Shakespeares English

Angels are undeniably associated with religion and more usually Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Often they are seen as supernatural beings, benevolent celestial intermediaries interposed between God, Heaven and humanity. Obviously there are complications, a fact that our classic poets through the centuries, including Alexander Pope, Edmund Spenser, Radclyffe Hall and Hafiz, use as they write verse to explain, to reveal and to help us understand exactly why Angels are so prevalent amongst our thoughts.

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.

King Lear has three daughters, Goneril, Regan, and the youngest, the good Cordelia. The King asks his daughters how much they love him. and thrives on excessive empty words of flattery from two of them and bristles with anger when plain speaking Cordelia does not wish to participate in such falsity. The King banishes her - and thereafter unfolds the tragedy of his own undoing.

Miriam's family should be rich. After all, her grandfather was the co-creator of smash-hit comics series The TomorrowMen. But he sold his rights to the series to his co-creator in the 1960s for practically nothing, and now that's what Miriam has: practically nothing. How can she afford college when her family can barely keep a roof above their heads? As if she didn't have enough to worry about, Miriam's life gets much more complicated when a cute boy shows up in town...and turns out to be the grandson of the man who defrauded Miriam's grandfather.

Alison Green, desperate Valedictorian-wannabe, agrees to produce her school’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. That’s her first big mistake. The second is accidentally saying yes to a date with her oldest friend, Jack, even though she’s crushing on Charlotte. Alison manages to stay positive, even when her best friend starts referring to the play as “Ye Olde Shakespearean Disaster.” Alison must cope with the misadventures that befall the play if she’s going to survive the year.

Comedy and romance, history, and tragedy, Shakespeare's canon has it all. Some 400 years after they were written and first performed, his works still remain fresh and relevant today. Shakespeare: His life and Works is an accessible and lavish celebration of the Bard himself and his 39 plays, great sonnets and narrative poems. Themes, plots, characters and language are brought to life with act-by-act plot summaries, resumes of main characters and in-depth analysis of Shakespeare's use of, and influence on, the English language.

Legendary actress and Shakespearean expert Tina Packer takes all the fear out of understanding Shakespeare by adapting 10 of the Bard’s most famous plays into easily understood short stories, retold in modern language. Her introduction provides the listener with easy-to-digest information about Elizabethan England and Shakespeare’s life and work.

Here, in all 154 of Shakespeare's immortal sonnets, addressed to a friend about the woman he loves and to his muse. We discover the promise of youth, the ecstasy of love, and the devastation of loss.

Award winning actor Sir Michael Redgrave leads a full-cast performance of Shakespeare's dramatic comedy.

The second of Shakespeare's tetralogy that deals with the successive reigns of Richard II, Henry IV, and Henry V. Henry IV, Part One depicts a span of history that begins with Hotspur's battle at Homildon against the Douglas late in 1402 and ends with the defeat of the rebels at Shrewsbury in the middle of 1403. From the start it has been an extremely popular play both with the public and the critics and this full cast performance is by The Marlowe Society.

London, 1592. Twenty-eight-year-old William Shakespeare is the rising man of English theater. But plague has hit the capital, and the playhouses are to be shut. Livelihoods, and lives, are at stake. Lady Celia Vernon is one of the first to perish but did she really die of plague? Her cousin, the Earl of Southampton, orders Will to discover the truth in a London filled with conspirators, cutthroats, and traitors. The Queen's spymaster, Robert Cecil, suspects the Earl of treason and orders Will to spy on him in return.

Eight of Shakespeare's most celebrated plays have been specifically adapted to introduce young listeners to his works. Based on the work of E. Nesbit, these classic retellings capture the drama and flavor of each original play, while simplifying plot and detail.

Straight Acting is a surprising portrait of Shakespeare's queer lives - his own and those in his plays and poems. It is a journey back in time and through Shakespeare's England, revealing a culture that both endorsed and supressed same-sex desire. It is a call to stop making Shakespeare act straight and to recognise how queerness powerfully shaped the life and career of the world's most famous playwright.

Based on Robert Greene’s story Pandosto, The Winter’s Tale play tells the story of Leontes, king of Sicilia, and his childhood friend Polixenes, king of Bohemia. In a jealous rage, Leontes mistakenly accuses Polixenes and his own his wife, Hermione, of adultery, and her newborn daughter as illegitimate, casting her into the wilderness, causing their son to die of grief and Hermione to seemingly follow suit. With his family dead or believed dead, Leontes must face the tragic consequences of his actions.

Rediscover the greatest love poetry ever written. Shakespeare’s sonnets are some of the nation’s favourite lines of verse, but the Elizabethan language can make it difficult to really understand them. Many guides offer to clarify the meaning, but lose the magic of the words by explaining them away. James Anthony has done something boldly different.

Hamlet is renowned for classic lines and perceptive characterisation. It is often cited as Shakespeare's greatest play and of course as a tragedy of ghostly proportions. Equally compelling is the actual story, which as told here makes a cracking good listen.

A romance between a Roman general and the Queen of Egypt was never going to be easy. Marc Antony has abandoned his duties since he has fallen in love with Cleopatra. But as war looms, their union shifts from difficult to doomed...

Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare's greatest and best loved tragedies. In this series for GCSE English Literature, we analyse all aspects of the play, ensuring that you gain a full understanding of the various complexities - including the context and a detailed analysis of all the scenes - helping whilst you study and revise. Furthermore, we have two dedicated chapters on preparing for your exam, so when it comes to the big day you know what to expect.

Steven Adler examines the dynamic life and workings of the theatre company responsible for some of the world's most compelling performances and influential productions of the last 40 years, including Marat/Sade, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Les Misérables, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, and Nicholas Nickleby.

Coriolanus is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1605 and 1608. The play is based on the life of the legendary Roman leader Caius Marcius Coriolanus. The tragedy is one of the last two tragedies written by Shakespeare, along with Antony and Cleopatra. Coriolanus is the name given to a Roman general after his military success against various uprisings challenging the government of Rome. Following this success, Coriolanus becomes active in politics and seeks political leadership.