Henry IV usurps the English throne, sets in motion the factious War of the Roses and now faces a rebellion led by Northumberland scion Hotspur. Henry's heir, Prince Hal, is a ne'er-do-well carouser who drinks and causes mischief with his low-class friends, especially his rotund father figure, John Falstaff. To redeem his title, Hal may have to choose between allegiance to his real father and loyalty to his friend.
A monarch ordained by God to lead his people. But he is also a man of very human weakness. A man whose vanity threatens to divide the great houses of England and drag his people into a dynastic civil war that will last 100 years.
Henry is a proud monarch who flies in the face of the church in seeking to divorce Queen Katherine and marry Anne Bullen. As cardinal Wolsey, the powerful Lord Chancellor of England, attempts to bend Rome to the King's wishes, the court reverbates with political intrigue and accusations of treachery.
A corrupt village commissar insists on mounting a production of Hamlet. The clever local teacher, however, casts the son of a man framed for theft as Hamlet, and the commissar as the usurping king, leading to a climax of truly Shakespearean proportions.
In this Shakespearean farce, Hero and her groom-to-be, Claudio, team up with Claudio's commanding officer, Don Pedro, the week before their wedding to hatch a matchmaking scheme. Their targets are sharp-witted duo Benedick and Beatrice -- a tough task indeed, considering their corresponding distaste for love and each other. Meanwhile, meddling Don John plots to ruin the wedding.
Servais Mont, a freelance photographer who works taking compromising photos, gets fascinated by Nadine Chevalier, a tormented low-budget movie actress married to an eccentric film photo collector.
The lovely Hermia is to wed Demetrius, but she truly cares for Lysander. Hermia's friend, Helena, is in love with Demetrius, while other romantic entanglements abound in the woods, with married fairy rulers Titania and Oberon toying with various lovers and each other.
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, returns home to find his father murdered and his mother now marrying the murderer... his uncle. Meanwhile, war is brewing.
The National Youth Theatre of Great Britain present an abridged version of Shakespeare's play, with explanatory links and introductions by Martin Jarvis. Following the presentation of the play, members of the company are shown in a workshop with actor-director Ron Daniels.
Witty, playful and utterly magical, the story is a compelling romantic adventure in which Rosalind and Orlando's celebrated courtship is played out against a backdrop of political rivalry, banishment and exile in the Forest of Arden - set in 19th-century Japan.
Italy, 16th century. Petruchio, a choleric, lying and poor rural landowner from Verona, arrives in Padua in search of fortune and a wife, while Baptista, a wealthy merchant, announces that he will not allow Bianca, his youngest daughter, to marry until the temperamental and unruly Katherina, his eldest daughter, does.
Young love is poisoned by a generations long feud between two noble families.
London, England. Dorian Gray is a young man who somehow keeps his beauty eternally, while a mysterious portrait of himself gradually reveals his moral decay.
Zack and Casey's relationship is in a slump, but things are about to change at Dick Dickey's Drama Camp. Zack meets gorgeous Benji, and when they get cast as lovers in a sexed-up version of The Taming of the Shrew, their self-restraint is put to the test. Will Zack and Casey's relationship last with Benji in the picture?
An aging King invites disaster, when he abdicates to his corrupt, toadying daughters, and rejects his loving and honest one.
The story follows the destruction of a marriage through consuming jealousy, the abandonment of a child and a seemingly hopeless love. Yet, through remorse and regret – and after a statue comes miraculously to life – the ending is one of forgiveness and reconciliation. Wheeldon continues his highly successful collaboration with designer Bob Crowley and composer Joby Talbot, the team behind Alice, in one of the highlights of The Royal Ballet Season.
Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis, receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth commits a treasonous act and takes the throne for himself.
A documentary about the 1978 stage production of The Taming of the Shrew by the New York City Shakespeare company at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park. Includes scenes from the production, interviews with Meryl Streep (Kate) and Raul Julia (Petruchio) as well as an introduction by producer Joseph Papp and audience commentary.
The tale begins when a brother and sister are separated in a shipwreck, but survive to be washed up on the shore of Illyria. The sister, Viola, disguises herself as a man and takes service with Duke Orsino, who has fallen in love with Lady Olivia. Entrusted with pleading on her master's behalf, Viola is utterly disconcerted to find that Olivia has fallen in love with her. Thus begins the confusion of this delightful comedy.
One of Shakespeare’s early comedies, The Comedy of Errors is a fast-paced farce exploring mistaken identities and relations lost and found. This production was captured by Digital Theatre live at the Clapham Community Project. It was devised specifically for schools and families by the Royal Shakespeare Company in collaboration with critically acclaimed theatre company, Told by an Idiot. Directed by Paul Hunter, it features a cast made up from the RSC’s ensemble and uses a pared down script, props, live music and physical comedy to convey the story.