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 Blagger's Guide
Pass yourself off as a Shakespeare expert with our Blagger's Guide.
Take a look at our at-a-glance rundown of a selection of the Bard's best-known plays.
Romeo and Juliet - The original star-crossed lovers
Romeo is banned from seeing his true love and decides against all odds he must see his intended despite the original mother of all rifts between their families. They literally can't live without each other and meet tragic ends.
Antony and Cleopatra - an epic historical romance
The Egyptian queen's tempestuous romance with Antony is played out against war-torn Rome. Cleopatra has a passionate affair with the married Roman leader and lives a life of decadence until civil war breaks out. She continues to fight for his affections and after losing the battle of Actium he returns to his mistress and dies in her arms. Cleopatra is heartbroken and captured by Caesar she commits suicide by putting an asp down her bra.
As You Like It - Girls who love boys...
....who love boys who love girls. This elaborate cross dressing mish-mash has the characters running amuck in the Forest of Arden. Heroine Rosalind becomes a boy pretending to be a girl pretending to be a boy. Confused? You will be!
The Comedy of Errors - double trouble in Ephesus
Shakespeare's Dead Ringers comedy sees two sets of identical brothers, both separated at birth: Antipholus of Ephesus and Antipholus of Syracuse, and their respective servants Dromio of Ephesus and Dromio of Syracuse. All four individuals co-incidentally turn up in the same city on the same day whichs result in crazy and uproarious events.
Cymbeline - mistaken identity in ancient Wales
This comedy of twists and turns sees its players weaving disguises, false identities, apparent deaths and intrigue. Shakespeare plays games with his audience until the finale where almost all the cast appears from their hiding place to reveal the mystery behind this plot.
Hamlet - "Alas, poor Yorick"
The Prince of Denmark is out to revenge his father's death. Is the indecisive, gloomy Prince really mad, or just pretending? Whatever the answer, his manic depressive behaviour causes chaos to all around him.
All's Well That Ends Well - does what it says on the tin
Newly wed Helena is abandoned by a petulant Bertram who insists that unless she can remove his wedding ring and produce a child by him he has no intention of upholding his marriage vows. Ever hopeful Helena somehow manages this mean feat and regains her boorish husband.
Henry IV, Parts 1 & 2 - a Prince proves himself
Henry IV is threatened by Harry Hotspur, but his son Prince Hal seems more interested in boozing and hanging out with his lowlife chums, most notably that fat reprobate Sir John Falstaff. But Hal shapes up in battle, kills Hotspur and, on his father's death, ascends the throne and abandons his former friends.
Henry V - "Cry God, for Harry, England and St George"
The former wastrel Prince Hal has now become a shrewd and courageous monarch. His invasion of France leads to overwhelming triumph at the battle of Agincourt, not least because of the stirring quality of his speeches to his troops. Like Hamlet, its many famous lines are fodder for the quiz compilers.
Henry VI, Parts 1,2 & 3 - The Godfather, with swords
Shakespeare took as his source material the Chronicles of the 16th-century historian Raphael Holinshed and produced a narrative of the Wars of the Roses, the bloody battle for the throne between the Yorkists and Lancastrians. Part One was written after the other two - possibly the first example of a prequel.
Henry VIII - A royal marriage with three people in it
Shakespeare and John Fletcher collaborated on this retelling of the royal love triangle of Henry VIII, Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn and the machinations of Cardinal Wolsey. The Globe Theatre in Southwark burnt down during its first run, which may partly account for its lack of critical success.
King Lear - Honour thy father...
Lear decides to abdicate and split his kingdom between his three daughters, Goneril, Regan and Cordelia. Cordelia refuses to flatter her father like her sisters and is banished. Goneril and Regan betray Lear who goes mad. The bleakest ending in Shakespeare has Lear cradling his murdered daughter Cordelia in his arms.
Macbeth - The Scottish play
The shortest and most intense of the great tragedies. After receiving a prophecy of his future kingship from three witches, Macbeth, encouraged by his wife, murders King Duncan. His reign continues bloodily and his conscience increasingly disturbs him. Finally Macduff and the other forces of revenge surround Macbeth and kill him.
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