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King John
Par William Shakespeare. 1974
Under the rule of King John, England is forced into war when the French challenge the legitimacy of John's claim…
to the throne and determine to install his nephew Arthur in his place. But political principles, hypocritically flaunted, are soon forgotten, as the French and English kings form an alliance based on cynical self-interest. And as the desire to cling to power dominates England's paranoid and weak-willed king, his country is threatened with disaster.Journey's End (Penguin Modern Classics)
Par R. C. Sherriff. 1993
Set in the First World War, Journey's End concerns a group of British officers on the front line and opens…
in a dugout in the trenches in France. Raleigh, a new eighteen-year-old officer fresh out of English public school, joins the besieged company of his friend and cricketing hero Stanhope, and finds him dramatically changed ...Laurence Olivier starred as Stanhope in the first performance of Journey's End in 1928; the play was an instant stage success and remains a remarkable anti-war classic.Japanese No Dramas
Par Royall Tyler. 1992
Japanese nõ theatre or the drama of 'perfected art' flourished in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries largely through the genius…
of the dramatist Zeami. An intricate fusion of music, dance, mask, costume and language, the dramas address many subjects, but the idea of 'form' is more central than 'meaning' and their structure is always ritualized. Selected for their literary merit, the twenty-four plays in this volume dramatize such ideas as the relationship between men and the gods, brother and sister, parent and child, lover and beloved, and the power of greed and desire. Revered in Japan as a cultural treasure, the spiritual and sensuous beauty of these works has been a profound influence for English-speaking artists including W. B. Yeats, Ezra Pound and Benjamin Britten.Iphigenia, Phaedra, Athaliah
Par Jean Racine. 2004
Strongly influenced by Classical drama, Jean Racine (1639-99) broke away from the grandiose theatricality of baroque drama to create works…
of intense psychological realism, with characters manipulated by cruel and vengeful gods. Iphigenia depicts a princess's absolute submission to her father's will, despite his determination to sacrifice her to gain divine favour before going to war. Described by Voltaire as 'the masterpiece of the human mind', Phaedra shows a woman's struggle to overcome her overwhelming passion for her stepson - an obsession that brings destruction to a noble family. And Athaliah portrays a ruthless pagan queen, who defies Jehovah in her desperate attempt to keep the throne of Jerusalem from its legitimate heir.Henry IV Part Two
Par William Shakespeare. 1968
'This, of the history plays, is The Tragedy ... the most lyrical Shakespeare ever wrote' Simon SchamaThe old king Henry…
IV, sick and weary, must send out his forces - including the unruly Falstaff - to meet another rebellion that threatens to bring the country to the brink of civil war. But as the conflict grows, he must also confront a more personal problem - how to make his troublesome son Prince Hal accept his duty as heir and leave his carousing companions behind. Pitting youth against old age, son against father, carefree hope against the realities of ruling, this is an elegiac drama of pathos and regret.Used and Recommended by the National TheatreGeneral Editor Stanley WellsEdited by Peter Davison Introduction by Adrian PooleHenry IV Part One
Par William Shakespeare. 1968
'The finest, most representative instance of what Shakespeare can do' Harold BloomPrince Hal, the son of King Henry IV, spends…
his time in idle pleasure with dissolute friends, among them the roguish Sir John Falstaff. But when the kingdom is threatened by rebellious forces, the prince must abandon his feckless ways. Ranging from taverns and brothels to the royal court and the battlefield, Shakespeare's masterful drama shows a prodigal son rising to meet his destiny as a ruler of men.Used and Recommended by the National TheatreGeneral Editor Stanley WellsEdited by Peter Davison Introduction by Charles EdelmanHedda Gabler and Other Plays
Par Henrik Ibsen. 1950
In these three unforgettably intense plays, Henrik Ibsen explores the problems of personal and social morality that he perceived in…
the world around him and, in particular, the complex nature of truth. The Pillars of the Community (1877) depicts a corrupt shipowner’s struggle to hide the sins of his past at the expense of another man’s reputation, while in The Wild Duck (1884) an idealist, believing he must tell the truth at any cost, destroys a family by exposing the lie behind his friend’s marriage. And Hedda Gabler (1890) portrays an unhappily married woman who is unable to break free from the conventional life she has created for herself, with tragic results for the entire family.Hedda Gabler and Other Plays
Par Henrik Ibsen. 2019
Four of Ibsen's most important plays in superb modern translations, part of the new Penguin Ibsen series.In these four unforgettably…
