Patrick Stewart will read the complete sonnets of William Shakespeare in a new audiobook.
Simon & Schuster Audio will publish Stewart’s Patrick Stewart Performs the Complete Sonnets of William Shakespeare next month, the company announced in a news release. It calls the audiobook “an all-new, definitive recording of the complete Sonnets—an audio treasury of incandescent performances and insightful personal commentary.”
Stewart, best known for his roles on the television show Star Trek: The Next Generation and in the X-Men film series, has long been associated with the Bard’s work. He was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1966 to 1982, where he acted in plays including The Merchant of Venice, Henry V, and King Lear. During the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, Stewart began reading Shakespeare’s sonnets and posting them to social media.
In a Q&A shared by his publisher, Stewart said, “I’ve had William Shakespeare in my mind and my mouth from the age of twelve years old, and now, some seven decades later, it is still a delight and a privilege to read and speak his language. But it was paramount for me to make this work personal—I wanted the listener to feel as though I was speaking to them, with them, for them. I wanted my readings to feel immediate and down to earth, so that people could actually experience Shakespeare’s brilliance for themselves, on their own terms.”
Patrick Stewart Performs the Complete Sonnets of William Shakespeare is scheduled for release on April 7.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
