Humphrey Carpenter: Shakespeare without the boring bits

Only the Brits could have produced a Shakespeare, and only they could rewrite the Bard four hundred years later without losing a beat or ruffling a feather! Carpenter has recreated several plays in a modern setting, using today's vocabulary and slang. Boyd's outstanding delivery further enhances the achievement. She presents ROMEO AND JULIET from the perspective of Juliet's nurse, who sounds like a '90's cockney. However, Boyd also dazzles listeners with Cassius's remorse over Caesar's murder. Her male and female voices are perfect; it is as if the listener is hearing a multi-voiced production. Comedy and tragedy get equal treatment; emotion, pathos and glee all come amazingly to life.