Planning a school or amateur Shakespeare production? The best way to experience the plays is to perform them, but getting started can be a challenge: The complete plays are too long and complex, while scene selections or simplified language are too limited. "The 30-Minute Shakespeare" is a new series of abridgements that tell the "story" of each play from start to finish while keeping the beauty of Shakespeare's language intact. Specific stage directions and character suggestions give even inexperienced actors the tools to perform Shakespeare with confidence, understanding, and fun! This cutting of Shakespeare's utterly charming and popular comedy MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING features five key scenes, including Beatrice and Benedick's classic initial word-battle, and the uproarious hide-and-seek deception of the two "lovers." The next scenes are the brutal rejection of Hero at the altar by a deceived Claudio and the timeless manhandling of the English language by the bumbling constable Dogberry. In the fifth and final scene, Shakespeare resolves the play's conflicts and confusions, and love reigns again. This cutting really tells the story, and includes some sidesplitting stage business, particularly the back-and-forth physical and verbal parrying between Benedick and Beatrice. The edition also includes an essay by editor Nick Newlin on how to produce a Shakespeare play with novice actors, and notes about the original production of this abridgement at the Folger Shakespeare Library's annual Student Shakespeare Festival.

Always drawing together the work of 10 leading playwrights - a mixture of established and current writers - the annual National Theatre Connections anthologies offer young performers between the ages of 13 and 19 an engaging selection of plays to perform, read or study. Each play is specifically commissioned by the National Theatre's literary department and reflects the past year's programming at the venue in the plays' ideas, themes and styles. The plays are performed by approximately 200 schools and youth theatre companies across the UK and Ireland, in partnership with multiple professional regional theatres where the works are showcased. For the first time, there is an anthology of monologues for young people available, taken from plays commissioned as part of the National Theatre Connections over the past 20 years. The monologues feature alongside a general introduction by the editor, Anthony Banks (Associate Director for the National Theatre Discover Programme).The volume also contains individual studies of each monologue with the editor's suggested points for discussion, a brief commentary about the play from which the speech is taken, as well as flagging potential performance decisions and offering up dramaturgical suggestions. Each page features one monologue, plus the individual commentary and some background to the play. This anthology of monologues is the ideal resource for teenagers and young people attending auditions either in the amateur or professional theatre world; students leaving secondary school to audition for drama school; as well as teachers of English and Drama looking for suitable dramatic for their students to engage with and perform. It provides suitable scene-study books that are suitable and relevant to the student in terms of tone, style and content. Young actors who have searched for audition material written in the voice of teenage characters will welcome this resource. With a foreword by actor Matt Smith.

This volume features 25 of the stories from Britannia which have been turned into plays for children to perform. Simple props and costumes are described and the cast lists can be expanded or contracted as needs demand.

This The Merchant of Venice Complete Play contains the full text of all five acts, with helpful annotations explaining all the tricky bits in plain English. It includes scene overviews and a context section, so that students can keep track of the plot, characters and historical details. Plus, there is lots of practice, with questions and activities at the end of every scene. We've also added Knowledge Organiser pages, which lay all the essentials out in one handy place, and audio extracts, which let students hear key scenes performed, just as Shakespeare intended. The CGP range for Shakespeare also includes a matching Text Guide (9781782948490), which contains all the notes and practice you need to really master The Merchant of Venice!

The Classic Graphic Novel Collection is a revolutionary new series of graphic novels which re-tells classic literature for learners of English. Graded at the intermediate level, the fresh blend of accessible storytelling and captivating artwork ensures that students will want to return to these stories time and again. Shakespeare's best-loved play, A Midsummer Night's Dream endures as an obvious choice for outdoor theatre on a warm summer evening. The marriage of Theseus to Hippolyta serves as a backdrop to tangled loves, amateur dramatics, and an argument between the Fairy Queen and King, Titania and Oberon, with events spilling over from their Fairy Kingdom into the real world of Athens. A Midsummer Night's Dream has comical appeal and has been performed all over the world. Now, this enchanting comedy is brought to life through dramatic narrative and vivid imagery.

Oxford School Shakespeare: Macbeth GCSE Revision Cards provide active revision support that targets the most essential skills and knowledge students need to master to ensure exam success. Designed for independent revision, each pack of 65 cards is structured by plot, character and theme, helping students to focus on the key skills and knowledge that will gain them the most marks in the exam. Presented in an accessible and engaging format, the cards include short quotations, questions and answers, broken down into bitesize chunks, so that students can get the most out of their revision sessions. The questions and answers on each card help students to test themselves and ensure they are secure in their knowledge. The sharp, focused content of this quick revision tool make it ideal for last-minute exam preparation.

