Showing results by narrator "Blaise Doran" in All Categories

The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus is one of the earliest and most compelling presentations of the story of a man who sold his soul to the Devil. It is based on the popular history of Johann Georg Faust (1466–1541) a German chemist and magician, allegedly perished in an explosion during an alchemical experiment. In the theologically charged world of early reformation Germany, a report spread that his violent death was a demonstration that the devil had come to collect his soul. The legend spread quickly and has formed the basis of many later literary and dramatic works.

Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, and As You Like It are usually regarded as Shakespeare’s crowning achievements in the world of mirth and humor. In this group of plays, written during the playwright’s Second Period (1595–1600), the author depicts chiefly the cheerful, energetic side...

Shakespeare’s history plays fall into two categories: political dramas and propagandistic pageants. The second category is comprised of the two plays in this presentation, Henry V and Henry VIII. These two plays have many elements in common. An underlying theme is the necessity and glory of...

This full cast presentation includes Part 1 and Part 2 of Shakespeare’s Henry IV. In 1598 appeared a Quarto with the following title: The History of Henrie the Fourth; With the Battell at Shrewsburie, betweene the King and Lord Henry Percy, surnamed Henrie Hotspur of the North. With the...

This collection contains eight of Shakespeare’s best loved comedies. Each exhibits the vigour, humour, and optimism of the young master before he turned to the gloom and bitterness of the great tragedies. Contents A Midsummer Night’s Dream All’s Well That Ends Well Twelfth Night Much Ado...

Mistaken identity (which the Elizabethans called “Error”) is nearly always amusing, whether on the stage or in actual life. The Comedy of Errors is a play in which this situation is developed to the extreme of improbability – but we lose sight of this improbability in the roaring fun which...

When it was first published in 1847, Wuthering Heights was considered highly controversial for its blunt portrayal of domestic abuse, alcoholism, and the dismissal of Christian values by some of its characters. Today, this gothic novel is considered one of the greatest in English literature.

First published in 1847, Jane Eyre was the last and most popular of the novels composed by the Brontë sisters. The narrative bristles with energy and passionate conviction, and is one of the first novels written from the perspective of a child.

A society wife shoots her husband on a crowded street, shouting 'I did it!' Then she pleads Not Guilty. The courtroom becomes a battleground as two of Melbourne's fiercest legal minds face off: the principled prosecutor who plays for justice, and the flamboyant showman who plays to the crowd. Newspapers howl. The city takes sides. And at the centre stands Mrs Kathleen Fraser: volatile, defiant, and impossible to ignore.

Together with The Tempest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of Shakespeare’s most magical plays. One night, two parties creep from Athens into the surrounding forest. One party includes sweethearts Lysander and Hermia, fleeing from Athenian law and the disapproval of Hermia’s father to get...

Antonio, a wealthy and popular merchant, is in financial difficulty. He approaches a Jewish money lender, Shylock, who agrees to provide 3000 ducats, with a very curious bond – a pound of the merchant’s flesh, to be levied if Antonio fails to make a timely repayment. Feeling confident that...

Measure for Measure is one of darkest of Shakespeare’s comedies. Written in about 1603 and first performed in 1604, it immediately preceded the composition of the major tragedies Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth. Duke Vincentino, the ruler of Vienna, fears that under his mild sovereignty, the...