William Shakespeare

Age range 12+ The Comedy of Errors: The 30-Minute Shakespeare offers five raucous scenes from this extravaganza of mistaken identity. The abridgement begins with a dramatic physical enactment of the twins' separation at sea. The play continues with a series of foibles featuring Antipholus of Ephesus, Dromio of Ephesus, and their identical twin counterparts from Antipholus. Adriana and Luciana receive...

Age range 12+ Drawing on his eighteen years of experience as a teaching artist for Folger Shakespeare Library, Nick Newlin offers eighteen scenes to get young actors on their feet performing Shakespeare with confidence, understanding, and fun! Each scene averages five minutes in length, containing two to six characters, and features a monologue that young performers can use in performance,...

Richard III: The 30-Minute Shakespeare features seven chosen scenes, beginning with the Duke of Gloucester's villainous "Winter of our discontent" speech, followed by his audacious wooing of Lady Anne. Queen Margaret's chilling curses, Richard's string of murders, and the haunting chants of his victims' ghosts exemplify stage drama at its finest. The climax presents a gripping battle in which the...

Age range 12+ Othello: The 30-Minute Shakespeare is a gripping seven-scene interpretation of this Shakespearean masterpiece. There is a dramatic build as each successive event draws Othello closer to jealous rage. Iago convinces Othello that Desdemona has been unfaithful to him with Cassio. He plants Desdemona's handkerchief in Cassio's chamber, orchestrating Othello's undoing. The plot concludes with Othello outrageously smothering...

Age range 12+ Love's Labor's Lost: The 30-Minute Shakespeare presents three action-packed scenes from this tale of King Navarre and his three lords, who have vowed to retire from women for three years. Naturally, the Princess of France and her three ladies arrive, and comedic courtship ensues. The cutting includes the ridiculous dance of the lords disguised as Russians, the...

Age range 12+ King Lear: The 30-Minute Shakespeare renders six powerful scenes from this enduring tragedy. Starting with Lear's banishment of Cordelia, the plot advances irresistibly, featuring scenes of brother Edmund's villainous plotting and the Fool's witty, weighty wordplay. The action climaxes with the storm on the heath, where Lear and Poor Tom rail in exquisite madness. The abridgement concludes...

Age range 12+ Julius Caesar: The 30-Minute Shakespeare presents eight spellbinding scenes from this timeless masterpiece. The action begins as the soothsayer warns Caesar of the Ides of March and continues as Brutus conspires against Caesar. Other key scenes include Caesar's riveting assassination and Antony's stirring funeral oration. This adaptation closes with Cinna the Poet's death at the hands of...

Age range 12+ This edition of Henry V presents eight scenes, using all actors as Chorus. Included in this riveting cutting are Henry's inspiring "band of brothers" oration to his men, a merry interlude with Bardolph and friends, and an irresistible scene in which Alice teaches English to Katherine and her ladies in waiting. There is also an essay by...

Age range 12+ King Henry IV, Part I: The 30-Minute Shakespeare combines comedy, tragedy, and history into a rollicking six-scene drama performable in a half hour. This adaptation includes tavern revelry, highway robbery, and the telling role-reversal scene between the inimitable Falstaff and young Prince Hal. The play also features the rivalry between Glendower and Hotspur and the touching reconciliation...

Age range 12+ Hamlet: The 30-Minute Shakespeare offers five scenes from this enduring tragedy. The Ghost of Hamlet's father calls for vengeance, and Hamlet uses the players to prove Claudius guilty. The cutting includes the murder of Polonius, Ophelia's mad scene, and the timeless "To be or not to be" speech, climaxing in the swordfight and poisoning that bring the...

Antony and Cleopatra gives contemporary readers access to Shakespeare's meaning as no other edition does. While other editors may provide basic information about the historical setting of the play, Jan Blits makes palpable the shape and feel of the world in which the action unfolds. His annotations citing classical authors reveal a world of possibility that would have been available...

