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Shakespeare at Play app for iPhone and iPad


4.8 ( 9168 ratings )
Education Book
Developer: Tim Chisholm
8.99 USD
Current version: 3.1, last update: 6 years ago
First release : 22 Sep 2013
App size: 38.95 Mb

As seen on the CBC Evening News:
http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Canada/Toronto/ID/2513068142/

Watch Shakespeare while you read.

Shakespeare at Play is dedicated to bringing you Shakespeare’s works as they are meant to be experienced: in performance. With Shakespeare at Play’s interactive texts, you can watch a full video production of Shakespeare’s plays while simultaneously scrolling along with text of that play. The productions have been staged for the camera with an emphasis placed on clear, easy-to-understand storytelling for students and those encountering the Bard’s work for the first time.

This is different from seeing a movie version of a Shakespeare play. We include every scene from the plays in their entirety, which makes it perfect for those studying or teaching the works of Shakespeare. Most movie versions of Shakespeare’s plays include only about one-third of the play’s text, but Shakespeare at Play has staged every written line from every scene in every play we do.

We’ve also included hundreds of commentary notes throughout the text from the University of Toronto’s Noam Lior, as well as audio introductions to each scene that highlight basic plot details and points of interest in the scene under discussion. Our editions also contain our own glossary for words and phrases that have gone out of use or mean something different today than they did 400 years ago. All of this is meant to make experiencing Shakespeare more enjoyable and less intimidating than it can be in a classroom setting or with a book in one hand and a dictionary in the other.

The Video Editions of Shakespeares plays are available for purchase within our app. Currently there are Video Editions available for Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth, Hamlet and A Midsummer Nights Dream.

Also included in our app is the ability to see Notes Editions of our ebooks. These editions include all of the annotation material mentioned above with videos.

Our app also includes free Text Editions of Shakespeares plays, with Antony & Cleopatra, The Comedy of Errors, Hamlet, Henry IV Part I, Julius Caesar, King Lear, Macbeth, Measure for Measure, The Merchant of Venice, Othello, Romeo & Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew and The Tempest available now and the rest of the canon appearing over time. Just click Sync Data from the sidebar within any of our books to get the latest content from our servers!

Our app is designed for BOTH iPhone and iPad, with the experience tailored to the unique quality of both platforms.

Pros and cons of Shakespeare at Play app for iPhone and iPad

Shakespeare at Play app good for

I really dug this app. Creative idea, attractive design, and great productions.
Really cool idea, well done! I would strongly recommend this to any and all high schoolers, wish i had this back then...
Cool design, easy to use, and very useful when studying shakespeare. The videos are great and the text analysis is incredibly helpful.
This app is a great idea. Its hard to imagine a better tool for teaching Shakespeare. Whats wonderful about this app is that it allows one to experience the works through performance, not just reading.
I wish I had this in high school. This educational app breaks the themes down into something that is not only easy to digest, but insightful and entertaining. My teenagers are actually enjoying Shakespeare!!
Ive heard about this app from a lot of my friends, now that I have it, Ive learned a lot about these plays and I am blown away by the quality of the video! Really amazing Recommend it to everyone who likes Shakespeare or struggled with it in school !

Some bad moments

All I see is a header and a tab selection at the bottom with a white screen in between
The product description has every element I believe necessary to making Shakespeare accessible for every good purpose. I look forward to using this app and reviewing its functionality.
Firstly, beware, this app us just an advert. You have to buy the books before you can use it. With the other apps, theres some functionality that you dont have to pay, such as background info on S. When you open the app, youre offered three books, one of them with a price tag. But it is not clear what youre buying and why (no explanation). Shakespeare in play, as opposed to merely reading the works sounds intriguing but not clear how thats done - a tiny video on top of the page? Who are the actors? I proceeded to open the sample book, and the bloody app crashed. Retried and again and again, it crashed. I am uninstalling. Shakespeare IS meant to be read.
This is a brilliant idea for an app. Wish it had been available to me when I was in high school!
I think this is a great idea and look forward to more titles in the future! Thanks for making Shakespeare accessible to the tech generation