Recommendations

These testimonials showcase how Silly Shakespeare brings joy, creativity, and a fresh perspective to the classics. Explore their stories and see why our books are a must-read!

“The concept is original and the execution brilliant. This is Dr Seuss meets Shakespeare, with all the joy of the former meshed with all the intrigue of the latter. The rhymes are really clever and often elicited an actual LOL. The pace and staging are terrific.”

David Crystal- autor of Shakespeare’s Words and Let’s Talk: How English Works

“What I would have given for Paul Murray’s works (way) back when I was a kid.  What Murray has done brilliantly is make Shakespeare approachable for young people (and the young at heart) so they can easily read it, perform it and develop a love of the brilliance of Shakespeare’s story telling, complex characters, humor and tragedy without getting tangled in the wordage.  Then, with a fond memory of the plays, they can appreciate the poetry of the language when they are older.  Brilliant.  Highly recommend.”

Jonathan Glassner, Producer, Director, Co-creator Stargate SG-1, The Outer Limits, CSI Miami, CSI: NY, The Ark

“I love Paul Murray’s Hamlet, like the original Bard himself he’s a true wordsmith, translating with humour for a modern audience. It’s pure Shakespeare, fun, clever and accessible. Shakespeare done how Shakespeare intended; for the masses.”

Matthew McNulty, actor, The Terror, Domina, Cleaning Up

“The new version of Hamlet with its clever rhyming couplets is great fun to read and would be thoroughly enjoyable to watch. It makes Hamlet totally accessible to a new audience and would definitely encourage further interest in Shakespeare. Fully recommend.”

Richard Fleeshman, actor, William Shakespeare in Something Rotten! Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Laurence Olivier Award nominee

“I’ve been lucky enough to read three of the resources in this series – consistently engaging, humorous, easy to read and well-graded. I am genuinely trying to hold back the praise with this one – these are top notch resources.”
Peter Clements, blogger at ELT Planning and co-author of Start Up

“Murray’s rhyming verse trips delightfully on the tongue and is a blast to speak aloud, while also maintaining the heart and soul of the different plays’ content. As an educator myself, I could easily see these scripts holding great value as stand-alone projects — but also being immensely useful if/ when paired with deep-dives of Shakespeare’s original text.“

Orion Bradshaw, Author of the Shakespeare for Students series, and Shakespeare Expert at Drama Notebook.

“In this fresh and lively adaptation of Hamlet, Paul Murray offers an ingenious re-imagining of the story told in one-fleeting-scene-after-another, packed with clever wordplay and wittily rhyming verse (often truly hilarious), and peopled by all the very recognizable characters who have embodied the story for over 400 years. Murray has crafted a piece that is playful and fun while never turning away from the drama that is at the heart of Shakespeare’s play. It is a unique work, delightfully theatrical, and well-suited for production both in the classroom and on stage.”

John Sipes, Professor Emeritus of Theatre, University of Tennessee, Former Artistic Director, Illinois Shakespeare Festival

„I really appreciated the fact that much of the rhyme and rhythm of the original text is kept in place so that it still feels true to the bard’s lyrical style. “

K.C. Finn, author of The Book of Shade

„The rollicking humor of William Shakespeare’s somewhat bawdy play is retained despite the simplification of the text, and the innate rhythm of the English language still dominates the script. “

Lois Henderson

„Perfectly encapsulates the spirit and story of the original while being fun and silly and appealing to the humour of the elementary student. I wish this had been available when my nephew was studying Grade 4 English “

Adena Lee, Goodreads reviewer

“Paul Murray has brilliantly adapted Shakespeare’s plays to expose them to an entire generation who might otherwise roll their eyes and miss out. These playful but entirely respectful adaptations stay true to the soul of the original plays while making them easily accessible to the uninitiated. I wish these books had been available when I was young.”
Dean Devlin. Co-writer/producer Godzilla, Independence Day, Owner Electric Entertainment
“Playful and a riot of fun, these adaptations bring the humour of Shakespeare to life for young actors and audiences alike. These joyous and sometimes irreverent reworkings bring the heart of these well known plays to the stage for a contemporary audience. A fabulous way into Shakespeare’s challenging texts with an updated script that loyally translates the story for the modern world. I love the scripts and the way they speak to the aficionado whilst simultaneously introducing Shakespeare to the novice.”
Dr Helen Grime (Senior Fellow HEA) Senior Lecturer, Department of Performing Arts University of Winchester

Flying banana children’s theatre co., have (so far) played four of Paul Murray’s miraculous, “silly Shakespeare” scripts, to an audience of small children and large adults who were universally agape at the rich, vivid and immensely brilliant means by which Shakespeare has been successfully adapted and made rich and strange so we can see it again through 21st century eyes and still be laughing at the same jokes and marvelling at the same madness. These plays are scintillating examples of Paul’s increasing ability to exemplify the Dolly Parton maxim that: “You have no idea how much it cost to make me look this cheap.” Thank you for the incredible privilege to work with such a phenomenal collection of adaptations which are silly only in the way that Spike Milligan is silly. That is: brilliantly so!

