Classic Plays

Some of the greatest poets and lovers in the English language speak of their love in this seductive and romantic collection. Here are the voices of Romeo, Robert Burns, Lord Byron and many others.

Sir Michael Morpurgo retells two of Shakespeare’s best-loved plays, The Winter’s Tale and The Tempest, in this stunning audio collection in association with the RSC, featuring readings by members of the Royal Shakespeare Company and Michael himself. Translating these iconic plays into thrilling prose, the nation’s favourite storyteller preserves all the imaginative genius and spark of the originals, while bringing a contemporary and vibrant voice to their retelling.

This play, which bears an alternate title of What You Will, was written in about 1602. Twelfth Night has always been one of Shakespeare's most popular comedies, and many adaptations have been made for film and musical theatre.

Everything You Need to Know About Romeo & Juliet is the perfect resource for understanding Shakespeare's most famous tragedy, including an introduction to the famous playwright and a comprehensive explanation of the play's characters, plot, themes, and its influential and enduring legacy. With Romeo & Juliet as relevant as ever today, get caught up quickly with this resourceful guide.

The noble Timon lavishes wealth and kindness upon his friends. But what happens to their allegience when his fortunes begin to fail?

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, encounters his father's ghost. When he learns that his uncle, now King and married to his mother, was responsible for the death of his royal father, he sets out to avenge the murder.

Girls will be boys as Shakespeare transplants the sophisticated denizens of the court into the starkly simle Forest of Arden. Witty clowns woo country wenches and philosphers wax melancholic as Rosiland follows her heart and Love conquers everybody!

Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately reconcile their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime. Shakespeare's use of his poetic dramatic structure, especially effects such as switching between comedy and tragedy to heighten tension, his expansion of minor characters, and his use of subplots to embellish the story, has been praised as an early sign of his dramatic skill.

Othello, a Moor and the Commander of the Venetian army, elopes with Desdemona. The evil Iago plants the seed of jealousy in Othello's mind, resulting in tragic consequences.

The Rape of Lucrece follows a popular story from one of Shakespeare's favourite ancient writers, Ovid. Lucrece is the angelic wife of Collatine, an illustrious Roman general. She is coveted and eventually attacked by Prince Tarquin, Collatine's best friend.

How do any of us really know who we are? A man arrives in a strange town only to find that everyone knows his name, but thinks he’s someone else. A woman wonders why her husband is not the man he was, but starts to rather like it. Confusion mounts as everyone uncouples from themselves. Will they ever find themselves again? And do they really want to?

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.

In Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the boy hunter Adonis is the willing lover of Venus, the goddess of love, and dies accidentally. Shakespeare has Adonis reject Venus. Venus endlessly argues for making love, with Adonis uttering petulant protests.

From the Fairies to Hyppolyta, AudioLearn is your complete audio study guide to Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. With its convenient format, AudioLearn fits your busy lifestyle, enabling you to study anywhere, anytime.

Welcome to a survey of the William Shakespeare play Julius Caesar. In this survey we will examine Julius Caesar by principle section. In the first section we will examine the plot of Julius Caesar. In the next section we will examine the characters in the play.

Shakespeare's most popular comedy, set in an enchanted forest with fairies, sparring lovers and a group of amateur actors who are putting on a play. Four Athenians run away to the forest only to have Puck the fairy make both of the boys fall in love with the same girl. The four run through the forest pursuing each other while Puck helps his master play a trick on the fairy queen. In the end, Puck reverses the magic, and the two couples reconcile and marry.

Richard, duke of Gloucester, schemes to inherit the throne by killing all who stand in his way - including his own brother and the two young sons of King Edward IV.

Bertram's indifference to Helena forces her to use subterfuge in order to comply with the seemingly impossible demands that he places on their engagement. Keep an ear out for the clown - he has the honor of delivering some of the play's best lines!

The young Danish Prince, Hamlet, is vexed by a trip home to Denmark from school in Germany, to attend his father, the king's funeral. Upon arriving at home, Hamlet has discovered that his mother has already become married to the former King's brother, Hamlet's uncle. What's more, the man has declared himself to be King of Denmark even though Hamlet was the true and rightful heir. Hamlet is enraged by this deception, and immediately suspects foul play in his father's murder.

Pervonachal'no Lessing sobiralsja napisat' tragediju «Virginija» - na sjuzhet o rimskoj Virginii. Sohranilsja nabrosok pervoj sceny etoj tragedii. Odnako vskore Lessing otkazalsja ot obrabotki dalekogo ot ego vremeni antichnogo sjuzheta, reshiv perenesti dejstvie iz drevnego Rima v sovremennuju emu jepohu. Na russkij jazyk tragedija byla perevedena vpervye N. M. Karamzinym v 1788 g.