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The Living Shakespeare

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Series of abridged adaptations of Shakespeare's plays, released by the [l=World Record Club] in Australia (at least) eight times (nine for Macbeth, The Merchant Of Venice and Julius Caesar) - from August 1964 (monthly), from June 1966 (monthly), from December 1968 (two per month), and annually (two per month) in the early 1970s - and in New Zealand at least twice. The first three editions were issued in mono and stereo, and all were packaged with 16 page booklets, featuring cast lists and the adapted texts. The recordings were made by [l=F.C.M. Productions]. Australian pressings can be distinguished by the numbers on the labels, label layouts, and the address combinations on the back of the sleeves. The variations can be bewildering, given W.R.C.ꞌs inconsistency in applying updates after the sixties, and the fact that these changes were made in the middle of pressing runs (e.g. the 1st edition of "Romeo and Juliet", issued in September 1965, has the Flinders Lane address as 330, while "Much Ado About Nothing", issued that October, has Flinders Lane with no number). Not to mention the appearance of anachronistic flipback sleeves, after they were generally discontinued in 1968 (also seen in the Gilbert & Sullivan reissues)... Two albums in the series issued by Oldham, "The Comedy of Errors" & "Measure for Measure", were not issued in Australia (no doubt to keep the number to a calendar-friendly 24).