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What actions are justified when the fate of a nation hangs in the balance, and who can see the best path ahead? Julius Caesar has led Rome successfully in the war against Pompey and returns celebrated and beloved by the people. Yet in the senate fears intensify that his power may become supreme and threaten the welfare of the republic. A plot for his murder is hatched by Caius Cassius who persuades Marcus Brutus to support him. Though Brutus h...

Hamlet is considered the greatest of Shakespeare's works, unsurpassed in richness and levels of meaning, it probes into the deepest human emotions. Haunted by his father's ghost, Hamlet sets out to avenge his death. But, has he heard his father or the voice of madness welling up from his mourning heart? The father's ghost accuses his brother Claudius, who has assumed the throne and married his wife Queen Gertrude, of murder. Unable to trust an...

The people of Rome are starving, kindling unrest and rioting. Their anger turns particularly against the arrogant Caius Marcius, who makes no efforts to hide his contempt for the common man. The riots are halted by a war with the neighboring Volscians, in which Marcius gains glory leading the Roman army in the battle for the town of Corioli. Now titled Coriolanus, he returns to Rome a hero and is selected to take a seat in the senate. But his ...

Two titanic personages and two of the greatest world empires become entangled in this magnificent drama of love and war. The Roman leader Mark Antony should be ruling the eastern Roman Empire, but the seductive, cunning Egyptian Queen Cleopatra has captured all of his attention. Octavius has become Ceasar and believes that Antony has neglected his duties and left Rome vulnerable. Tensions mount and the rift escalates until their armies clash. ...

Stopping at nothing in his evil obsession for the throne, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, schemes and betrays, deceives and murders as he sees fit. Rarely has Shakespeare created a character that is at the same time so intelligent and evil, so despicable and fascinating. In order to wrest the crown from his brother Edward IV he conspires to have his other brother George charged with treason, arrested and murdered. This is enough to kill the sever...

The young King Richard has legitimately inherited the throne, yet he rules with self-serving arrogance, neglects his subjects and spends liberally. Tensions among the nobility mount as his favoritism and miscalculations turn many against him. When he is forced to cover his involvement in the murder of his uncle he banishes two nobles, Henry Bolingbroke and Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk. But Bolingbroke soon returns, enraged that Richard has ...

One of Shakespeare's lesser-known plays, King John reaches far back in English history to the struggle for the throne that ensued after the death of Richard Coeur de Lion. Supported by their conniving mother Queen Eleanor, his younger brother John assumes the crown, but immediately there is a rival claim from his nephew Arthur. When John hears that the King of France supports Arthur's claim, John declares war. His plans are thrown off course b...

A royal family is thrown into utter ruin by its own poisonous web of distrust, deceit and struggle for power. Shakespeare's tragedy is one unsurpassed power and depth. It follows the descent of the ageing King Lear into madness, perpetuated by his malevolent daughters Goneril and Regan who struggle to gain power over the kingdom. Having banished his favorite daughter Cordelia, a loving, compassionate and honest woman, when she refuses to parta...

The English monarchy is in a state of crisis, as the nobles and Cardinal Wolsey become locked in a fierce power struggle. Unbeknownst to the King, the ambitious Wolsey has taxed the populace to the point of rebellion and amassed a huge fortune by taking advantage of his position. When he meddles with the King's plans for divorce he brings ruin upon himself. Against all opposition the King proceeds to divorce Queen Katherine and marries one of ...

The struggle for the crown takes on new dimensions as the realm of King Henry VI tears itself apart in civil war. His defeat in battle at St. Albans has placed the Duke of York on the throne. Henry and York agree that Henry rules until death but that York would then inherit the crown. Queen Margaret, unwilling to accept the disinheritance of her son, leads a counterattack by the Lancastrians. Soon a whole nation suffers under wars led by warmo...

Hotspur is dead and a new rebellion against the king is forming, supported by his father the Earl of Northumberland. The moving continuation of King Henry IV Part 1 delves into a broad spectrum of society, from Falstaff and his shadowy associations to the nobility and high court. Prince Hal, though he has proven himself in battle, is still hanging around in bawdy taverns and keeping lowly company. His father fears he is entirely unsuited for k...

Delve into the turbulent history of 15th century England, where the continuing battle for the crown is marked by rebellion, deceit and bloodshed. Having usurped the throne from King Richard II, King Henry IV is himself threatened by opposition from some of the nobles that helped him gain it. Guilt troubles his conscience and he despairs about the self-indulgent behavior of his son Prince Hal who hangs around in taverns and keeps the company of...

Best known for his many theater masterpieces, William Shakespeare was also a prolific poet. It seems likely that an outbreak of the plague in London, which led to a closure of public gathering places like theaters, forced Shakespeare to find another means of earning wages. In the third Earl of Southampton, Henry Wriothesley he found a patron that allowed him to stay in London and write the brief epics Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece, ...

A small, enchanted isle is the setting for revenge, sorcery, and ultimately, reconciliation in The Tempest, believed to be the last play written solely by Shakespeare. Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan and his baby daughter Miranda find themselves marooned on the island which is only inhabited by Caliban, son of a witch, and the spirit Ariel. The years pass with the Duke growing in magical skills, divining his enemies proximity he summons a g...

In Shakespeare's bawdy bedroom farce, the dissolute Sir John Falstaff seeks to restore his declining fortunes by seducing the wife of a wealthy Windsor citizen. His ambitions go awry when two of his intended victims realize what Falstaff is up to and seek to lure him into a trap of their own. The Merry Wives of Windsor explores greed, envy and revenge, yet ends on a note of forgiveness. Shakespeare weaves an intricate plot, full of disguises a...

King Henry VI matures as a gentle, spiritual man. Peace has been established between England and France and Suffolk has arranged a strategic marriage for the King to Margaret of Anjou. Suffolk, with his close relationship to Margaret, and the Duke of Gloucester hold influential positions at the court, as Henry lacks interest in politics and the affairs of the state. This weakness in leadership opens the door for power struggles among the royal...

King Henry VI, just a mere infant, occupies the throne after his father's death. Leadership gone, the struggle for power soon resurfaces between the two ancient houses of Lancaster and York. The Duke of Gloucester the appointed Protector, and therefore ruler of England, is feuding with Winchester, a bishop and cardinal. Meanwhile, Richard Plantagenet and the Duke of York are in fierce disagreement, more intent on taking each other down than in...

Young King Henry V inherits the crown from his father. But, the family's claim to the throne is weak and his wild, dissolute youth still haunts him. To strengthen his position he decides to invade France, a move strongly supported by the Archbishop, who has his own motives. An insult by the Dauphin is enough for Henry to set out with a relatively small invasion force to experience the true nature of war firsthand. Soon his leadership is challe...

The Merchant of Venice is a comedy with a heart of darkness. In order to help a beloved friend, Antonio takes a loan from Shylock, a grasping Jewish moneylender. The terms of the loan state that if Antonio defaults on the loan, he must make restitution with a pound of his own flesh. One of Shakespeare's most complex characters, Shylock is at once villainous and profoundly human. He embodies commonplace anti-Semitic stereotypes, yet his motivat...

A father of newborn identical twins gives the boys the same name, while acquiring another set of twins (who also share a name) to be servant to his sons. What are the odds that a shipwreck will separate them, leaving two pairings of master and servant with identical names? If it's a Shakespeare comedy, it is virtually inevitable. It is also inevitable that these pairs will wind up in the same town, unaware of each other's presence, causing a g...