Aristophanes, often referred to as “The Father of Comedy”, is an ancient Greek poet and playwright who is credited with helping to create the art of satire and irony. Of the over forty plays Aristophanes wrote during his lifetime only eleven survive to this day of which six are collected together here in this volume. In “The Acharnians”, there is the story of Dikaiopolis, an Athenian who brokers a private peace treaty with the Spartans. “The Kni ...
From The Persians"Defeat is impossibleDefeat is unthinkableWe have always been the favorites of fate.Fortune has cupped usIn her golden palms.It has only been a matterOf choosing our desire. Which fruitTo pick from the nodding tree."This chilling passage is from Ellen McLaughlin’s new adaptation of The Persians by Aeschylus, the earliest surviving play in Western literature, an elegy for a fallen civi-lization and a warning to its new ...
“The marvel of Mr. Eno’s new version is how closely it tracks the original while also being, at every moment and unmistakably, a Will Eno play. After climbing the craggy peaks of Ibsen’s daunting play, Mr. Eno has brought down from its dizzying heights a surprising crowd-pleasing (if still strange) work.” — Charles Isherwood, New York Times“Gnit is classic Will Eno. By that I mean I was th ...
A passionate exploration of the process of comprehending and speaking the words of William Shakespeare. Detailing exercises and analyzing characters' speech and rhythms, Linklater provides the tools to increase understanding and make Shakespeare's words one's own. ...
Already a favorite of theatres throughout the country, Tony Kushner's free adaptation of Pierre Corneille's most original, theatrical comedy, L'Illusion Comique, blends magic and truth, obsession and caprice, romance and murder, into an enticing exploration of the greatest illusion–love. ...
"A merry winter's tale would drive away the time trimly," suggests a character from The Old Wives' Tale, a play by one of Shakespeare's lesser-known contemporaries. And indeed, Elizabethan audiences recognized a «winter's tale» as a fanciful story, rendered all the more appealing by its very improbability. The Bard's version of this traditional entertainment is a charming romantic comedy, but with undertones of trag ...
These two powerful classics of ancient drama are excellent examples of the author's gift for adapting traditional material for decidedly nontraditional effect. Through them Euripides critically examines social and moral aspects of contemporary life and even specific political events. He endows his figures with shrewdly observed individual character, implicitly deflating the emblematic simplicity of traditional narratives and making him seem ...
Charles Lamb, a distinguished English essayist, collaborated with his sister, Mary, to create enthralling prose retellings for young readers of some of Shakespeare's most beloved works. This selection from their 1807 publications features The Tempest; A Midsummer Night's Dream; As You Like It; The Merchant of Venice; King Lear; Macbeth; The Taming of the Shrew; Romeo and Juliet; Hamlet; and Othello."What these tales ...
A rough-and-tumble farce centered around a lively battle of the sexes, The Taming of the Shrew brims with action and bawdy humor. The unconventional romance between a lusty fortune-hunter and a bitter shrew unfolds to the accompaniment of witty, fast-paced dialogue and physical humor in this excellent introduction to Shakespearean comedy.The freebooter Petruchio arrives in Padua to hear of Katharina, a beautiful heiress whose waspish rants and c ...
