As You Like It

“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players…”

Duke Frederick overthrows Duke Senior and exiles him. Oliver plots to kill his brother Orlando, who falls in love with Rosalind, Senior’s daughter, and flees to the Forest of Arden. Rosalind disguises herself as a man called Ganymede and also escapes to Arden with her cousin Celia, daughter to Frederick. There Ganymede meets Orlando and agrees to help him win Rosalind’s love. Orlando sees Oliver being hunted by a lion and rescues him. Wounded, Orlando cannot visit Ganymede and sends his brother instead, who falls in love with Celia. Ganymede reveals herself as Rosalind and all ends well.

The Merry Wives of Windsor

“O powerful Love, that in some respects makes a beast a man, in some other a man a beast.”

Falstaff decides to fix his financial woe by seducing the wives of two wealthy merchants. The wives find he sent them identical letters and take revenge by playing tricks on Falstaff when he comes calling. With the help of their husbands and friends, the wives play one last trick in the woods to put Falstaff’s mischief to an end.

Measure for Measure

“Our doubts are traitors, And make us lose the good we oft might win By fearing to attempt.”

Venice is out of control. Its ruler, Duke Vicentio, hands over power to the morally upright Angelo and pretends to leave for Poland. In reality the Duke, disguised as a friar, remains in Venice to see whether Angelo is successful at installing law and order. Over-zealous Angelo instantly imposes the death sentence on Claudio for getting his girlfriend, Juliet, pregnant. Claudio’s sister, Isabella, a novice in a convent, is sent to Angelo to beg for mercy. Angelo offers to spare Claudio if she will sleep with him. Isabella refuses until the Duke, still in disguise, persuades her to agree to the deal and to send (under cover of darkness) Angelo’s ex-girlfriend, Mariana, in her place for the so-called ‘bed trick’. After the event, to cover his tracks, Angelo orders Claudio’s execution and Claudio is only saved by a cunning plan to swap Claudio’s head for that of a robber who had conveniently died that same morning. Isabella finally exposes Angelo’s treachery and, as a punishment, Angelo is forced to marry Mariana. The play ends with the Duke proposing to Isabella.

Much Ado About Nothing

 “O God, sir, she’s a dish I love not!”

Benedick and Beatrice have a love-hate relationship. Beatrice’s cousin Hero loves Benedick’s best friend Claudio. But before the wedding Don John arranges events so that Claudio believes Hero has been unfaithful and he spurns her at the altar. She faints and her father Leonato pretends she is dead. When Claudio discovers the accusation against Hero was false, he is grief-stricken. As punishment, Leonato orders him to marry his niece. He agrees and is married to a masked Hero. Benedick proposes to Beatrice.

The Merchant of Venice

“The quality of mercy is not strain’d.”

Bassanio gets his merchant friend Antonio to borrow money from Jewish money lender Shylock so that he can woo Portia. Shylock agrees, but on the condition that if Antonio cannot repay him by a set date, he can take a pound of Antonio’s flesh. When Antonio’s ships are lost at sea, Shylock demands his compensation. Disguised as a lawyer, Portia successfully argues against Shylock taking his pound of flesh.

The Taming of the Shrew

“For I am he am born to tame you Kate…”

Many men try to woo Bianca, the youngest daughter of the wealthy Baptista Minola but he insists that his elder daughter, Katherina, is married first. So suitors Gremio and Hortensio encourage Petruchio, in search of a rich wife, to take on the notoriously difficult ‘Kate’. There is an instant, fiery attraction, and Kate agrees to the marriage. Once married Petruchio sets out to tame her by being more awkward than she is. Lucentio finally wins Bianca’s hand only to discover she is now less obedient than her sister.

The Tempest

“Your tale, sir, would cure deafness.”

The Duke of Milan, now Prospero, has been overthrown by his brother Antonio and Alonso, King of Naples. He now rules a desolate island with powerful magic. When his enemies sail nearby, he creates a storm to wash them onto the island. Shipwrecked on another part of the island are Alonso’s son, Ferdinand, and several reprobates who tempt Island creature Caliban to kill Prospero. Believing Ferdinand to be dead, Antonio encourages Sebastian to kill his brother Alonso so that he can become King of Naples. With the help of Ariel, the island spirit, Prospero foils their plans; Ferdinand and Miranda agree to marry; and Prospero forgives all.

