Laura Brattan: Strophe
Karen Archer, Jonathan Keeble: Antistrophe