Rodger Barton
I have been an actor/teacher/single dad/monologue coach for most of 35 years. I spent 7 seasons with the Stratford Festival in Canada, doing eight Shakespearean productions under Robin Phillips, many with Brian Bedford, five productions with Maggie Smith and two with Peter Ustinov.

Around twenty years  ago, I decided to help young people love Shakespeare as much as I do. To do that, they had to play him out loud. To enjoy playing him aloud they needed cut scripts. I discovered and implemented the thought-verse formatting, and then noted the series to finish the job. Interestingly, a French teacher did a meticulous final proofing. I combed the scripts endlessly. It took two years to complete 12 plays. While creating them I read them, and re-read them, and re-read them some more aloud, with Keith Knight - taking equal turns at 'Hamlets and Horatios.' They were only finished when we agreed that they made complete sense. I then sold the series for several years. New Year's 2013, in an effort to trump budgets and bores and stick to my purpose of growing love for Shakespeare, I decided to post the whole series on this website for free. Since then, I have had about 40,000 play-downloads.

The SOL audio recordings, conceived during Covid, are a new way to meet this series - the way he intended, out loud! Will did not expect people to ever read his plays, just listen to them. The new audio-plays provide a clear and entertaining template of each play, and should be a good starting point for others wanting to perform Shakespeare out loud.

Professional Acting Resume
Shakeoutloud on youtube
Film reel