Showing results by author "W. S. Gilbert" in All Categories

King Claudius, when a young man, wrote a five-act tragedy which was damned, and all reference to it forbidden under penalty of death. The King has a son - Hamlet - whose tendency to soliloquize has so alarmed his mother, Queen Gertrude, that she has sent for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to devise some Court revels for his entertainment. Rosencrantz is a former lover of Ophelia, to whom Hamlet is betrothed, and they lay their heads together to devise a plan by which Hamlet may be put out of the way. Some Court theatricals are in preparation.

Frederick is freed of his indentures to the ferociously temperate Pirates of Penzance. What will he do with his newfound freedom?

There is something about the number 3. The Ancient Greeks believed 3 was the perfect number, and in China 3 has always been a lucky number, and they know a thing or two. Whatever history and culture says WE think 3, a hat-trick of stories, is a great number to explore themes and literary avenues that classic authors were so adept at creating.

A great collection of short stories based on the theme of love. Stories by famous writers including Katherine Mansfield and Oscar Wilde.

A collection of the funny, curious verse written during the 19th and 20th centuries, read by some of Britain's most renowned actors. Humorous and whimsical verse are collated together in these timeless readings of poetry from our funniest writers. Performed by Sir John Gielgud; Imogen Stubbs; Tim Pigott-Smith; Peter Orr; Wendy Hillier.

WS Gilbert – The Bab Ballads. Before Gilbert was part of the famous Gilbert & Sullivan opera team, he wrote light verse that was very odd but arrived at a logical conclusion...we think! Luckily, the joyous Stanley Holloway is on hand to read and make sense of it all.

This is the sweet story of a paralyzed man in Venice who sees out of his window a young girl across the way. Unbeknownst to her, she brightens his days over the course of several years, and he begins to fall in love with her. One day he throws out a flower into the canal between them to say "good morning", and she responds in kind. They still haven't spoken a word, but his heart is lifted. Until, that is, the young maid grows up, and the gondolier boys start calling on her.

Stanley Holloway reads a selection of Gilbert's Bab Ballads, the light verse which when published were accompanied by his own comic drawings.