Classic Plays

When the curtains rise on Angelina Weld Grimké’s devastating drama, the Lovings—a Black family from the South—have settled into a small but immaculate apartment in an unnamed northern city. The widowed matriarch, Mary; her daughter, Rachel; and her son, Tom anticipate a more promising future here, but Rachel, a sensitive young woman, has a sudden reckoning with the past that throws her future into serious doubt.

King Lear divides his kingdom between his two duplicitous daughters, banishing the loving Cordelia and the steadfast Kent. These and other acts of folly launch a hugely moving search for dignity, self-knowledge and wisdom on the grandest of scales.

TV star James Warwick and award-winning narrator/comedienne Alison Larkin star in this accessible, dazzlingly funny two-actor production of The Importance of Being Earnest--a trivial comedy for serious people. We're in England in 1895. Algy and Jack are debonair bachelors-about-town who plan to court Gwendolen and Cecily, despite opposition from the formidable Lady Bracknell.

King Cymbeline of Britain banishes his daughter Imogen's husband, who then makes a bet on Imogen's fidelity. Imogen is accused of being unfaithful, runs away and becomes a page for the Roman army as it invades Britain. In the end, Imogen clears her name, discovers her long-lost brothers and reunites with her husband while Cymbeline makes peace with Rome.

विश्व साहित्य के गौरव, अंग्रेज़ी भाषा के अद्वितीय नाटककार शेक्सपियर का जन्म 26 अप्रैल, 1564 ई.

विश्व साहित्य के गौरव, अंग्रेजी भाषा के अद्वितीय नाटककार शेक्सपियर का जन्म 26 अप्रैल, 1564 ई. को इंग्लैड के रट्रैटफोर्ड-ओँन-एवोन नामक स्थान में हुआ l.

The harrowing sequel to A Case of Identity as Sherlock Holmes uncovers a tale as dark as anything seen on the Ancient Greek stage.

An Enemy of the People is an 1882 play by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, who wrote it in response to the public outcry against his previous play, Ghosts, which challenged the hypocrisy of 19th-century morality. An Enemy of the People tells the story of a man who dares to speak an unpalatable truth and is punished for it. Ibsen uses the language of comic exaggeration through the mouth of his spokesman, the idealist Doctor Thomas Stockmann, who rejects all absolute principles of either wisdom or morality.

Oscar Wilde's Salome was originally published in French in 1891 and translated into English by Lord Alfred Douglas. This one-act play, a sinister tale of a woman scorned and her vengeance, has become a landmark of Decadent literature. The play tells the biblical story of Salome, stepdaughter of the tetrarch Herod Antipas, who, to her stepfather's dismay but to the delight of her mother Herodias, requests the head of John the Baptist on a silver platter as a reward for dancing the dance of the seven veils.

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.

Henry VIII folis a plot by the scheming Cardinal Wolsey and rejects his 20-year marriage with the tragic Katherine of Aragon. All the while he is keeping his wandering eye on the beautiful Anne Boleyn.

The plot revolves around four characters: Othello, a Moor and general in the Venetian army; his wife, Desdemona; his lieutenant, Cassio; and his most trusted advisor, Iago. Because of its diverse subjects, namely love, jealousy, racism, and betrayal, Othello remains relevant and valid even today. (A full-cast production.)

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, often shortened to Hamlet, is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts Prince Hamlet and his revenge against his uncle, Claudius, who has murdered Hamlet's father in order to seize his throne and marry Hamlet's mother.

Universally admired and quoted, Shakespeare’s Sonnets have love, beauty and the passing of time at their heart. Featuring some of the best-known and best-loved lines in the history of poetry (‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?’, ‘Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds’), these evocative sonnets explore passion, the fleeting nature of beauty and the essence of true and everlasting love.

Julius Caesar is at the height of his power. He has just defeated his top rival and is basking in the glory of his triumph. Some believe that he is abusing his power, though, and behind his back, a conspiracy is developing to assassinate him. Even his close advisor Brutus is swayed to participate in the murder plot. Once Caesar is murdered, the conspirators are forced to explain themselves to Rome’s citizens and explain their intentions and attempt to convince them that this murder was necessary to create peace.

Irine, mladshej iz trjoh sestjor Prozorovyh, ispolnjaetsja dvadcat' let. «Na dvore solnechno, veselo», a v zale nakryvaetsja stol, zhdut gostej - oficerov raskvartirovannoj v gorode artillerijskoj batarei i novogo ejo komandira podpolkovnika Vershinina. Vse polny radostnyh ozhidanij i nadezhd.

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.

Mark Antony, one of three rulers of Rome, is in love with Cleopatra, queen of Egypt. Antony is summoned back to Rome, where he clashes with another ruler, Octavius, before returning to Cleopatra in Egypt. Now in battle with Octavius, Antony and Cleopatra suffer losses and miscommunication and both eventually commit suicide.

With detailed plot summaries and an in-depth analysis of the major characters and themes, this is a brilliant, innovative exploration of the entire canon of Shakespeare plays, sonnets and poetry, from the comedies of Twelfth Night and As You Like It to the tragedies of Julius Caesar and Hamlet, plus lost plays and lesser known works of poetry. Packed with witty anecdotes and memorable quotes, The Shakespeare Book, with Roger May's narration, brings the Bard's best-loved characters and story lines to life.

In this, Shakespeare's most fantastical comedy, the fairy world wreaks havoc with the foolish mortal one as a lover's nightmare melts into an innocent dream. Under the canopy of a moonlit forest, pairs of lovers and five delightfully inept "mechanicals" weave a web of magic.