Michael Sheen Can Be Your Romeo

The beauty of voice recording is you can be decades too  old to play a part, but if you are just reading it, who cares!

According to the press release:

“Mindconnex Learning Ltd today announced the availability of its Shakespeare In Bits titles on the new Mac App Store. Both Shakespeare In Bits: Romeo & Juliet and the newly released Shakespeare In Bits: Macbeth are available in new versions that harness the unique capabilities of the Mac platform.

“We’re very excited about the Mac App Store,” said Michael Cordner, director and Lead Technologist at Mindconnex Learning. “It puts the entire Mac-using audience within easy reach, and is an ideal distribution platform for our educational titles. Our new Mac App Store versions of Shakespeare In Bits nicely complement the existing iOS versions, and provide new options for teachers looking for a compelling way to present Shakespeare to their classes.”

Released for iOS devices in May 2010 and featuring the voice talents of Michael Sheen (30 Rock, Frost/Nixon) and Kate Beckinsale (The Aviator, Underworld) as the tragic couple, Shakespeare In Bits: Romeo & Juliet continues to prove popular with students and educators alike. Shakespeare In Bits: Macbeth, featuring Stephen Dillane (King Arthur, The Hours) and Fiona Shaw (Harry Potter series) extends the winning formula established by the Shakespeare In Bits series to one of Shakespeare’s most widely regarded titles.

Shakespeare In Bits is a new, integrated approach to the study of Shakespeare that promotes quicker learning, deeper understanding, and greater appreciation of Shakespeare’s plays. Leveraging the full capabilities of the Mac platform and iOS devices, each title presents an interactive, unabridged version of the play’s text alongside a fully animated presentation. It also includes a range of innovative study features, including dynamic translations of difficult terms, comprehensive synopses and study notes for each section, and a character map highlighting the relationships between the key characters.

Each Shakespeare In Bits Mac App Store title includes:

  • The unabridged original play text, broken into easily digested “bits”
  • A fully animated video presentation with audio provided by Naxos Audiobooks
  • A new Mac-exclusive subtitle feature with closed caption text window.
  • Comprehensive notes, summaries, and analyses for each section
  • A unique in-line translation system for obscure words and phrases
  • Biographies for each character, accessed from the main play or through the Cast browser
  • A character relationship map, demonstrating key relationships in the play

Pricing and Availability

Shakespeare In Bits: Romeo & Juliet and Shakespeare In Bits: Macbeth Mac App Store editions will retail for $24.99 (USD) on the Mac App Store (with equivalent local pricing in other currencies).

About Mindconnex

Mindconnex Learning Limited is an educational software development company based in Dublin, Ireland. It employs 5 educational software and developer professionals. It was founded in 2008 to create genuinely innovative digital learning tools for today’s students and teachers.

Website: http://www.shakespeareinbits.com”