Showing results by author "William Shakespeare" in All Categories

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.

Shakespeare for Kids adapts and abridges Shakespeare's classic plays, presenting them in shorter versions in plain English. This conversion from Shakespearian language to today’s English, makes it easier to grasp the narrative structure of the play and appreciate Shakespeare's incredible gift for storytelling. This can be helpful for a younger audience, for those who are newer to the Shakespeare canon, and for those who simply looking for a fresh approach to the great works of Shakespeare.

The Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeare's shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. This edition of The Comedy of Errors is an adaptation of Shakespeare's eponymous drama, narrated in plain modern English, capturing the very essence and key elements of the original Shakespeare's work.

"Der Liebe Goldpfeil hätt ihn treffen sollen,Und nicht des Todes schwarzer Speer ihn holen." William Shakespeares frühe Verserzählung "Venus und Adonis" beschreibt die leidenschaftliche Zuneigung der Liebesgöttin zum schüchternen Adonis, der bei einem Jagdunfall tragisch ums Leben kommt. "Venus und Adonis" ist ein traumhaftes Ineinander von Gedanken, Sprache und Spiel, das Shakespeares Werk durch die Farbigkeit seiner Stilmittel unvergänglich macht.

Shakespeare's King Lear ranks with Sophocles' Oedipus as a tragic hero destroyed by his own good intentions. From the moment when Lear unfolds his darker purpose, we are drawn into an ineluctable chain of events that leads through betrayal, deceit, destructive family conflict, reconciliation, despair, and death. Considered by many to be the most grueling of Shakespeare's tragedies.

A solo recording of Twelfth Night in an American dialect.

"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.

The Montagues and the Capulets, two families of Verona, have been feuding for generations. Young Romeo Montague intends to cause trouble at a Capulet gathering, but while there he sees the Capulet's daughter, Juliet, and falls hopelessly in love. Albert Finney, Claire Bloom, Edith Evans, and Hilton Edwards perform an unabridged version of Shakespeare's tragedy about the two young lovers, whose deaths unite their warring families.

When the clever and appealing Helena cures the ailing king of France of an illness, she asks for the hand of Bertram (a proper young Englishman) in return. Her efforts to win Bertram's love are rendered with wit and verve by a distinguished cast, including Claire Bloom, John Stride, Dame Flora Robson, Eric Portman, and Jack MacGowan. This performance brings to life this surprisingly modern play.

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, returns home to find his father murdered and his mother remarried to the murderer, his uncle. This is widely regarded as the definitive performance of Hamlet, starring Sir John Gielgud and Pamela Brown.

Here is a full-cast, unabridged performance with comprehensive commentary and analysis for any student to fully understand and appreciate the play. Soak up the atmosphere of ancient Rome. Decide for yourself whether Caesar's power and ambition was a threat to the Republic, and whether assassination can ever be justified.

Pericles is the Prince of Tyre but is forced to leave the city due to the atrocities that the wicked Emperor of Greece threatens to bestow should he stay. His courage, wisdom and goodness are recognized wherever he goes so much so that he marries the Queen of Pentapolis who bears him a child at sea, for he is forced to return to Tyre to pacify its citizens who are clamouring for his return as their ruler following the death of the wicked Emperor of Greece.

As You Like It is one of Shakespeare's comedies featuring women dressed as men, brothers reconciling, and wrongs put to right.

The fair Rosalind falls in love with the strong Orlando and Rosalind's companion to Orlando's brother. Told here as a fairy tale, it makes a perfect introduction to Shakespeare for youngsters and the uninitiated alike.

William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. His father, John Shakespeare, was a store owner and a farmer, and at one point, also served as the town's mayor. William was the third of eight children. He was married to Anne Hathaway who was eight years older than himself. They had three children Susanna (1583), and twins - Hamnet and Judith (1585). Shakespeare wrote 36 plays, 154 Sonnets and two narrative poems. He died on April 23, 1616 and was buried at Trinity Church in Stratford, England. 

The Tempest is a beautiful and sweeping drama by William Shakespeare and is one of the Bard’s last plays. With a role written as a farewell to the theater, this emotional drama is a beautiful testament to Shakespeare’s talents as a storyteller and writer. The play centers around Prospero, a usurped ruler and powerful sorcerer who lives out his days on a remote island with few humans with whom to interact. Prospero seeks his revenge on his brother by causing his ship to wreck on his island, and the adventure of the play begins. 

Double-meanings, disguises and dirty laundry abound as Sir John Falstaff sets about improving his financial situation by wooing Mistress Page and Mistress Ford. But the ‘Merry Wives’ quickly cotton on to his tricks and decide to have a bit of fun of their own at Falstaff’s expense.

Richard III completes the cycle of plays covering the Wars of the Roses. It’s the story of Richard, duke of Gloucester’s villainous plan to take the throne. It is a tale of jealousy, manipulation and deceit based on Sir Thomas More's unfinished - and largely untrue - History of King Richard III....

Pericles, prince of Tyre, leaves home to escape death only to win a jousting contest and marry a princess. Once he can return home, his family sails with him, but a storm separates them, so Pericles returns alone. Years later, Pericles finds his daughter and reunites with the wife he had thought was dead. 

Jealous conspirators convince Caesar's friend Brutus to join their assassination plot against Caesar. To stop Caesar from gaining too much power, Brutus and the conspirators kill him on the Ides of March. Mark Antony drives the conspirators out of Rome and fights them in a battle. Brutus and his friend Cassius lose and kill themselves, leaving Antony to rule in Rome.

After Henry V's death and while Henry VI is young, nobles rule England and fight the French, including Joan of Arc. As Henry VI becomes king, the noble houses begin to divide and take sides between York and Lancaster. The war with France winds down, and the nobles try to find Henry a wife and disagree about who Henry chooses.