‘I wish I had copies like this at Drama School. Essential notes on the language for those who will get up and speak it, not purely for those who will sit and study it. An incredibly useful tool with room on every page to make notes. Next time I’m in rehearsal on a Shakespeare play, I have no doubt that...

Intended for a wide audience, Jan Blits's edition of Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Coriolanus differs from other such editions by focusing upon ancient sources to highlight the play's setting during the founding of the Roman Republic. In doing so, it sheds new light on both the action of the play and the historical and political significance of its setting. Jan...

Published to mark the 400th anniversary of the book's original publication, this facsimile edition faithfully reproduces one of the finest copies held in the British Library collections. The significance of the First Folio cannot be underestimated. It is the only contemporary source of eighteen of Shakespeare's plays. Without it, performances of such popular plays as The Tempest, Twelfth Night, and...

George Lyman Kittredge's insightful editions of Shakespeare have endured in part because of this eclecticism, his diversity of interests, and his wide-ranging accomplishments—all of which are reflected in the valuable notes in each volume. The plays in the New Kittredge Shakespeare series retain the original Kittredge notes and introductions, changed or augmented only when some modernisation seems necessary. These new...

When an essay is due and dreaded exams loom, here's the lit-crit help students need to succeed! SparkNotes Literature Guides make studying smarter, better, and faster. They provide chapter-by-chapter analysis, explanations of key themes, motifs, and symbols, a review quiz, and even possible essay topics. Lively and accessible, SparkNotes is perfect for late-night studying and essay writing.

All's Well That Ends Well is a play by William Shakespeare, published in the First Folio in 1623, where it is listed among the comedies. There is a debate regarding the dating of the composition of the play, with possible dates ranging from 1598 to 1608. Bertram is compelled to marry Helena. Bertram refuses to consummate their marriage. He goes...

No Fear Shakespeare gives you the complete text of Measure for Measure on the left-hand page, side-by-side with an easy-to-understand translation on the right.Each No Fear Shakespeare contains: The complete text of the original play A line-by-line translation that puts Shakespeare into everyday language A complete list of characters with descriptions Plenty of helpful commentary. This dark comedy explores virtue and sin. Claudio has been...

No Fear Shakespeare gives you the complete text of As You Like It on the left-hand page, side-by-side with an easy-to-understand translation on the right. Each No Fear Shakespeare contains: The complete text of the original play A line-by-line translation that puts Shakespeare into everyday language A complete list of characters with descriptions Plenty of helpful commentary. Both a witty...

No Fear Shakespeare gives you the complete text of Two Gentlemen of Verona on the left-hand page, side-by-side with an easy-to-understand translation on the right. Each No Fear Shakespeare contains: The complete text of the original play A line-by-line translation that puts Shakespeare into everyday language A complete list of characters with descriptions Plenty of helpful commentary. Discover the play that may have been Shakespeare's first....

When an essay is due and dreaded exams loom, here's the lit-crit help students need to succeed! SparkNotes Literature Guides make studying smarter, better, and faster. They provide chapter-by-chapter analysis, explanations of key themes, motifs, and symbols, a review quiz, and even possible essay topics. Lively and accessible, SparkNotes is perfect for late-night studying and essay writing.

No Fear Shakespeare gives you the complete text of Twelfth Night on the left-hand page, side-by-side with an easy-to-understand translation on the right. Each No Fear Shakespeare contains: The complete text of the original play A line-by-line translation that puts Shakespeare into everyday language A complete list of characters with descriptions Plenty of helpful commentary. Set in a topsy-turvy world...

No Fear Shakespeare gives you the complete text of The Tempest on the left-hand page, side-by-side with an easy-to-understand translation on the right. Each No Fear Shakespeare edition contains: The complete text of the original play A line-by-line translation that puts Shakespeare into everyday language A complete list of characters with descriptions Plenty of helpful commentary In The Tempest, long...

