Showing titles in Drama

Lady Susan is an epistolary novel by Jane Austen about a beautiful and manipulative widow scheming to arrange wealthy marriages for herself and her daughter. This book is the basis for the film Love & Friendship, written and directed by Whit Stillman, and starring Kate Beckinsale and Chloe Sevigny. This dramatized production is presented by the Online Stage.

Lysistrata is an ancient Greek comedy by Aristophanes, which was originally performed in Athens in 411 BC. It is a comic account of a woman's extraordinary quest to terminate the Peloponnesian War between Greek city states, by advocating that the women deny all the men of the land any sex. At a meeting, Lysistrata persuades the women of the warring cities to withhold sexual privileges from their men. She has also persuaded the older women of Athens to seize the Acropolis.

Fresh off his victory at The Battle of Lodi, Napoleon is planning to enjoy his lunch when a lieutenant arrives with the bad news that the dispatches he had been carrying were stolen. Infuriated, Napoleon threatens him with being court-martialed unless he can recover them. A woman appears who claims to know about the theft. Unconvinced of her story, Napoleon and the woman enter into a battle of wits in true Shaw style. Will the conqueror of worlds end up conquered by a woman?

Controversy and hidden pasts are suddenly and painfully exposed as wealthy widow Mrs Alving prepares to open a new orphanage in memory of her husband. Her treasured son Oswald’s return from Paris and her relationship with old friend Pastor Manders are no longer the source of joy they once were, as secrets are turned into a frightening and desperate reality.

Clifford Odets’ masterpiece, starring Mark Ruffalo, Jane Kaczmarek, Richard Kind, and Ben Gazzara, brings to life the struggles of a working-class family aspiring to the promise of the American Dream. Even as they endure the country’s worst economic nightmare, three generations of an immigrant family are crowded into a Bronx tenement, fiercely determined to stay afloat, no matter what the cost.

Written by Susan Glaspell in 1916, Trifles is a one-act play about a woman accused of strangling her husband. Based on an actual murder case reported by Glaspell for the Des Moines News, the play represented an early exploration of gender relationships in a time when women often were considered to be mere trifles. A groundbreaking feminist play, Trifles is often included in anthologies of drama and literature.

The Code of the Woosters is one of the best known of Wodehouse's Bertie and Jeeves series. Bertie's beloved Aunt Dahlia pressures him into stealing a cow-shaped silver creamer much coveted by his uncle from his arch rival in silver collecting, Sir Watkyn Bassett. At the same time, Bertie attempts to patch up the shaky romance between Guisse Fink-Nottle, the newt expert, and Madeline Bassett, a four star drip. The results of Bertie's efforts are, as always, a financial disaster.

Chekhov’s masterpiece in a full-cast performance starring Tessa Thompson, Jennifer Westfeldt, Sarah Zimmerman and Jon Hamm. Meet Olga, Masha, and Irina, warm and cultured young sisters who were reared in the exciting hubbub of Moscow, but have been living in the dull, gossipy backwaters of Russia for far too long.

Brilliantly manipulative and entirely amoral, the hero-villain Richard is one of Shakespeare's greatest roles. The Yorkists have emerged victorious from the civil wars and Edward IV wears the English crown. But Edward's misshapen brother Richard harbors kingly ambitions and will stop at nothing to achieve the throne. In a fatal battle on Bosworth Field, Richard meets the ghosts of all whom he has murdered and the Earl of Richmond, the future King Henry VII.

Miss Julie is probably the most famous play by the Swedish playwright August Strindberg, one of the founding fathers of naturalistic theater. In this claustrophobic drama, the interplay between social order and individual identity is explored in great detail. At the end the aristocratic Julie, goaded by her manipulative manservant, John, is faced with the ultimate decision: independence or annihilation.

Judith Anderson and Anthony Quayle perform 'Medea', an ancient Greek tragedy written by Euripides. It is based upon the myth of Jason and Medea and first produced in 431 BC. The plot centers on the barbarian protagonist as she finds her position in the Greek world threatened, and the revenge she takes against her husband Jason who has betrayed her for another woman.

