Productions
- Shakespeare repertoire
The writer at the heart of Second Age's repertoire was always Shakespeare. The company’s primary production in January/February was always the play set for study in fifth year for senior cycle studies. This tended to work on a four-year cycle of Hamlet , King Lear , Macbeth and Othello . In addition the company has presented at various times, productions of Romeo and Juliet , As You Like It and The Merchant of Venice . Each time the cycle is re-visited a brand new production is created for that year.
The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, often shortened to Hamlet, is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare at an uncertain date between 1599 and 1602. Set in Denmark, the play dramatises the revenge Prince Hamlet is called to wreak upon his uncle, Claudius, by the ghost of Hamlet's father, King Hamlet. Claudius had murdered his own brother and seized the throne, also marrying his deceased brother's widow.
King Lear is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It depicts the gradual descent into madness of the title character, after he disposes of his kingdom by giving bequests to two of his three daughters egged on by their continual flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. Derived from the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological pre-Roman Celtic king, the play has been widely adapted for the stage and motion pictures, with the title role coveted by many of the world's most accomplished actors.
Macbeth is a tragedy by William Shakespeare; it is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power for its own sake. Of all the plays that Shakespeare wrote during the reign of James I, who was patron of Shakespeare's acting company, Macbeth most clearly reflects the playwright's relationship with his sovereign. It was first published in the Folio of 1623, possibly from a prompt book, and is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy.
- Other plays
Other plays on the Leaving Certificate syllabus were also staged when time and resources permitted, and included, The Plough and the Stars, The Playboy of the Western World, Philadelphia, Here I Come! and How Many Miles to Babylon.
The Plough and the Stars is a four-act play by the Irish writer Seán O'Casey that was first performed on February 8, 1926 at the Abbey Theatre. It is set in Dublin and addresses the 1916 Easter Rising. The play's title references the Starry Plough flag which was used by the Irish Citizen Army.
The Playboy of the Western World is a three-act play written by Irish playwright John Millington Synge and first performed at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, on 26 January 1907. It is set in Michael James Flaherty's public house in County Mayo during the early 1900s. It tells the story of Christy Mahon, a young man running away from his farm, claiming he killed his father.
Philadelphia, Here I Come! is a 1964 play by Irish dramatist Brian Friel. Set in the fictional town of Ballybeg, County Donegal, the play launched Friel onto the international stage.
Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension.
Brownsea Open Air Theatre is an open-air Shakespearian theatre company based in Poole, Dorset that have performed large theatrical productions since 1964. Annually performing a play from the extensive works of William Shakespeare for three weeks in July and August, the production is set on the National Trust's Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour with boats transporting patrons to the island from Poole Quay.
The Great River Shakespeare Festival (GRSF) is a professional equity theatre company in Winona, Minnesota, a Mississippi River town in the southeastern part of the state. It produces three simultaneous performances each summer, held at the Winona State University Performing Arts Center. Starting in 2004, it has run for 12 seasons with annual audiences of over 10,000. Its 2015 Season ran from June 24-August 3, and featured three mainstage plays and one apprentice/intern production.
Shakespeare Santa Cruz was an annual professional theatre festival in Santa Cruz, California, which ran from 1981 to 2013. After losing the financial support of the University of California, Santa Cruz, the company was relaunched through crowdfunding as Santa Cruz Shakespeare.
Shakespeare by the Sea was a summer outdoor event held at Balmoral Beach in Sydney's northern suburbs, using a band rotunda as a backdrop, that ran in summer for twenty-five seasons, from 1987 to 2011.
The Chesapeake Shakespeare Company was founded in 2002 and quickly received a great deal of attention for its high-energy approach to the works of Shakespeare and other classics. Performing both in its indoor and outdoor homes in Ellicott City, the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company attracts a regional audience from Baltimore, Washington and beyond.
The Illinois Shakespeare Festival (ISF) is held in Bloomington, Illinois, United States. It began in 1978 and it celebrated its 30th season in the summer of 2007. The Festival usually presents three pieces by "The Bard" as a revolving rep, though occasionally the third piece is from a contemporaneous playwright.
The Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival is an annual Shakespearean theatre festival in Philadelphia. Every year, The Festival produces two or three productions of Shakespeare's plays. Starting out as the Red Heel Theatre in 1989, and changing name and purpose in 1993, The Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival is now the region’s only theatre devoted entirely to Shakespeare’s works. In 2008/9, they engaged in intensive planning with the board of directors and cultural and community leaders and decided to re-brand and rename the company to better reflect their programming. The Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre now has several programs for adults and students including a lecture series featuring world-renowned Shakespeare scholars, Shakespeare School Tour which also tours in schools, and a Classical Acting Academy providing early career actors with intense classical training culminating in a free summer Shakespeare play for the public.
The Pendley Open Air Shakespeare Festival is, as the name implies, an annual festival dedicated to the plays of William Shakespeare. It takes place at the beginning of August at Pendley Manor, a hotel in Tring, Hertfordshire.
Rupert Goold, is an English theatre director. He is the artistic director of the Almeida Theatre. Goold was the artistic director of Headlong Theatre Company (2005–2013).
Thousands of performances of William Shakespeare's plays have been staged since the end of the 16th century. While Shakespeare was alive, many of his greatest plays were performed by the Lord Chamberlain's Men and King's Men acting companies at the Globe and Blackfriars Theatres. Among the actors of these original performances were Richard Burbage, Richard Cowley, and William Kempe.
The Shakespeare Theatre Company is a regional theatre company located in Washington, United States. The theatre company focuses primarily on plays from the Shakespeare canon, but its seasons include works by other classic playwrights such as Euripides, Henrik Ibsen and Oscar Wilde.
Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare is a 1907 collection published by E. Nesbit with the intention of entertaining young readers and telling William Shakespeare's plays in a way they could be easily understood. She included a brief Shakespeare biography, a pronunciation guide to some of the more difficult names and a list of famous quotations, arranged by subject.
- A Midsummer Night's Dream
- The Tempest
- As You Like It
- The Winter's Tale
- King Lear
- Twelfth Night
- Much Ado About Nothing
- Romeo and Juliet
- Pericles
- Hamlet
- Cymbeline
- Macbeth
- The Comedy of Errors
- The Merchant of Venice
- Timon of Athens
- Othello
- The Taming of the Shrew
- Measure for Measure
- Two Gentlemen of Verona
- All's Well That Ends Well
The Shakespeare by the Sea Festival is an annual event that runs throughout the months of July and August in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada that presents outdoor productions of the plays of William Shakespeare, as well as pieces related to the province and culture.
Women in Shakespeare is a topic within the especially general discussion of Shakespeare's dramatic and poetic works. Main characters such as Dark Lady of the sonnets have elicited a substantial amount of criticism, which received added impetus during the second-wave feminism of the 1960s. A considerable number of book-length studies and academic articles investigate the topic, and several moons of Uranus are named after women in Shakespeare.
The Ian Charleson Awards are theatrical awards that reward the best classical stage performances in Britain by actors under age 30. The awards are named in memory of the renowned British actor Ian Charleson, and are run by the Sunday Times newspaper and the National Theatre. The awards were established in 1990 after Charleson's death, and have been awarded annually since then. Sunday Times theatre critic John Peter initiated the creation of the awards, particularly in memory of Charleson's extraordinary Hamlet, which he had performed shortly before his death. Recipients receive a cash prize, as do runners-up and third-place winners.
The Nashville Shakespeare Festival is a Shakespeare festival in Nashville, Tennessee.
Shakespeare by the Sea is a nonprofit organization that was launched in 1998 by Producing Artistic Director Lisa Coffi. Shakespeare by the Sea offers a free repertory season that runs for ten weeks throughout Los Angeles and Orange County. All performances are admission free. Each summer, the company tours about 20 cities for as many as 40 performances.
Georgia Shakespeare was a professional, not-for-profit theatre company located in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States on the campus of Oglethorpe University from 1985-2014. Georgia Shakespeare produced plays annually, primarily between June and November. At its peak, it welcomed 60,000 patrons annually to its performances.
Eric Maxon (1882–1963) was an English stage and early film actor and member of the Royal Shakespeare Company for whom, for a period, he also designed the costumes.
