Classic Plays

Paul Scofield, Siobhan McKenna and John Neville perform Twelfth Night. This is Shakespeare's comedy of gender confusion, in which a girl disguises herself as a man to be near the count she adores - only to be pursued by the woman he loves.

A magical tale of enchantment, retribution and love. Prospero, the rightful Duke of Milan, is betrayed by his brother and exiled to a desert island with his daughter Miranda. With the help of Ariel, a spirit, he uses his supernatural powers to shipwreck his brother and others on the same island. With a series of illusions, he regains his rightful place and finds a husband for his daughter.

A shipwreck separates Viola and her twin brother Sebastian. She lands in the magical and melancholy kingdom of Illyria, where nearly everybody dances some step to the music of Love.

Hamlet is one of the great classics, if not the greatest, of English drama. Set in Denmark, the play recounts how Prince Hamlet exacts revenge on his uncle Claudius, who has murdered Hamlet's father, the King, and then taken the throne and married Gertrude, Hamlet's mother.

In this, Shakespeare's last play, the dark themes of punishment and loss give way to those of forgiveness and new beginnings. The plot involves a shipwreck on a fantastic island where friends reunite, love blooms, and magic reigns.

Shakespeare's comedy is performed by a cast including Derek Godfrey, Patrick Garland, Prunella Scales and Peter Pears.

Leontes, suspecting his wife's infidelity, imprisons her and exiles her infant daughter to a faraway island. Years later, his wife, presumed dead, is returned to him as a statue.

Helen heals the king of France, and the king grants her permission to marry Bertram, the man she loves. Bertram rejects her and leaves a list of tasks that she must do to have him acknowledge their marriage. She follows him to Italy, completes all the tasks and Bertram accepts her as his wife.

King Henry IV suffers from illness, so his youngest son, Prince John, fights the rebels, while Prince Hal prepares to be king. Meanwhile, Hal's friend Falstaff causes trouble, recruits and speaks ill of Hal. Henry dies and Hal becomes King Henry V. He banishes Falstaff from court, ready to wage war on France.

Wealthy and popular, Timon of Athens helps his friends, gives many gifts and holds a feast. After ignoring his true friends' warnings, Timon runs out of money and none of his 'friends' will help him. He runs away to a cave where he curses humanity, finds gold, funds someone to destroy Athens and dies.

Magical and dreamlike in its tone, Shakespeare’s The Tempest begins with a storm of epic proportions and a shipwreck. Banished from Italy, Prospero lives on a remote island with his daughter. Using his magic, he vows to seek revenge on the injustice dealt to him by his brother, but in doing so, Shakespeare questions the difficulty of distinguishing ‘men’ from ‘monsters’, and the realities of justice.

King Cymbeline of Britain banishes his daughter Imogen's husband, who then makes a bet on Imogen's fidelity. Imogen is accused of being unfaithful, runs away and becomes a page for the Roman army as it invades Britain. In the end, Imogen clears her name, discovers her long-lost brothers and reunites with her husband while Cymbeline makes peace with Rome.

Shakespeare’s darkest psychological thriller. Three witches tell the Scottish General Macbeth that he will be king of Scotland. Encouraged by his wife, Macbeth kills the king, becomes the new king and kills more people out of paranoia. Civil war erupts to overthrow Macbeth, resulting in more death.

King Lear divides his kingdom between his two duplicitous daughters, banishing the loving Cordelia and the steadfast Kent. These and other acts of folly launch a hugely moving search for dignity, self-knowledge and wisdom on the grandest of scales.

After vowing to avoid women, the king and three of his friends have to host a princess and her three ladies. The four men fall in love and decide to court the women. In the end, the women must return to their kingdom for a year after which they will marry the king and his friends, providing they remain true to them.

Apollon Evgen'evich Okojomov - pomeshhik, krasavec-muzhchina, kotoryj zhivjot v schastlivom brake v uezdnom gorodke Brjahimove. Buduchi v Moskve on proigralsja v karty i zalez v dolgi. Okojomov reshil vskruzhit' golovu moskovskoj millionershe Obolduevoj i tem samym popravit' svoi finansovye dela. Dlja togo, chtoby pretendovat' na pridanoe Obolduevoj, Apollon reshaet srazu razvestis' s zhenoj. Razvod on poluchit, tol'ko esli ulichit suprugu v nevernosti.

Istorija, kotoruju rasskazyvaet Aleksandr Nikolaevich Ostrovskij v p'ese "Serdce ne kamen'", stara, kak mir. V bogatom kupecheskom dome, slovno ptica v kletke, tomitsja molodaja krasavica Vera Filippovna. V pjatnadcat' let ona vyshla zamuzh za bogacha Karkunova. Ljubvi Vera Filippovna k muzhu ne pitala, no buduchi porjadochnoj baryshnej byla emu vernoj zhenoj.

«Krazha» - luchshaja drama Londona. Jeta istorija objedinila i ljubovnye otnoshenija, i spekuljaciju politicheskimi interesami, muzhestvennye postupki i otkrovennoe predatel'stvo. Po svidetel'stvu ego zheny Charmian London, pisatel', sozdav «Krazhu», schital, chto na sej raz on napisal «dovol'no horoshuju p'esu». Odnako n'ju-jorkskie teatral'nye agentstva, kotorym dramaturg predlozhil svoe proizvedenie, edinodushno ot nego otkazalis', i Londonu tak i ne udalos' uvidet' «Krazhu» v scenicheskom ispolnenii.

Irine, mladshej iz trjoh sestjor Prozorovyh, ispolnjaetsja dvadcat' let. «Na dvore solnechno, veselo», a v zale nakryvaetsja stol, zhdut gostej - oficerov raskvartirovannoj v gorode artillerijskoj batarei i novogo ejo komandira podpolkovnika Vershinina. Vse polny radostnyh ozhidanij i nadezhd.

Vechnye problemy otcov i detej, vernosti i predatel'stva. Na scene ujutnyj, chisten'kij mir meshhanki Anny Markovny Celovan'evoj. K nej pribyli znatnye i bogatye gosti - lesopromyshlennik Antipa Zykov s synom Mihailom i sestroj Sof'ej, - chtoby sladit' pomolvku docheri Celovan'evoj Pavly s Mihailom. Celovan'eva rada - Mihail hot' i p'et, no tih, dobr i pokladist. Sochinjaet stihi, igraet na gitare. Bogat, i k tomu zhe edinstvennyj naslednik. Odnako Antipa sam polozhil glaz na Pavlu: «Idi za menjm...Jeto ja budu tebja molodo ljubit'». I...Pavla soglasna...