Oliver Twist is the well-loved tale of an orphan, who starts life in a workhouse and finds himself embroiled in London's criminal underworld, before being saved by a kind gentleman who knows something of his surprising family history. A satire and social commentary as well as a page-turning yarn, full of grit, wit, and some of the most memorable characters in English Literature. The second published serialised novel by Charles Dickens, The British Library remarks that "it has proven to be one of the best-loved novels in the history of literature".

Inspiriert von der griechischen Mythologie erzählt Goethe die Geschichte von Iphigenie, die als Priesterin auf der Insel Tauris lebt und zwischen ihrer Pflicht und ihrem Wunsch nach Freiheit hin- und hergerissen ist. Das Drama thematisiert die Macht der Menschlichkeit, Vernunft und Gerechtigkeit in einer Welt, die von Konflikten geprägt ist.

Mit "Medea" schuf Euripides eines der eindrucksvollsten Dramen der griechischen Antike. Im Mittelpunkt steht Medea, die von ihrem Mann Jason für eine andere verlassen wird – und deren Reaktion in eine der radikalsten Taten der Tragödienliteratur mündet. Die Tragödie thematisiert Liebe, Rache, Machtlosigkeit und die Stellung der Frau – und zeigt, wie Schmerz, Stolz und Ausgrenzung einen Menschen zu tragischen Entscheidungen bewegen können. Ein weltberühmter Stoff – Medeas Geschichte wird bis heute auf den Bühnen der Welt gespielt und diskutiert.

"Die Perser" (472 v. Chr.) ist die älteste erhaltene Tragödie der Literaturgeschichte. Das Werk schildert aus der Perspektive der persischen Königsfamilie den katastrophalen Untergang von Xerxes' Flotte bei Salamis. In eindringlichen Chor- und Monologszenen schildern Atossa, der verstorbene König Dareios und Xerxes selbst das Trauma einer untergehenden Großmacht. Aischylos, selbst Veteran von Marathon und Salamis, mahnt vor Hybris und lädt zur Empathie mit den Besiegten ein. Ein dramatisches, historisch verwurzeltes Meisterwerk – reich an Sprache, Emotion & zeitlosem moralischem Gewicht.

Mit "Lysistrate" schuf Aristophanes eine der bekanntesten Komödien des antiken Griechenlands. Das Stück wurde 411 v. Chr. uraufgeführt – mitten im Peloponnesischen Krieg – und ist bis heute ein Paradebeispiel für politische Satire, weiblichen Protest und kluge Komik. In der Handlung verbünden sich die Frauen Athens und Spartas, um ihre Männer zum Frieden zu zwingen – indem sie den Geschlechtsverkehr verweigern. Was folgt, ist eine bissige, humorvolle und überraschend moderne Auseinandersetzung mit Krieg, Macht, Geschlechterrollen und gesellschaftlichem Wandel.

In "Antigone", eine der wohl bekanntesten Tragödien des griechischen Dramatikers Sophokles, widersetzt sich die junge Frau dem Befehl des Königs: Sie will ihren Bruder Polyneikes ehrenvoll bestatten – obwohl dieser als Staatsfeind gilt. Ihr Mut, das menschliche Gewissen über das staatliche Gesetz zu stellen, führt zu einer dramatischen Kettenreaktion. Der Konflikt zwischen Pflicht, Macht, Familie und göttlichem Recht macht Antigone bis heute zu einem der meistgespielten Dramen der Weltliteratur.

Nearly three thousand years after they were composed, The Iliad and The Odyssey remain two of the most celebrated and widely read stories ever told, yet next to nothing is known about their author. He was certainly an accomplished Greek bard, and he probably lived in the late eighth and early seventh centuries BCE Authorship is traditionally ascribed to a blind poet named Homer, and it is under this name that the works are still published.

Im Zentrum steht der Gelehrte Heinrich Faust, der einen verhängnisvollen Pakt mit Mephisto schließt, um grenzenloses Wissen und irdische Genüsse zu erlangen. Goethes Drama vereint existenzielle Fragen, große Gefühle und tiefgründige Sprache – und ist bis heute ein zeitloses Meisterwerk der Weltliteratur.

Rediscover an enduring classic in a transformative new light. "Oedipus Rex," the remarkable tragedy penned by Sophocles, has been masterfully revitalized in this riveting and immersive audiobook experience.