This edition of As You LIke It is especially designed for students, with accessible on-page notes and explanatory illustrations, clear background information, and rigorous but accessible scholarly credentials. This edition includes illustrations, preliminary notes, reading lists (including websites) and classroom notes, allowing students to master Shakespeare's work.
About the Series:
Newly redesigned and easier to read, each play in the Oxford School Shakespeare series includes the complete and unabridged text, detailed and clear explanations of difficult words and passages, a synopsis of the plot, summaries of individual scenes, and notes on the main characters. Also included is a wide range of questions and activities for work in class, together with the historical background to Shakespeare's England, a brief biography of Shakespeare, and a complete list of his plays.

An engaging classroom playscript. Frankenstein is the famous story of a young man who thinks he can change the world by making better human beings. Instead he creates a living monster with a mind of its own. New, innovative activities specifically tailored to support the KS3 Framework for Teaching English and help students to fulfil the Framework objectives. Activities include work on Speaking and Listening, close text analysis, and the structure of playscripts, and act as a springboard for personal writing.

Adapting the popular Spot books for the stage, David Wood has created an exciting introduction to theatre for small children. Using the simple plot of a birthday party, complete with entertainer, the puppy and his animal friends teach and reflect children's early experiences such as guests arriving, present giving, game playing and going home thank-yous. Th ere is fun audience participation throughout with the children treated more as party guests than simply as spectators. Plenty of fun for the actors, too, with singing, character movement and, optionally, some acrobatic skills to show off!

These simple Christmas plays in rhyming verse, with music, lyrics and directions for movement, are ideal for kindergarten and other early years settings up to the age of six or seven. The easy-to-follow plays build on well-known nativity stories to create a joyful and memorable Christmas experience for educators, parents and children alike. The book presents a basic 'core' version of each play, with plenty of optional additions for older children. It also contains tips for creating props and simple costumes. An invaluable tool for anyone keen to celebrate the nativity creatively with the children in their care. *We are hoping to produce a musical CD to accompany this book in 2015.*

This dramatisation for schools of Robert Louis Stevenson's novel is presented in the form of a tv documentary involving expert witnesses trying to get to the bottom of the strange case. The story is reconstructed and the audience is taken back to Victorian London... What happened to Dr Jekyll? 'Strange Cases', the investigative television documentary programme, tries to solve this puzzle using up-to-date know-how. Key events are reconstructed and expert witnesses examine the evidence to reach a chilling conclusion. This play provides an accessible, exciting approach to the novel, as well as numerous opportunities for media work. Its language and atmosphere are true to Stevenson's story and make comparison work easy. The large cast, including a chorus, makes the play suitable for reading in class, acting in drama lessons or school productions. The resource material investigates transformation, drugs and genetic engineering, as well as providing stimulating drama, media, speaking and writing activities.

"Hamlet: The 30-Minute Shakespeare" offers five scenes from this enduring tragedy. The Ghost of Hamlet's father calls for vengeance, and Hamlet uses the players to prove Claudius guilty. The cutting includes the murder of Polonius, Ophelia's mad scene, and the timeless "To be or not to be" speech, climaxing in the swordfight and poisoning that bring the story to its riveting end.

The edition includes helpful advice by Nick Newlin on how to put on a Shakespeare production in a high school class with novice actors, as well as tips for performing the specific play and recommendations for further resources.

"The Comedy of Errors: The 30-Minute Shakespeare" offers five raucous scenes from this extravaganza of mistaken identity.

The abridgement begins with a dramatic physical enactment of the twins' separation at sea. The play continues with a series of foibles featuring Antipholus of Ephesus, Dromio of Ephesus, and their identical twin counterparts from Antipholus.

Adriana and Luciana receive hysterically misguided attention from the twins. Emilia and Egeon as the long-lost parents, and the riotous conjurer Dr. Pinch round out the cast of characters in Shakespeare's most uproarious comedy.

The edition includes a preface by Nick Newlin containing helpful advice on how to put on a Shakespeare performance in a high school class with novice actors, as well as an appendix with suggestions for the specific play and recommendations for further resources.