intense plays, Henrik Ibsen explores the complex nature of truth, the tension between freedom and responsibility, and the terrible pull that the past exerts over the present. In The Wild Duck, an idealist destroys a family by exposing the lie behind his friend's marriage. In Rosmersholm, a respectable man is driven to extremes by guilt over his wife's death, while in The Lady from the Sea a woman is caught between her family and the enticement of the wild sea. And in Hedda Gabler, one of Ibsen's most famous and vivid anti-heroines struggles to break free from the conventional life she has created for herself, with tragic results.The new Penguin series of Ibsen's major plays offer the best available editions in English, under the general editorship of Tore Rem. The plays have been freshly translated by the best modern translators and are based on the recently published, definitive Norwegian edition of Ibsen's works. They all include new introductions and editorial apparatus by leading scholars.Vol. 1: Peer Gynt and BrandVol. 2: A Doll's House and Other PlaysVol. 3: Hedda Gabler and Other PlaysVol. 4: The Master Builder and Other PlaysHeracles and Other Plays
Par Euripides. 2002
Heracles/ Iphigenia Among the Taurians/ Helen/ Ion/ Cyclops: Of these plays, only 'Heracles' truly belongs in the tragic sphere with…
its presentation of underserved suffering and divine malignity. The other plays flirt with comedy and comic themes. Their plots are ironic and complex with deception and elusion eventually leading to reconciliation between mother and son in 'Ion', brother and sister in 'Iphigenia', and husband and wife in 'Helen'. The comic vein is even stronger in the satyric'Cyclops' in which the giant's inebriation and subsequent violence are treated as humorous. Together, these plays demonstrate Euripides' challenge to the generic boundaries of Athenian drama.Henry VIII
Par William Shakespeare. 1971
Conspiracies and intrigue are rife in the court of Henry VIII as a Duke is executed for treason, having been…
tricked by the Cardinal. And when the King falls in love with Anne Bullen and decides to divorce his wife, he causes an irrevocable rift with the Catholic Church. After the King's secret marriage to Anne courtiers fall in and out of favour and deaths abound, with far-reaching consequences.Henry VI Part Two
Par William Shakespeare. 1981
Henry VI is tricked into marrying Margaret - lover of the Earl of Suffolk, who hopes to rule the kingdom…
through her influence. There is one great obstacle in Suffolk's path, however - the noble Lord Protector, who he slyly orders to be murdered. Discovering this betrayal, Henry banishes Suffolk, but with his Lord Protector gone the unworldly young King must face his greatest challenge: impending Civil War and the rising threat of the House of York.Henry VI Part Three
Par William Shakespeare. 1981
Henry VI Part III is the third of William Shakespeare's plays set during the lifetime of King Henry VI of…
England, and prepares the ground for one of his best-known and most controversial plays: the tragedy of King Richard III (Richard III of England). It follows on from Henry VI, part 1 and Henry VI, part 2.Henry VI Part One
Par William Shakespeare. 1981
After the death of Henry V, the French revolt and threaten to reclaim their country from English rule. Guided by…
his Lord Protector, the young King Henry VI journeys to Paris to reaffirm his rule over France. But while Joan of Arc battles the British abroad, discontent is also breeding at home, between the two ancient Houses of York and Lancaster.Henry V
Par William Shakespeare. 1968
'At one and the same time the greatest of all works of English patriotism and a searing critique of warfare'…
Jonathan BateYoung King Henry wages war on France. Tainted by his family's past crimes and with enemies among his own men, he must face the difficult responsibilities of kingship, unite his country and rouse his 'band of brothers' to battle at Agincourt. An heroic coming-of-age story and a work of stirring patriotic oratory, Henry V also has darker undercurrents that ultimately question the price of military victory.Used and Recommended by the National TheatreGeneral Editor Stanley WellsEdited by A. R. Humphreys with an Introduction by Ann KaegiHenry V
Par A. Humphreys, William Shakespeare. 1968
Shakespeare's immutable history of Henry's victory over the French at Agincourt and the subsequent peace between the two nations is…
also a study of war and kingship. From a wild youth, Henry comes to embody all of the kingly virtues: courage, justice, integrity and honour. Ironically these qualities are brought to the fore by the realities of war. Written at the end of the life of Elizabeth I, Henry V told the British people that with strong leadership, they had little to fear at a time of uncertainty.Hamlet
Par William Shakespeare. 1996
'The Mona Lisa of literature' T. S. EliotIn Shakespeare's verbally dazzling and eternally enigmatic exploration of conscience, madness and the…
nature of humanity, a young prince meets his father's ghost in the middle of the night, who accuses his own brother - now married to his widow - of murdering him. The prince devises a scheme to test the truth of the ghost's accusation, feigning wild insanity while plotting revenge. But his actions soon begin to wreak havoc on innocent and guilty alike.Used and Recommended by the National TheatreGeneral Editor Stanley WellsEdited by T. J. B. SpencerIntroduction by Alan SinfieldGreek Tragedy: The Persians, The Seven Against Thebes, The Suppliant Maidens, Prometheus Bound (Greek Tragedy In New Translations Ser.)