The Winter’s Tale

“Tis time; descend; be stone no more…”

Leontes of Sicilia wrongly believes his wife Hermione and his friend Polixenes are having an affair. Polixenes escapes, and Hermione dies in jail. New-born daughter Perdita is abandoned to a foreign country and found by a shepherd who takes care of her. Sixteen years later Perdita, unaware of her birth-right, falls in love with Polixenes’ son and they elope to Sicilia. Reunited with the repentant Leontes, they visit a statue of Hermione. When the statue moves they discover that Hermione is alive. Leontes is reunited with wife, daughter and best friend.

Twelfth Night

“If music be the food of love, play on; Give me excess of it.”

Viola’s ship is wrecked, apparently killing her twin brother. She disguises herself as a man (Cesario) to join Duke Orsino’s service. Cesario is tasked with making Olivia fall in love with the Duke but Olivia falls in love with Cesario. To make matters worse, Viola has fallen in love with Orsino, although he still believes that she is a man. Viola’s twin brother is found alive and falls in love with Olivia. The comedy ends happily with marriages galore.

All’s Well That Ends Well

“No legacy is so rich as honesty.”

Orphaned Helena, a gentlewoman in the household of the Countess of Rousillion, is in love with the Countess’ son, Bertram. When she cures the King from a terminal illness he allows her to marry the man of her choice. The reluctant Bertram resists and leaves to fight in Italy. He says he will only accept Helena if she becomes pregnant with his child. Helena goes to Italy in disguise and tricks Bertram into sleeping with her by pretending to be Diana whom Bertram is trying to seduce. Helen’s subsequent pregnancy leaves Bertram no option and he promises to be a faithful husband to her.

The Comedy of Errors

“We came into the world like brother and brother, And now let’s go hand in hand, not one before another.”

Set in the Greek city of Ephesus, The Comedy of Errors tells the story of two sets of identical twins who were accidentally separated at birth. Antipholus of Syracuse and his servant, Dromio of Syracuse, arrive in Ephesus, which turns out to be the home of their twin brothers, Antipholus of Ephesus and his servant, Dromio of Ephesus. When the Syracusans encounter the friends and families of their twins, a series of wild mishaps based on mistaken identities lead to wrongful beatings, a near-seduction, the arrest of Antipholus of Ephesus, and false accusations of infidelity, theft, madness, and demonic possession.

Love’s Labour’s Lost

“And how can that be true love which is falsely attempted?”

The play follows the King of Navarre and his three companions as they attempt to swear off the company of women for three years in order to focus on study and fasting. Their subsequent infatuation with the Princess of France and her ladies makes them forsworn. In an untraditional ending for a comedy, the play closes with the death of the Princess’s father, and all weddings are delayed for a year. The play draws on themes of masculine love and desire, reckoning and rationalisation, and reality versus fantasy.

Richard III

“I am determined to prove a villain.”

Richard’s brother Edward, the king, is dying. Intent on the throne, and encouraged by his cousin Buckingham, Richard has his older brother Clarence murdered, and marries Anne, the widow of the late Prince of Wales. When King Edward dies, Richard is forced to murder Edward’s sons – the little princes in the tower. Buckingham’s hesitancy at this point signs his death warrant. Richard arranges for Anne to die so that he can marry Edward’s daughter Elizabeth, betrothed to the Earl of Richmond. But Richmond leads an army against Richard. On the eve of battle, the ghosts of Richard’s victims visit him and forecast his demise. During the battle, Richard is killed by Richmond, who is crowned King Henry VII and marries Elizabeth.

Antony & Cleopatra

“O, never was there queen so mightily betrayed.”

The Roman Empire is ruled by a triumvirate of Antony, Octavius Caesar and Lepidus but Antony (a married man) is criticised for spending his time in Egypt with the beautiful Cleopatra. When Antony returns to Rome for his wife’s funeral he is forced to marry Caesar’s sister, Octavia, whom he uses as his emissary whilst sneaking back to Egypt to be with Cleopatra. Caesar, incensed, wages war on Antony who ignores advice from friend Enobarbus not to fight the Romans at sea. The battle is lost when Cleopatra leaves with her fleet. Enobarbus deserts Antony for Caesar and dies of grief when a repentant Antony sends his treasure after him. To test Antony’s love, Cleopatra fakes her own death. Antony takes his own life and dies in her arms. Cleopatra, now Caesar’s prisoner, fears being led in triumph, and has venomous snakes smuggled in a basket of figs. She and her maids all die from their bites.