No Fear Shakespeare gives you the complete text of The Taming of the Shrew on the left-hand page, side-by-side with an easy-to-understand translation on the right. Each No Fear Shakespeare contains: The complete text of the original play A line-by-line translation that puts Shakespeare into everyday language A complete list of characters with descriptions Plenty of helpful commentary. The beautiful...

No Fear Shakespeare gives you the complete text of The Comedy of Errors on the left-hand page, side-by-side with an easy-to-understand translation on the right. Each No Fear Shakespeare contains: The complete text of the original play A line-by-line translation that puts Shakespeare into everyday language A complete list of characters with descriptions Plenty of helpful commentary. Shakespeare's dextrous comedy...

This new edition focuses on the Sonnets as poetry—at times strikingly individual poems, but often subtly interlinked in thematic, imagistic, and other groupings. Gwynne Evans and Anthony Hecht also address the many questions that cast a veil of mystery over the genesis of the Sonnets: to what extent are they autobiographical? What is the nature of the 'love', strongly expressed,...

The First Folio, the celebrated collected edition of William Shakespeare's plays, was published in 1623, seven years after Shakespeare's death. It was compiled by John Heminge and Henry Condell, both actors in Shakespeare's company, the King's Men, and originally titled Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. Many of the plays, including Macbeth, The Tempest, and Twelfth Night, do not...

Read Romeo and Juliet in graphic-novel form - with NO FEAR! NOW IN COLOUR! Based on the No Fear Shakespeare translations, this dynamic graphic novel - now with colour added - is impossible to put down. The illustrations are distinctively offbeat, slightly funky, and appealing to teens. Includes: An illustrated cast of characters A helpful plot summary Illustrations that show...

No Fear Shakespeare gives you the complete text of Othello on the left-hand page, side-by-side with an easy-to-understand translation on the right. Each No Fear Shakespeare contains: The complete text of the original play A line-by-line translation that puts Shakespeare into everyday language A complete list of characters with descriptions Plenty of helpful commentary. A tragic tale of jealousy and...

No Fear Shakespeare gives you the complete text of Much Ado About Nothing on the left-hand page, side-by-side with an easy-to-understand translation on the right. Each No Fear Shakespeare contains: The complete text of the original play A line-by-line translation that puts Shakespeare into everyday language A complete list of characters with descriptions Plenty of helpful commentary Shakespeare's famous work...

No Fear Shakespeare gives you the complete text of Julius Caesar on the left-hand page, side-by-side with an easy-to-understand translation on the right. Each No Fear Shakespeare contains: The complete text of the original play A line-by-line translation that puts Shakespeare into everyday language A complete list of characters with descriptions Plenty of helpful commentary Rome's greatest general, Julius Caesar,...

No Fear Shakespeare gives you the complete text of Henry V on the left-hand page, side-by-side with an easy-to-understand translation on the right. Each No Fear Shakespeare contains: The complete text of the original play A line-by-line translation that puts Shakespeare into everyday language A complete list of characters with descriptions Plenty of helpful commentary.

No Fear Shakespeare provides you with the complete text of Henry IV Parts One and Two on the left-hand page, side-by-side with an easy-to-understand translation on the right. Each No Fear Shakespeare edition includes: The complete text of the original play A line-by-line translation that puts Shakespeare into everyday language A complete list of characters with descriptions Plenty of helpful...

Read Hamlet in graphic-novel form - with NO FEAR! NOW IN COLOUR! Based on the No Fear Shakespeare translations, this dynamic graphic novel - now with colour added - is impossible to put down. The illustrations are distinctively offbeat, slightly funky, and appealing to teens. Includes: An illustrated cast of characters A helpful plot summary Illustrations that show the reader...

No Fear Shakespeare gives you the complete text of A Midsummer Night's Dream on the left-hand page, side-by-side with an easy-to-understand translation on the right. Each No Fear Shakespeare contains: The complete text of the original play A line-by-line translation that puts Shakespeare into everyday language A complete list of characters with descriptions Plenty of helpful commentary Demetrius and Lysander...