Par Aeschylus, Euripides, Sophocles. 2003
Agememnon is the first part of the Aeschylus's Orestian trilogy in which the leader of the Greek army returns from…
the Trojan war to be murdered by his treacherous wife Clytemnestra. In Sophocles' Oedipus Rex the king sets out to uncover the cause of the plague that has struck his city, only to disover the devastating truth about his relationship with his mother and his father.Medea is the terrible story of a woman's bloody revenge on her adulterous husband through the murder of her own children.Frogs and Other Plays
Par Aristophanes. 1964
The master of ancient Greek comic drama, Aristophanes combined slapstick, humour and cheerful vulgarity with acute political observations. In The…
Frogs, written during the Peloponnesian War, Dionysus descends to the Underworld to bring back a poet who can help Athens in its darkest hour, and stages a great debate to help him decide between the traditional wisdom of Aeschylus and the brilliant modernity of Euripides. The clash of generations and values is also the object of Aristophanes’ satire in The Wasps, in which an old-fashioned father and his loose-living son come to blows and end up in court. And in The Poet and the Women, Euripides, accused of misogyny, persuades a relative to infiltrate an all-women festival to find out whether revenge is being plotted against him.The Frogs (Penguin Little Black Classics)
Par Aristophanes. 1964
'Ko-ax, ko-ax, ko-ax!Now listen, you musical twerps,I don't give a damn for your burps!'A biting comedy from the great Ancient…
Greek playwright.One of 46 new books in the bestselling Little Black Classics series, to celebrate the first ever Penguin Classic in 1946. Each book gives readers a taste of the Classics' huge range and diversity, with works from around the world and across the centuries - including fables, decadence, heartbreak, tall tales, satire, ghosts, battles and elephants.Four French Plays: Cinna, The Misanthrope, Andromache, Phaedra
Par Jean Racine. 2013
The 'greatest hits' of French classical theatre, in vivid and acclaimed new Penguin translations by John Edmunds and with editorial…
apparatus by Joseph Harris.The plays in this volume - Cinna, The Misanthrope, Andromache and Phaedra - span only thirty-seven years, but make up the defining period of French theatre. In Corneille's Cinna (1640), absolute power is explored in ancient Rome, while Molière's The Misanthrope (1666), the only comedy in this collection, sees its anti-hero outcast for his refusal to conform to social conventions. Here also are two key plays by Racine: Andromache (1667), recounting the tragedy of Hector's widow after the Trojan War, and Phaedre (1677), showing a mother crossing the bounds of love with her son.This translation of Phaedra was originally broadcast on Radio Three with a cast including Prunella Scales and Timothy West, and was praised by playwright Harold Pinter. This is the first time it has been published. The edition also includes an introduction by Joseph Harris, genealogical tables, pronunciation guides, critiques and prefaces, as well as a chronology and suggested further reading.After a varied career as an actor, teacher, and BBC TV national newsreader, John Edmunds became the founder-director of Aberystwyth University's department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies. Joseph Harris is Senior Lecturer at Royal Holloway, University of London and author of Hidden Agendas: Cross-Dressing in Seventeenth-Century France (2005).