Young Antipholus of Syracuse is seaching the world for his identical twin brother, separated from him at birth. With him is his servant Dromio, who lost his twin brother at the same time. The pair...

Prospero, wise Duke of Milan, has been deposed by Antonio his wicked brother and exiled with his daughter Miranda to a mysterious island. But Prospero possesses supernatural powers. Aided by the...

Twelfth Night is a riotous comedy of hopelessly unrequited passions and mistaken identity. Duke Orsino is in love with the noblewoman Olivia. She, however, has fallen for his servant Cesario, who...

Young Claudio has fallen for the lovely heiress Hero. The path to the altar seems smooth, until the evil Don John decides to intervene. All ends happily, thanks to the lucky discoveries of the...

Warren Mitchell stars with Martin Jarvis, Samuel West and Juliet Aubrey in this BBC Radio 4 production of Shakespeare’s thrilling courtroom drama.Shakespeare’s classic play explores the...

The dissolute Sir John Falstaff plans to seduce Mistress Ford and Mistress Page, two "Merry Wives of Windsor," thereby gaining access to their husbands' wealth. The two women have the old rogue's...

Antonio promises money to help his friend Bassanio woo Portia. He borrows the sum needed from the cruel Shylock, but there will be a dreadful penalty if the loan is not repaid. The golden world of...

Padua holds many suitors for the hand of fair Bianca, but Bianca may not be married until her spinster sister Kate is wed. Could any man be rash enough to take Kate on? The witty adventurer...

When Oberon, King of the fairies, uses his magic upon four runaway lovers in a midsummer wood outside Athens, chaos ensues. Who really loves whom? A band of well-meaning but bungling local...

The young King of Navarre and three of his courtiers have vowed to lock themselves away for three years of study and fasting, and to foreswear the company of women for this period. No sooner is...

Young King Henry VI has married the beautiful Margaret of Anjou but the new Queen is ruthless and ambitious. Supported by the powerful Duke of Suffolk, Margaret plots the overthrow of her enemies,...

Henry V is a study of kingship, patriotism and heroic determination, tempered by tender comedy as Henry courts Katherine, Princess of France. Henry, the noble and courageous young king of England,...

The Yorkists have emerged victorious from the civil wars and Edward IV wears the English crown. But Edward's misshapen brother Richard harbours kingly ambitions and will stop at nothing to achieve...

King John of England is pitted against the united powers of France, Brittany, Austria and the Papacy. Will England be destroyed by his fatal indecision? As alliances are made, broken and...

While England is threatened by rebellion, the king’s scapegrace son Hal haunts the taverns of London, accompanied by the dissolute Falstaff and his band of rogues. The Earl of Northumberland and...

In the early 15th century, civil war is rife in England. King Henry’s health is failing — and Falstaff and his ribald companions waste the nights in revelry, anticipating the moment when...

The all-conquering King Henry V is dead and the throne is occupied by his infant son, Henry VI. The good Duke Humphrey of Gloucester has been appointed Protector, but a struggle for power soon...

The Yorkists have been temporarily victorious and the Duke of York has assumed the throne, but the Lancastrians, led by Queen Margaret, counter-attack. As the fortunes of war shift, both the...

King Henry is married to Katherine of Aragon, but he has been smitten by the charms of the Queen's Maid of Honour, Anne Bullen, and is tempted to divorce his dignified and noble wife. Meanwhile,...

The Yorkists have emerged victorious from the civil wars and Edward IV wears the English crown. But Edward's misshapen brother Richard harbours kingly ambitions and will stop at nothing to achieve...

Othello, a Moorish general in the service of Venice, has married Desdemona, beautiful daughter of a Venetian Senator. But Iago, Othello's malignant ensign, is determined to destroy their...

Lear, King of Britain, has three daughters: the hard-hearted Goneril and Regan and the good and gentle Cordelia. Wishing to ease himself of the burden of rule, he determines to divide his kingdom...

The noble Veronese houses of Montague and Capulet are locked in a bitter feud. When Romeo, a Montague, and Juliet, a Capulet, fall in love they are swept up in a series of violent events and cruel...

Troy is beseiged by the invading Greeks, but the young Trojan prince Troilus can think only of his love for Cressida. Her uncle Pandarus brings the two together, but after only one night news...

Rome is a city divided, nobility and common-people locked in mutual suspicion. The patrician Caius Marcius, later called Coriolanus, is Rome's greatest soldier, but his proud refusal to...