Martin Cook, Director, Flying Bananas Theatre

„…despite having read A Midsummer Night’s Dream countless times, I still found Murray’s text funny. Between the couplets and the storyline, it was a very joyful, wacky reading experience and I breezed through the entire play in under an hour… f all of the plays in the Silly Shakespeare for Students series is as good as A Midsummer Night’s Dream, then Murray will have helped make the Bard accessible for a whole new audience. “
Louise Hurrell, Reader’s Favorite
“Silly Shakespeare” by Paul Murray offers a refreshing and hilarious twist on classic Shakespearean tales, making it a delightful read for both devoted fans and newcomers alike. With sharp wit and inventive reinterpretations, Murray brings the Bard’s iconic characters and stories to life in an accessible and entertaining way that invites readers of all backgrounds to join in the fun. The charm of Silly Shakespeare lies in its perfect balance between respect for the original works and lighthearted, irreverent humor, which brings a fresh perspective to familiar tales.
Prague Youth Theatre especially enjoyed bringing Silly Shakespeare’s version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream to life, as Murray’s playful, modernized language and humorous twists made it a joy to perform. Each scene captured the essence of Shakespeare’s comedy while allowing the actors to lean into its sillier aspects, much to the delight of their audiences. By reimagining famous scenes and dialogue, Murray captures the essence of each play while inviting readers to laugh at the absurdities in Shakespeare’s plots, characters, and language, reminiscent of a lively comedy sketch show. Simply put, Silly Shakespeare is a joy to read, perform, and revisit — a must-have for anyone interested in a playful, engaging take on the Bard’s masterpieces.
Adam Stewart, Founder and Artistic Director, Prague Youth Theatre
“It’s no simple task to rewrite a whole classic in the form of couplets, and the author rightly merits high praise for his commendable efforts in this regard…. I whole-heartedly recommend A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Silly Shakespeare for Students to all young native English learners. It will also serve as an excellent textbook for learners of all ages, all over the world. “
Raju Chacko, Reedsy Discovery
“The opening had me glued from the start and it flows beautifully. Genuinely fun theatre to bring into class. “
Alan Hall, co-host, Phrasally Verbocious ELT Podcast

“This version of the play keeps the rhyming but simplifies the language, so the story itself becomes the focus.”
Suzanne Hare, Goodreads Reviewer

“On the surface, they are simple and accessible but they require the students to really work with metre and rhythm and to think about recognising and delivering to an audience. For this reason they are a great introduction to the demands of Shakespearean text but also exciting, bombastic, rhythmic pieces in themselves”.
Gordon Murray, Director, Blue Tongue Theatre Company

“Taking an old classic and simplifying it for better understanding. Shakespeare can be hard to understand but this book tells the same story but in a way that is easier to understand. Great for students and teachers.” 
Rhonda G., Goodreads reader

“Paul’s Pericles is not a salvaged, sterile artefact to be admired behind glass, but a bouncy being, brimming with life, wit and energy….My own daughters loved taking part in performing Pericles under Paul’s direction for the Belgrade Youth Theatre and were thus introduced to the Bard not as a handle-with-care package ensconced in multiple layers of protective bubble wrap but as a flamboyant jack-in-the-box, “to glad your ear, and please your eyes.“ 
Andreas Roth, teacher, Belgrade

Paul Murray’s adaptation of Twelfth Night is a student-friendly script that will quickly engage a cast whatever their level of experience. This vibrant and energetic version of the original will really help cast members to acquire context of the overall story and gain a good understanding of the central characters.
For those students new to Shakespeare, this version will quickly help students to connect to the playwright. By focusing on the essential actions and key moments of the plot, Paul Murray helps the cast to see how Shakespeare the actor valued the importance of keeping an audience entertained. Murray still makes space for social and cultural references, but the action canters along at pace. As an introduction to Shakespeare, you will not have time to worry about being in a Renaissance Comedy, you simply need to enjoy being in a really funny production.
Gavin McDougall, Deputy Principal at John Gray High School, Cayman Islands

‘Twelfth Night’ is one of my personal favourites of Shakespeare’s classics. I had the privilege of playing Olivia in a film adaptation and sitting with the play for those months, I really came to appreciate all its delicious layers and intricacies as well as its very clever twists & turns! Paul’s highly engaging and imaginative retelling of the play does full justice to all of that – with the perfect blend of humour and heart, he cracks open what really lies beneath the language – a deeply human story of love, loss and longing. He makes that fully accessible not only for children, but adults too. Highly recommend a read! 
Shalini Peiris, Actress – The White Lotus, Twelfth Night, The Ark

“…just as exciting as the original…The exuberance that he displays in making this modern-day adaptation come to life under his guidance is admirable.”  
Reader’s Favorite