An improved, larger-format edition of the Cambridge School Shakespeare plays, extensively rewritten, expanded and produced in an attractive new design. An active approach to classroom Shakespeare enables students to inhabit Shakespeare's imaginative world in accessible and creative ways. Students are encouraged to share Shakespeare's love of language, interest in character and sense of theatre. Substantially revised and extended, classroom activities are thematically organised in distinctive 'Stagecraft', 'Write about it', 'Language in the play', 'Characters' and 'Themes' features. Extended glossaries are aligned with the play text for easy reference. Expanded endnotes include extensive essay-writing guidance for 'The Taming of the Shrew' and Shakespeare. Includes rich, exciting colour photos of performances of 'The Taming of the Shrew' from around the world.

Written in 1836, Woyzeck is often considered to be the first truly modern play. The story of a soldier driven mad by inhuman military discipline and acute social deprivation is told in splintered dialogue and jagged episodes, which are as shocking and telling today as they were when first performed, almost a century after the author's death, in Munich 1913. This edition contains introductory commentary and notes by Laura Martin from the University of Glasgow. METHUEN DRAMA STUDENT EDITIONS are expertly annotated texts of a wide range of plays from the modern and classic repertoires. A well as the complete text of the play itself, this volume contains: * A chronology of the play and the playwright's life and work * an introductory discussion of the social, political, cultural and economic context in which the play was originally conceived and created * a succinct overview of the creation processes followed and subsequent performance history of the piece * an analysis of, and commentary on, some of the major themes and specific issues addressed by the text * a bibliography of suggested primary and secondary materials for further study.

Get young people excited about Shakespeare! The best way to experience the plays is to perform them, but getting started can be a challenge: The complete plays are too long and complex, while scene selections or simplified language are too limited. "The 30-Minute Shakespeare" is a new series of abridgements that tell the "story" of each play from start to finish while keeping the beauty of Shakespeare's language intact. Specific stage directions and character suggestions give even inexperienced actors the tools to perform Shakespeare with confidence, understanding, and fun! This cutting focuses on three ridiculously funny and vibrant scenes from A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM. The first scene starts with Puck mistakenly anointing the eyes of the wrong lovers with love potion, leading to a madcap chase scene between Helena, Lysander, Hermia, and Demetrius. Scene two features Bottom's magical transformation to an ass, always an audience favorite. The final scene is the classic play within a play, where the "Rude Mechanicals" act out with "tragical mirth" the story of Pyramus and Thisbe, with specific comic suggestions for the characters, including Lion chasing Thisbe into the audience! The edition also includes an essay by editor Nick Newlin on how to produce a Shakespeare play with novice actors, and notes about the original production of this abridgement at the Folger Shakespeare Library's annual Student Shakespeare Festival.

Planning a school or amateur Shakespeare production? The best way to experience the plays is to perform them, but getting started can be a challenge: The complete plays are too long and complex, while scene selections or simplified language are too limited. "The 30-Minute Shakespeare" is a new series of abridgements that tell the "story" of each play from start to finish while keeping the beauty of Shakespeare's language intact. Specific stage directions and character suggestions give even inexperienced actors the tools to perform Shakespeare with confidence, understanding, and fun! This cutting of MACBETH is edited to seven key scenes, opening with the Weird Sisters predicting Macbeth's fate. Also included are Macbeth and his villainous wife plotting to murder King Duncan, the appearance of Banquo's ghost at the banquet, the Witches' unforgettable "double double toil and trouble" scene, and Lady Macbeth's riveting "out, damned spot" sleepwalk. In the finale, the entire cast recites Macbeth's poignant "tomorrow, tomorrow, and tomorrow" speech in unison. The edition also includes an essay by editor Nick Newlin on how to produce a Shakespeare play with novice actors, and notes about the original production of this abridgement at the Folger Shakespeare Library's annual Student Shakespeare Festival.

Planning a school or amateur Shakespeare production? The best way to experience the plays is to perform them, but getting started can be a challenge: The complete plays are too long and complex, while scene selections or simplified language are too limited. "The 30-Minute Shakespeare" is a new series of abridgements that tell the "story" of each play from start to finish while keeping the beauty of Shakespeare's language intact. Specific stage directions and character suggestions give even inexperienced actors the tools to perform Shakespeare with confidence, understanding, and fun! This cutting of TWELFTH NIGHT, Shakespeare's bittersweet comic masterpiece, consists of three classic scenes. After an extended introductory narration, the action begins with Feste the Fool consoling a mourning Lady Olivia with wit and wordplay. Viola (disguised as a male Cesario) woos Olivia on behalf of Duke Orsino, but Olivia falls for the messenger Viola/Cesario instead. The final scene in Olivia's kitchen gives young actors an easy and specific way to play late-night revelry, as Sir Toby Belch and his friends amuse themselves with the censorious but ultimately hapless Malvolio. One highlight of the production is a group "rap" version of the song "Come Away Death." The edition also includes an essay by editor Nick Newlin on how to produce a Shakespeare play with novice actors, and notes about the original production of this abridgement at the Folger Shakespeare Library's annual Student Shakespeare Festival.

