The Merchant of Venice

Venice, 1596. Bassanio begs his friend Antonio, a prosperous merchant, to lend him a large sum of money so that he can woo Portia, a very wealthy heiress; but Antonio has invested his fortune abroad, so they turn to Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, and ask him for a loan.

Juliet & Romeo

Set in 1301 at the end of Medieval times, our most famous star-crossed lovers turn the tides on the history Shakespeare based his own story on, as they reveal the truth to the very future of the Empire. But the biggest twist in this most beloved of tales, is leaving the poetry of Iambic Pentameter in the past, for the original pop music that rockets these ever-present themes right to the heart of our characters in the most surprising, and perhaps most powerful way that has ever been seen, or heard, before... The greatest love story of all time, set to the greatest music of our time.

King Lear

King Lear, old and tired, divides his kingdom among his daughters, giving great importance to their protestations of love for him. When Cordelia, youngest and most honest, refuses to idly flatter the old man in return for favor, he banishes her and turns for support to his remaining daughters. But Goneril and Regan have no love for him and instead plot to take all his power from him. In a parallel, Lear's loyal courtier Gloucester favors his illegitimate son Edmund after being told lies about his faithful son Edgar. Madness and tragedy befall both ill-starred fathers.

King Lear

James Earl Jones delivers a riveting performance as paranoid patriarch King Lear, an aging monarch who insists that his three daughters prove their love for him, only to learn he's exalted the two who seek to destroy him. This live performance recording of Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival production deftly envisions the bard's haunting tragedy with a fine supporting cast, including Raul Julia, Paul Sorvino and Rene Auberjonois.

The Hobart Shakespeareans

Rafe Esquith, 1992 American Teacher of the Year and National Medal of Arts recipient, teaches 5th-grade children whose parents don't speak English at a school in a dangerous, poor, drug-infested 100% Latino/Asian neighborhood in Los Angeles.

An Honourable Murder

A modern boardroom take on Julius Caesar.

Macbeth

Hallmark Hall of Fame's second version of Shakespeare's classic play, with the same two stars and the same director as its first version, but a different supporting cast.

Julius Caesar

A compelling study of personal ambition versus the good of the state.

King Lear

A tragedy by William Shakespeare about King Lear who intends to abdicate, and therefore wants to carve the kingdom up between his three daughters.

These Violent Delights

Juliet awakens from a fever dream. The lines between hallucination and memory blur as cinema and dance collide in a kaleidoscopic journey of belonging, defiance, and self-discovery. A vivid retelling of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet brought to life by Scottish Ballet.

Palm to Palm: Love. Home. Family

"Everybody should have a home. If you punish a nation, this is so abstract, it's very mean to use your power to put another country in your control... Instead of punishment, maybe we should have love." Eliane from Chile, Milad from Iran, and Georgia from Greece, three migrants in the UK and their thoughts on love, home, family, and Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

William Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus

A modern telling of William Shakespeare's darkest drama set against the backdrop of a corporate Rome.

Fall of a Sparrow

Jungle Fever

A successful and married black man contemplates having an affair with a white girl from work. He's quite rightly worried that the racial difference would make an already taboo relationship even worse.

The Last Metro

In occupied Paris, an actress married to a Jewish theater owner must keep him hidden from the Nazis while doing both of their jobs.

The Soft Skin

Pierre Lachenay is a well-known publisher and lecturer, married to Franca and father of Sabine. He starts a love affair with air hostess Nicole, which Pierre is hiding, but he cannot stay away from her.

Captain Corelli's Mandolin

When a fisherman leaves to fight with the Greek army during World War II, his fiancée falls in love with the local Italian commander.

West Side Story

In the slums of the upper West Side of Manhattan, tensions are high as a gang of Polish-Americans compete against a gang of recently immigrated Puerto Ricans, but this doesn't stop two romantics from each gang falling in love.

Bird on a Wire

An FBI informant has kept his new identity secret for 15 years. Now an old flame has recognised him, and the bad guys are back for revenge.

Weißer Holunder