William Shakespeare
In this BBC full-cast production of The Taming of the Shrew, the freedom and virility of women is frowned upon. Will Petruchio's quest to 'tame' his new wife succeed?
Layers of assumed identity, elaborate role-playing, and acerbic exchanges of wit reveal the real relationship between men and women in this exuberant production of one of Shakespeare's earliest comedies.
Gerard McSorley stars as Petruchio and Ruth Mitchell
3) The tempest
4) Othello
PASSIONATE LOVE IN A PREJUDICED WORLD
In Shakespeare's most intimate tragedy, director Bill Rauch explores racism, religious bias, xenophobia, and the more disturbing aspects of relationships in the context of our society's ongoing struggle with polarizing differences.
Consumed by their bigotry, those who praised the Moorish general Othello's military successes now reject his marriage to Desdemona. The newlyweds are determined to overcome
...Although Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar is named after the legendary Roman political leader, the central character is thought by many to be Marcus Brutus, Caesar's friend turned foe who struggles throughout the play with conflicting obligations of friendship and duty. While Caesar is warned in a prophecy to "beware the Ides of March" the Roman senators, including Brutus are secretly plotting his assassination, hoping to rid Rome of the
...7) Macbeth
10) Hamlet
The Comedy of Errors is one of Shakespeare's most popular short comedy plays. The plot is driven by two cases of mistaken identity and witty pun-drenched dialogue. Antipholus of Syracuse and his servant of Dromio of Syraceuse visit the town of Ephesus, not realizing that this is the home of Antipholus of Ephesus and Dromio of Ephesus, their twin brothers lost to them at sea years before. Before reuniting, the doppelgangers cause chaos amongst
...Another case of mistaken identity from the king of the plot twist, Twelfth Night tells the tale of the beautiful young Viola who is separated from her twin brother, Sebastian, when their ship is lost at sea. Believing Sebastian to be dead Viol poses as a man and enters service with the Duke Orisino. When Olivia, the woman that Orisino loves, falls for his messenger "boy" Viola and she in turn falls for the Duke the stage is set for a classic
...The Sonnets compiles 154 Sonnets written by Shakespeare on all manner of themes from love and fidelity to politics and lineage. Many of the sonnets - in particular the first 17, commonly called the procreation sonnets - were commissioned, a fact which calls a simple, romantic reading into question.