Start to cheer and have no fear, because you'll hear the tale of the late King Lear. It may even bring a tear to your eye, as the Standard Deviants fly into the lies, spies, and family ties of one Shakespeare's most important tragedies. You'll learn the plot and whatnot, meet the king and other things, and greet the amazing feats of Lear and his buddies.

In "Julius Caesar," Brutus upholds liberty against tyranny. But what is tyranny? Presenter Brian Cox examines how William Shakespeare's play challenges all political systems and all definitions of tyranny, challenging us to wonder how well we even know ourselves.

Experience Alexander Ekman´s exceptional ballet, A Midsummer Night´s Dream, created for the Royal Swedish Ballet with a score by award-winning Mikael Karlsson. This contemporary ballet explores the energy and the mysteries of the summer solstice night in the Scandinavian tradition. The program also features experimental pop singer Anna von Hausswolff, acclaimed percussionist Niklas Brommare, and the classical string quartet Dahlkvistkvartetten.

Shakespeare's tragic story of love, family feud, and double suicide is a masterwork woven with conflict, crisis, and counterstroke. In this program, prime scenes are dramatized and Stratford-upon-Avon Shakespearean experts Russell Jackson and Robert Smallwood dissect them and their major topics and themes. Discussed are the play's popular appeal; the importance of the balcony scene as core to the work; how the lovers' youth plays with modern audiences;...

In this program, Michael Wood uncovers the story of Shakespeare's life in the "new age" of King James I. It is a riveting exploration of the circumstances that led to the penning of Macbeth and The Tempest - a play often seen as his farewell to the stage. However, we discover his true final play, King Henry VIII, is inspired by his own times, the story of the split that shook up his parents' lives and shaped his own. Even in his death, Shakespeare...

"There are so few established facts about how the son of a glove maker from Warwickshire became one of the greatest writers of all time that some people doubt he could really have written so many astonishing plays. We know that he married Anne Hathaway, who was pregnant and six years older than he, at the age of eighteen, and that one of their children died of the plague. We know that he left Stratford to seek his fortune in London, and eventually...

The world over, teachers hear the lament "why do we have to study Shakespeare?" from their students. Here are the answers to that ubiquitous question. This densely packed and student-friendly program includes well-known examples from his plays and a look at his contribution to the English lexicon to demonstrate Shakespeare’s enduring impact on language and the study of literature.

This star-studded 1970 feature film production of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar was the first full-color adaptation of the play. It tells the famous story of Caesar's assassination and the subsequent struggle between his friend and protege Marc Antony and the anti-Caesar conspirators, led by Brutus and Cassius. Charlton Heston stars as Marc Antony, as he did in a previous 1950 film. Jason Robards's understated performance as Brutus proved controversial....

Presents the original text of Shakespeare's play side by side with a modern version, discusses the author and the theater of his time, and provides quizzes and other study activities.

This beguiling tale of ship-wrecked tars, dastardly Dukes, airy spirits and the plight of lovers, all under the thrall of a master magician, floats across the screen in this lively and colourful production performed by students from the Red Maids School. This video resource incorporates exclusive behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with some of the principal characters in a resource guaranteed to enhance any introduction to the Bard's lyrical...