Alamosa Public Library

Each play in this series has an extensive range of students' notes. These include detailed explanations of difficult words and passages, a synopsis of the plot and summaries of individual scenes, and notes on the main characters.

Villainy and Treachery-- Richard III tells of the story of how Richard steals the kingdom from his young nephew after the death of his brother Edward. There is much murder and treachery until Richmond leads a revolt against Richard. Now is the winter of our discontent Made glorious summer by this sun of York; And all the clouds that lour'd upon our house In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.

Brutus, best friend of the Roman ruler Caesar, reluctantly joins a successful plot to murder Caesar and subsequently destroys himself.

Two minor characters from "Hamlet" .. take the lead role and offer a ... 'worm's-eye' view ... where fate leads our two heroes to a tragic but inevitable end.

"Not all the water in the rough rude sea/Can wash the balm off from an anointed king," declares the soon-to-be deposed ruler of this historical drama. Confident in his divine right, Richard II is an ineffective and unpopular king who abuses his power and sows the seeds of his own downfall. Toppled from the throne by Henry, his ambitious cousin, Richard only learns to value kingship after he loses it, achieving a tragic dignity only with his downfall....

Loyalty and Heredity-- King Henry VIII covers the period of Henry's reign from shortly after he becomes king to the birth of Elizabeth, who would one day become queen and for whom the play was written. The firing of a cannon during the very first performance of this play caused a fire that burnt the Globe theater to the ground. Heat not a furnace for your foe so hot That it do singe yourself. We may outrun By violent swiftness that which we run at,...

Shakespearean scholar Kate Stanley and Ben Pearl, her partner in crime-solving, find themselves in a desperate race to discover a lost version of "Macbeth," said to contain rituals of witchcraft aimed at conjuring demonic forces to gain forbidden knowledge. However much Kate would like to dismiss such rituals as superstition, someone else appears willing to kill for them--and for the manuscript said to spell them out.

In the heart of Elizabethan England, Richard Shakespeare dreams of a glittering career in one of the London playhouses, a world dominated by his older brother, William. But he is a penniless actor, making ends meet through a combination of a beautiful face, petty theft and a silver tongue. As Williams star rises, Richards onetime gratitude is souring and he is sorely tempted to abandon family loyalty.So when a priceless manuscript goes missing, suspicion...

A brief biography of the world's most famous playwright, using only historically correct information.

Presents the original text of Shakespeare's play side by side with a modern version, discusses the author and the theater of his time, and provides quizzes and other study activities. His exciting story of kingship and conspiracy, merry-making and mortal combat, unfolds in plain everyday English. Modern English version side-by-side with full original text.