Showing results by author "William Shakespeare" in All Categories

Power, tragedy and hubris are played out in this quartet, all of which are set in the febrile political atmosphere of ancient Rome. Performed by an incredible array of the 20th century’s greatest actors, Marlowe alumni including Ian McKellen, Prunella Scales, Patrick Wymark and William Devlin can be heard in these recordings.

This play has been adapted into plain English and is performed as a theatrical full-cast production. At just over 20 minutes long, it is an abridged and adapted version of one of the relatively underperformed works in Shakespeare's canon. The plan opens with a threat from the French. Negotiations, conflict, and palace intrigue follow, as King John works his way through many issues of war and diplomacy in classic Shakespearean fashion.

This plain-English version of King Lear clocks in at just under 20 minutes, ensuring the subject matter is appropriate for a younger audience. King Lear is one of Shakespeare's best-known tragedies from the 1600s and tells the story of a king's relationships with his three daughters. It is widely regarded as one of Shakespeare's most accomplished plays.

The ghost of the king of Denmark tells his son Hamlet to avenge his murder by killing the new king, Hamlet's uncle. Hamlet feigns madness, contemplates life and death and seeks revenge. His uncle, fearing for his life, also devises plots to kill Hamlet. The play ends with a duel, during which the king, queen, Hamlet's opponent and Hamlet himself are all killed.

Two concurrent relationship entanglements result in chaos and hilarity, as the truths are slowly revealed to both sets of couples. Much Ado About Nothing demonstrates that the power of true love can withstand anything that deceptive and meddling friends can throw at it.

Bianca is beautiful and demure, with a plethora of would-be suitors, but marriage is forbidden until her older sister, Katherina, finds a suitable match. The hitch? Fiery Katherina has sworn to deny the hand or demands of any would-be suitor. That is, until she meets her match in the wily Petrucio. As Katherina’s own sharp tongue is met by Petrucio’s feigned cruelty, the ‘shrew’ apparently capitulates. Or does she?

Hamlet by William Shakespeare is one of the Shakespeare’s most well-known and beloved tragedy plays. Set in Denmark, it tells the story of Hamlet, a man whose father was murdered and replaced by Hamlet’s uncle Claudius. The play follows Hamlet as he discovers the truth of his father’s fate and becomes more and more distressed and enraged as he plots vengeance against his uncle.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of William Shakespeare’s most well-known comedies and is arguably one of his most beloved plays. The play tells the tale of the misadventures of the people gathering to participate in their marriage of the duke of Athens and Hippolyta, former queen of the Amazons.

Depicting a once-great ruler's descent into madness, King Lear is one of the most powerful tragedies ever staged. King Lear divides his kingdom among the two daughters who flatter him and banishes the third one who loves him. His eldest daughters both then reject him at their homes, so Lear goes mad and wanders through a storm. His banished daughter returns with an army, but they lose the battle and Lear, all his daughters and more, die.

Forced into exile in the Forest of Arden, lovers Rosalind and Orlando become entangled in a beguiling game of love, lust and mistaken identity. Rosalind and her cousin escape into the forest and find Orlando, Rosalind's love. Disguised as a boy shepherd, Rosalind has Orlando woo her under the guise of 'curing' him of his love for Rosalind. Rosalind reveals she is a girl and marries Orlando during a group wedding at the end of the play.

Orson Welles presents a condensed version of Shakespeare's comedy Twelfth Night.

A classic staged performance of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet by the Old Vic Company. Starring Claire Bloom and Alan Bandel.

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a comedy written by William Shakespeare. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of Theseus, the Duke of Athens, to Hippolyta, the former queen of the Amazons. These include the adventures of four young Athenian lovers and a group of six amateur actors (the mechanicals) who are controlled and manipulated by the fairies who inhabit the forest in which most of the play is set. The play is one of Shakespeare's most popular works for the stage and is widely performed across the world.

"The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark" is perhaps the most influential and widely acclaimed play by William Shakespeare. The tragedy follows Prince Hamlet as he concocts a plan to avenge the death of his father, who was murdered by his uncle Claudius in order to take the throne. Suspenseful, supernatural, moody, and full of twists, Hamlet is an exploration of the human condition, of the troubled psyche of the prince and his relationship with his mother and lover, as well as of pity, horror, and vengeance.

Award winning narrator Mike Vendetti recites Shakespeare's Sonnet 19, where the poet expresses his fear of the ravages of time upon his lover.

Oberon, König der Feenwelt, hat sich mit seiner Frau Titania zerstritten, wegen ihrer "außerehelichen Eskapaden" und weil sie sich weigert, ihm einen ihrer Knaben als Pagen zu überlassen. Der gekränkte Oberon plant einen bitterbösen Streich: Der gewitzte Kobold Puck soll Titania während des Schlafs einen Zaubertrunk auf die Augen träufeln, der bewirkt, dass sich Titania in die erste Gestalt verliebt, die sie erblickt. Puck macht sich an die Arbeit und stößt im Wald auf eine Schar von Handwerkern, die ein Theaterstück für die Hochzeitsfeier des Athener Herrscherpaars Theseus und Hyppolyta proben: "Die höchst jammervolle Komödie und der höchst grausame Tod von Pyramus und Thisbe".

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"Julius Caesar" is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is one of several plays written by Shakespeare based on true events from Roman history, which also include Coriolanus and Antony and Cleopatra. Although the title is "Julius Caesar", Julius Caesar is not the most visible character in its action ; he appears alive in only three scenes. Marcus Brutus speaks more than four times as many lines and the central psychological drama is his struggle between the conflicting demands of honor, patriotism and friendship.

Much Ado About Nothing is generally considered one of Shakespeare's best comedies, because it combines elements of robust hilarity with more serious meditations on honor, shame, and court politics. The play includes two quite different stories of romantic love. Hero and Claudio fall in love almost at first sight, but an outsider, Don John, strikes out at their happiness. Beatrice and Benedick are kept apart by pride and mutual antagonism until others decide to play Cupid.

"Twelfth Night, or What You Will" is a comedy by William Shakespeare. The play centres on the twins Viola and Sebastian, who are separated in a shipwreck. Viola (who is disguised as a boy) falls in love with Duke Orsino, who in turn is in love with the Countess Olivia. Upon meeting Viola, Countess Olivia falls in love with her thinking she is a man. Illyria, the setting of Twelfth Night, is important to the play's romantic atmosphere. Illyria was an ancient region of the Western Balkans.