Hamlet

“The play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the King.”

Following the death of his father and the swift marriage of his uncle Claudius to his mother Gertrude, Hamlet sees his father’s ghost who confirms that Claudius murdered him. Intent on revenge, Hamlet fakes madness to confuse the court but accidentally kills Ophelia’s father. Ophelia, in love with Hamlet, loses her wits and drowns. Her brother, Laertes, at the instigation of Claudius, challenges Hamlet to a duel using a poison-tipped sword. When Hamlet’s mother is poisoned by a drink meant for her son, Laertes strikes Hamlet in the confusion. Hamlet kills Laertes and has final revenge on Claudius, before he too dies.

Julius Caesar

“The evil that men do lives after them, The good is oft interred with their bones.”

Senators fear Julius Caesar wants to be King and plot to kill him, persuading his friend Brutus to join them. Ignoring the warnings of a sooth-sayer and of his wife, Caesar goes to the Senate where he is indeed murdered. Mark Antony, Caesar’s friend, persuades Brutus to allow him to speak at the funeral at which he stirs the crowd to unleash civil war. In the final battle between Antony and Caesar’s nephew on the one side, and Brutus and Cassius on the other, Brutus and Cassius kill themselves before they can be captured.

King Lear

“Nothing will come of nothing…”

Lear decides to relinquish his crown and divide Britain amongst his three daughters. When his favourite, Cordelia, fails to declare her love publicly, he disinherits her and banishes old Kent for protesting. Daughters Goneril and Regan and their husbands, Albany and Cornwall, inherit. Edmund, the Earl of Gloucester’s illegitimate son, deceives his father into believing that his legitimate son, Edgar, plots against him. Edgar is disinherited and flees. Goneril and Regan force Lear, his Fool and loyal Kent in disguise out into a storm. In a hovel they meet Edgar in the guise of a mad beggar. Lear’s sanity cracks. Gloucester hopes to reunite Lear with the good Cordelia, but is betrayed by Edmund to Regan who cuts out his eyes. Edgar, disguising his voice, guides his blind father towards Cordelia’s army at Dover. The repentant fathers and wronged children are reconciled before Lear and Cordelia are captured, and sentenced to death by Edmund. Edmund is fatally wounded by a disguised Edgar. Goneril and Regan, both in love with Edmund, end their lives. Lear emerges with the hanged Cordelia and dies of grief.

Titus Andronicus

“Vengeance is in my heart, death in my hand, Blood and revenge are hammering in my head”

The play is set during the latter days of the Roman Empire and tells the story of Titus, a fictional general in the Roman army, who is engaged in a cycle of revenge with Tamora, Queen of the Goths.It is Shakespeare’s bloodiest and most violent work. It has traditionally been one of his least respected plays. Though extremely popular in its day, it had fallen out of favor by the later 17th century. The Victorian era disapproved of it largely because of what was regarded as its distasteful graphic violence. However, beginning around the middle of the 20th century, its reputation began to improve.

Othello

“O beware, my lord, of jealousy…”

Othello, Commander of the Venetian army, promotes Cassio over Iago. Iago plots to have his revenge by convincing Othello that his wife Desdemona has been unfaithful with Cassio. Iago gets his wife Emilia to steal a handkerchief from Desdemona and he drops it in Cassio’s quarters. For Othello, Cassio’s possession of the handkerchief is final proof of Desdemona’s infidelity, and he smothers her with a pillow. Too late, Emilia admits the truth. Iago, furious, stabs Emilia and is arrested. Unable to live with his mistake, Othello takes his own life.

Romeo & Juliet

“My only love sprung from my only hate…”

The Capulets and the Montagues are arch enemies. Romeo Montague falls in love with Juliet, Capulet’s daughter, and they are married in secret. Soon after, Juliet discovers her father plans to marry her to Paris. To help her escape, Friar Laurence gives Juliet a potion to make her appear dead for 48 hours, and sends word to Romeo of the plan. But the message does not reach Romeo, who assumes she has died and buys poison to die beside her. Juliet awakes, realises the plan has gone tragically wrong, and stabs herself with Romeo’s dagger. The families are finally reunited by their grief.