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The tragedy of a king so blinded by ambition and paranoia that he senselessly murders those in his path, eventually leading to his own demise.

Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare's early tragedies. The two young title characters fall madly in love, but are the children of feuding houses whose hatred for each other works to a devastating end. The play was immensely popular in Shakespeare's lifetime and is the most enduring of his plays along with Hamlet. Romeo and Juliet is considered one of the archetypal love stories.

"Thornton Wilder's drama of life in the mythical village of Grover's Corners, New Hampshire--an allegorical representation of all life--is an American classic. It is the simple story of a love affair that asks timeless questions about the meaning of love, life, and death. Our Town explores the relationship between two young neighbors, George Gibbs and Emily Webb, whose childhood friendship blossoms into romance, and then culminates in marriage. When...

Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest" is a timeless comedic masterpiece that combines witty satire, social commentary, and farcical humor in a delightful theatrical concoction. Set in the elegant drawing rooms of Victorian-era London, the play revolves around the hilarious deceptions of its characters, particularly Algernon Moncrieff and Jack Worthing. These dashing young men each maintain a fictitious persona-Algernon has invented a friend...

One of the last tragedies written by William Shakespeare, "Coriolanus" is the story of the legendary 5th century BC Roman general Caius Martius, later given the honorary name Coriolanus. Based largely on the biographical accounts of Plutarch and Livy, the play opens amongst riots over grain in which Coriolanus' contempt for the plebeians of Rome is exhibited. The general is drawn away from the riots to battle with the Volscian army. Following the...

Originally published in the First Folio of 1623, "Measure for Measure" is William Shakespeare's play which was likely written sometime in 1603 or 1604. The play begins with Vincentio, the Duke of Vienna, who leaves the government in charge of the authoritarian justice, Angelo, when he departs the city on a diplomatic mission. Lord Angelo believes that there is too much debauchery in the city and seeks to more strictly enforce laws against certain...

"When Hercule Poirot and his associate Arthur Hastings arrive in the French village of Merlinville-sur-Mer to meet their client Paul Renauld, they learn from the police that he has been found that morning stabbed in the back with a letter opener and left in a newly-dug grave adjacent to a local golf course. Among the plausible suspects are Renauld's wife Eloise, his son Jack, Renauld's immediate neighbor Madame Daubreuil, the mysterious 'Cinderella'...

Suspicious King Leontes of Sicily accuses his pregnant wife Hermione of having an affair with his best friend, Polixenes, the King of Bohemia. Enraged at the alleged betrayal, he orders Polixenes poisoned, Hermione imprisoned, and her newborn daughter banished, leaving him a broken man. Sixteen years later, Perdita, the adopted daughter of a shepherd, falls in love with young Prince Florizel, much to the dismay of the boy's father, Polixenes. He disapproves...

You know that thing when you have an incestuous relationship with your daughter, but you don't want anyone to know about it, so you disguise the truth in a riddle and make her suitors guess its meaning? No? Well, that's what the king of Antioch is up to. Guess correctly and marry the princess, he says. Get it wrong and be killed. Today we might shake our heads and wonder why the King didn't just keep his mouth shut instead of broadcasting his dirty...

One of Shakespeare's most frequently performed comedies, Much Ado About Nothing includes two quite different stories of romantic love. Hero and Claudio fall in love almost at first sight, but an outsider, Don John, strikes out at their happiness. Beatrice and Benedick are kept apart by pride and mutual antagonism until others decide to play Cupid. --Publisher