Play Adaptations

A prince chained since birth. A terrible prophecy. A king willing to defy fate itself. Segismundo has never known freedom. Hidden away in a tower in the mountains of Poland, he grew up cut off from other men, unaware that he is the son of King Basilio and the rightful heir to the Crown. Even before his birth, though, the stars foretold a frightening future. Convinced that his son would bring violence, ruin, and humiliation upon the kingdom, Basilio resolved to stop the prophecy from coming true. But there is something even a king cannot fully control: the will of another man. Life Is a ...

This prose adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet includes: Complete retelling of the tragedy as a novel (18,700 words) Original afterword on the art and tradition of adapting Shakespeare Author biography of William Shakespeare Adapter biography with translation credentials A king is murdered by his brother. The dead man's son discovers the truth — and cannot act on it. Between the knowing and the doing, a kingdom falls. Hamlet is the most performed, most studied, and most quoted play in the English language. It is also one of the most difficult to actually read. Shakespeare wrote for actors,...

“Gilbert writes so well that you half-suspect he could give up the day job." The Independent. This dramatic version of Robert Louis Stevenson's novel, "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde", brings out the full horror of the original story as well as being a compelling play in its own right. Stevenson's narrative has been adapted so that six actors can perform it. This is the only stage version which is genuinely faithful to the text, using Stevenson's words where appropriate, as well as his chapter headings. It would be ideal for students to perform in small groups, particularly if ...

Seven legendary unproduced screenplays, resurrected and reinvented for BBC Radio 4 The annals of movie history are full of lost treasures – spectacular scripts from world-renowned writers that could have been classics, had they only been made. Now, for the first time, some of these forgotten...

One of seven of these 'unmade movies' available on audio, Victory is a dark, morally complex drama set in the Dutch East Indies in 1900. It tells the story of Baron Heyst, a mysterious Swedish recluse living alone on a deserted island whose life is changed forever when he visits a neighbouring island and falls in love with young English violinist Lena. Pursued by predatory older men, Lena is drawn to Heyst and escapes with him to his island retreat....  

Written around 1606 and preserved since 1623 in the First Folio, Macbeth is the darkest of Shakespeare's tragedies: a story of prophecy, ambition, and the consequences of surrendering to them. Few works in Western literature explore with such intensity what happens when human desire meets the promise of fate. This book presents a faithful reconstruction of The Tragedy of Macbeth, for readers who wish to discover — or revisit — the play exactly as it survives in Shakespeare's original text.

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. Two months after the king's sudden death, his widow has married his brother. The court celebrates while the dead king's son—Prince Hamlet—drowns in grief and suspicion. Then guards report an impossible sighting: the dead king's ghost, walking the battlements in full armor. When Hamlet confronts the apparition, he learns a terrible truth: his father was murdered. Poisoned by his own brother. And the ghost demands revenge. But how do you kill a king? How do you trust a ghost? How do you act when your mother has betrayed your father's memory, ...

A full-cast three-part adaptation of the Medieval Mystery Plays, introduced by David Buck During medieval religious holidays in certain English towns and cities, members of the various guilds would gather in the streets to re-enact Bible stories, from the Creation to the Last Judgment. Often...

Why do Shakespeare's plays continue to be read, studied, and performed more than four hundred years after they were written? Because the world changes—but human nature does not. The ambition that destroys Macbeth, the jealousy that consumes Othello, the love that unites and divides Romeo and Juliet, the pride that ruins King Lear, and the political intrigue that shapes Julius Caesar are not merely stories from a distant age. They are reflections of the same emotions, conflicts, desires, and struggles that continue to define human life today. Shakespeare's genius lies in his extraordinary ...

An adaptation for the stage of Charles Dickens' classic Christmas story. See Scrooge meet Marley and the three ghosts. Will Scrooge learn about the true meaning of Christmas? Will Tiny Tim survive? Who is the mysterious girl selling matches in the town square? An original take on a classic tale: witty, spooky and uplifting. Perfect for a quiet read or a production; and suitable for all ages.

The annals of movie history are full of lost treasures - spectacular scripts from world-renowned writers that could have been classics, had they only been made. Now, for the first time, some of these forgotten gems have been brought to life, fully realised as vivid, cinematic radio productions. Scripted by major 20th-century writers, including Harold Pinter, Arthur Miller, Alfred Hitchcock and Dennis Potter, they star a host of A-list actors and feature richly evocative, atmospheric soundtracks.

Twelve classic TV episodes featuring Yorkshire’s irrepressible adventurer-pensioners, with linking narration by Peter Sallis Initially conceived as a one-off for TV’s ‘Comedy Playhouse’, Last of the Summer Wine ran for an amazing 37 years on BBC One between 1973 and 2010, attracting...

The annals of movie history are full of lost treasures - spectacular scripts from world-renowned writers that could have been classics, had they only been made. Now, for the first time, some of these forgotten gems have been brought to life, fully realised as vivid, cinematic radio productions. Scripted by major 20th-century writers, including Harold Pinter, Arthur Miller, Alfred Hitchcock and Dennis Potter, they star a host of A-list actors and feature richly evocative, atmospheric soundtracks.

Presence, the Play offers a penetrating perspective on the vital role personal presence plays in the essence of life. This timely, captivating novel speaks to a growing hunger for a way of life that’s real and tangible, the opposite of an artificial existence lived in a realm of mediated connectivity.

In The Unquenchable Thirst of Dracula, one of seven 'unmade movies' available on audio, it is 1934, and young Englishwoman Penny is travelling by train across India in search of her missing sister. En route, she meets sibling artistes Prem and Lakshmi, who have been hired by a Maharajah and his wife, the Rani, to entertain their aristocratic European guest. But evil lurks in the hidden caverns beneath the ancient palace, where the acolytes of a fiendish blood cult await their next human sacrifice.... 

A major motion picture (2007) from Oscar-winning director Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Brokeback Mountain): an intensely passionate story of love and espionage, set in Shanghai during World War II. In the midst of the Japanese occupation of China and Hong Kong, two lives become...

The White Hotel, one of seven 'unmade movies' available on audio, centres around circus performer Lisa, who visits famous Berlin psychoanalyst Dr Probst to discover the cause of her mysterious breast and pelvic pains. Reading her sexually charged journal, Probst concludes that the answer lies in her past. But then Lisa reveals her unsettling premonitions - 'I see what is going to happen. And what is going to happen cannot be endured.' Is her trauma really the result of childhood memories or a dark vision of the future?

A deliciously witty and entertaining ""variation"" on Diderot's novel Jacques le Fatalist, written for Milan Kundera's ""private pleasure"" in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia. When the ""heavy Russian irrationality"" fell on Czechoslovakia, Milan Kundera explains, he felt...

Ten contemporary reimaginings of Ovid’s iconic tales, with star-studded casts including Toby Jones, Shaun Dooley and Robert Glenister The Roman love poet Ovid has influenced writers past and present, with his witty, sexy tales inspiring authors from Shakespeare to Ezra Pound. Included here are...

Full-cast dramatisations of three insightful novels by Christopher Isherwood, plus a bonus interview Novelist and playwright Christopher Isherwood is best known for The Berlin Stories of pre-Hitler Germany, which inspired the musical Cabaret. Many of his works have been adapted for stage and...