Planning a school or amateur Shakespeare production? The best way to experience the plays is to perform them, but getting started can be a challenge: The complete plays are too long and complex, while scene selections or simplified language are too limited. "The 30-Minute Shakespeare" is a new series of abridgements that tell the "story" of each play from start to finish while keeping the beauty of Shakespeare's language intact. Specific stage directions and character suggestions give even inexperienced actors the tools to perform Shakespeare with confidence, understanding, and fun! This cutting of THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR begins with one of Shakespeare's favorite fat knights, Sir John Falstaff, announcing his intention to woo both Mistress Ford and Mistress Page simultaneously, to the delight of his cohorts Bardolph, Pistol, and Nym, who then decide to double-cross Falstaff. The characters' movements on stage are clearly denoted so that even inexperienced actors can give the scenes life: Robin is nearsighted, Bardolph is a drunk who tries to juggle, and Pistol and Nym are constantly jostling for position. Other key moments include the hilarious wooing of Mistress Ford by Falstaff and the hysterical concealment of Falstaff in the laundry basket. The cutting ends in the woods with Falstaff dressed as a stag, being tormented by fairies for his comeuppance. The edition also includes an essay by editor Nick Newlin on how to produce a Shakespeare play with novice actors, and notes about the original production of this abridgement at the Folger Shakespeare Library's annual Student Shakespeare Festival.

"Love's Labor's Lost: The 30-Minute Shakespeare" plays three action-packed scenes from this tale of King Navarre and his three lords, who have vowed to retire from women for three years. Naturally, the Princess of France and her three ladies arrive, and comedic courtship ensues.

The cutting includes the ridiculous dance of the lords disguised as Russians, the hysterical "Pageant of the Nine Worthies," and a dramatic, bittersweet ending that leaves the King and the three lords laboring for love.

The edition includes a preface by Nick Newlin containing helpful advice on how to put on a Shakespeare performance in a high school class with novice actors, as well as an appendix with suggestions for the specific play and recommendations for further resources.

"King Lear: The 30-Minute Shakespeare" renders six powerful scenes from this enduring tragedy. Starting with Lear's banishment of Cordelia, the plot advances irresistibly, featuring scenes of brother Edmund's villainous plotting and the Fool's witty, weighty wordplay.

The action climaxes with the storm on the heath, where Lear and Poor Tom rail in exquisite madness. The abridgement concludes with moving scenes of Cordelia's tender reconciliation with King Lear and their heart-rending demise.

The edition includes helpful advice by Nick Newlin on how to put on a Shakespeare production in a high school class with novice actors, as well as tips for performing the specific play and recommendations for further resources.

"Othello: The 30-Minute Shakespeare" is a gripping seven-scene interpretation of this Shakespearean masterpiece.

There is a dramatic build as each successive event draws Othello closer to jealous rage. Iago convinces Othello that Desdemona has been unfaithful to him with Cassio. He plants Desdemona's handkerchief in Cassio's chamber, orchestrating Othello's undoing.

The plot concludes with Othello outrageously smothering Desdemona, discovering the truth of his deception, and dying by his own hand. This is tragedy at its finest, and performable in just a half hour.

The edition includes helpful advice by Nick Newlin on how to put on a Shakespeare production in a high school class with novice actors, as well as tips for performing the specific play and recommendations for further resources.

"King Henry IV, Part I: The 30-Minute Shakespeare" combines comedy, tragedy, and history into a rollicking six-scene drama performable in a half hour.

This adaptation includes tavern revelry, highway robbery, and the telling role-reversal scene between the inimitable Falstaff and young Prince Hal.

The play also features the rivalry between Glendower and Hotspur and the touching reconciliation between King Henry IV and his son Hal. The action climaxes with the riveting battle scene, and includes as a coda the new King Henry V's brutal rejection of his former friend Falstaff.

The edition includes helpful advice by Nick Newlin on how to put on a Shakespeare production in a high school class with novice actors, as well as tips for performing the specific play and recommendations for further resources.