Oxford School Shakespeare is an acclaimed edition especially designed for students, featuring accessible on-page notes, explanatory illustrations, clear background information, and scholarly credentials that are rigorous yet accessible. The Tempest is a popular text for study by secondary students worldwide. Key features: 1. Accessible notes and commentaries 2. Two-column format for easy reference checking and immediate explanations 3. Wide margins...

Together with a newly commissioned introduction, this book includes a facsimile of one of Eric Ravilious's finest illustrated works, first published by the Golden Cockerel Press in 1932 in a limited print run and now considered a masterpiece of typography and illustration. Artist and illustrator Eric Ravilious was fascinated with Elizabethan and Jacobean poetry and drama, both as literature and...

This Norton Critical Edition includes: The First Folio (1623) text of Macbeth, with updated and expanded footnotes and introductory materials by Robert S. Miola. Illustrations from a wide range of adaptations, including modern stage and film productions. "The Actors' Gallery," collecting reflections from actors and actresses about their roles in major productions of Macbeth from the eighteenth to twenty-first centuries....

Penguin Readers is an ELT graded reading series, designed for teenagers and young adults learning English as a foreign language. With carefully adapted text, new illustrations, language practice activities, and additional online resources, the Penguin Readers series introduces language learners to bestselling authors and compelling content. Titles include popular classics, exciting contemporary fiction, and thought-provoking non-fiction. Macbeth, a Level 1...

NEW FOR 2025 – Barrington Stoke’s long-awaited first dyslexia-friendly plays The complete and unabridged dyslexia-friendly edition of Macbeth, Shakespeare’s dark tragedy that blends the supernatural with prophecy, ambition, and murder.

No Fear Shakespeare gives you the complete text of The Merchant of Venice on the left-hand page, side-by-side with an easy-to-understand translation on the right. Each No Fear Shakespeare contains: The complete text of the original play A line-by-line translation that puts Shakespeare into everyday language A complete list of characters with descriptions Plenty of helpful commentary Shakespeare's tragicomic drama...

A captivating picture book retelling by Shakespeare's Globe for very young readers. A Midsummer Night's Dream, William Shakespeare’s comedy about four lovers' mishaps in an enchanted forest, is unforgettably re-imagined by Shakespeare’s Globe as a picture book for very young readers. With exquisite and detailed illustrations from the acclaimed artist Jane Ray, who has been shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway...

Part of the authoritative and acclaimed Penguin Shakespeare series, now rejacketed in the celebrated Penguin Classics livery. After squandering his wealth with prodigal generosity, a rich Athenian gentleman finds himself deep in debt. Unshaken by the prospect of bankruptcy, he is certain that the friends he has helped so often will come to his aid. But when they learn his...

This legendary Shakespeare series features authoritative and meticulously researched texts paired with scholarship by renowned Shakespeareans. Updated for the 21st century by editors Stephen Orgel of Stanford University and A. R. Braunmuller of UCLA, each book includes an essay on the theatrical world of Shakespeare's time, an introduction to the individual play, and a detailed note on the text used....

The theme of the great Shakespearean tragedies is the fall from grace of a great man due to a flaw in his nature. Whether it is the ruthless ambition of Macbeth or the folly of Lear, the irresolution of Hamlet or the suspicion of Othello, the cause of the tragedy—even when it is the murder of a king—is trifling compared...

This legendary Shakespeare series features authoritative and meticulously researched texts paired with scholarship by renowned Shakespeareans. Updated for the 21st-century by editors Stephen Orgel of Stanford University and A. R. Braunmuller of UCLA, each book includes an essay on the theatrical world of Shakespeare's time, an introduction to the individual play, and a detailed note on the text used. With...

Once it blooms, it changes everything. Love is uplifting, enlightening, transforming. In this timeless collection of more than 80 sonnets, William Shakespeare pays tribute to our most beautiful emotion. Read and share them with the one you love. Experience the enchanting words of Shakespeare with Love Sonnets of Shakespeare.