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Summary
First performed in 1895, "An Ideal Husband" is Oscar Wilde's classic and much-loved comedic drama. The play tells the story of an up-and-coming politician, Sir Robert Chiltern, who tries to hide his secret past from his judgmental wife and the blackmail scheme he is forced to participate in to keep that secret quiet. Lady Chiltern has a very particular idea of what makes the "ideal husband" which leaves her with little tolerance for Sir Robert's all...
3) Pygmalion
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A Cinderella type of classic romance story told by George Bernard Shaw.
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When Polly Peachum, daughter to a local fence and thief-catcher, marries infamous highwayman Macheath, it sets off a comically dangerous chain of events as Polly's father is determined to have his new son-in-law killed. However, Polly isn't the only woman in Macheath's life, and he soon gets caught up in the consequences of his many indiscretions. The Beggar's Opera is the most famous surviving example of satirical ballad opera to come out of the...
5) Nanny McPhee
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Nanny McPhee can tame even the most unruly children with a tap of her magic walking stick. Her latest challenge is the bratty brood of a recent widower Mr. Brown. He is under pressure to find a new wife or lose his much-needed allowance from wealthy Aunt Adelaide. His love for scullery maid Evangeline remains unspoken as he wincingly woos the eagerly merry widow Mrs. Quickly, but Brown's raucous rugrats have a plan to make things right, especially...
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Jack Worthington is an upstanding gentleman in Victorian society. He just has one secret-he tells everyone that he has a brother named Earnest, when, in reality, Earnest is his alter ego. This allows him a certain duality; he can go out and party as Earnest, but have a sterling reputation as Jack. However, he must merge the two when Jack discovers that his lover, Gwendolyn, will only marry a man named Earnest. Meanwhile, Algernon, a family friend,...
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Planning a school or amateur Shakespeare production? The best way to experience the plays is to perform them, but getting started can be a challenge: The complete plays are too long and complex, while scene selections or simplified language are too limited. "The 30-Minute Shakespeare" is a new series of abridgements that tell the "story" of each play from start to finish while keeping the beauty of Shakespeare's language intact. Specific stage directions...
8) The Queen
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The Queen begins with a familiar epigraph "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown"--Henry IV, Part II. The action of the film takes place during the week following the death, on August 31, 1997 of Diana, Princess of Wales. One of its accomplishments, courtesy of adroit use of newsreel and other contemporary footage, is to remind viewers of the deep sadness that surrounded that event. It is also about the divergent and potentially ruinous ways the...
12) The alchemist
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Benjamin Jonson (1572-1637) was a Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor, known best for his satirical plays and lyric poems. He had a knack for absurdity and hypocrisy, a trait that made him immensely popular in the 17th century Renaissance period. However, his reputation diminished somewhat in the Romantic era, when he began to be unfairly compared to Shakespeare. The Theatre in London had had been denied to "The Admiral's Men" in 1597, but the troupe...
13) Cranford
Series
Masterpiece Theatre volume Masterpiece Classics
Summary
Cranford, in 1842, is a market town in northwest England. It is a place governed by etiquette, custom and above all, an intricate network of ladies. It seems that life has always been conducted according to their social rules. For spinsters Deborah Jenkyns, the arbiter of correctness, and Matty, her dumurring sister, the town is a hub of intrigue. Handsome new doctor Frank Harrison has arrived from London; a retired Captain and his daughters move...
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"Kelly, a desperate prostitute, is bullied by her pimp into finding an underage girl for a sadistic mobster. She discovers Joanne, an 11-year-old runaway, who naively complies. But when the pedophile turns violent, Kelly intervenes. Now the two girls are on the run with nowhere to hide"--Container.
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As punishment for messing up a kidnap rescue and shooting a dog in the process, Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman is re-assigned to the newly created unsolved murder squad. Due to a manpower shortage her team is made up of veteran detectives brought back onto the police force, bringing a 1970's mentality to modern policing. The team's first case is to re-investigate a twenty year old murder conviction which has suddenly come into question due...
19) Persuasion
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Anne Elliot fell deeply in love with handsome young naval officer Frederick Wentworth at the age of nineteen. But with neither fortune nor rank to recommend him, Anne was persuaded to break off her engagement. Eight years later, Anne has lived to regret her decision. She never stopped loving Wentworth, and when he returns from sea with rank and fortune, she can only watch as every eligible young woman in the district falls at his feet. Can Frederick...
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"Distressed young heiress Norma Restarick comes to see Hercule Poirot about 'a murder she might have committed.' The detective consults an old acquaintance, crime novelist Ariadne Oliver, who lives in the same building as the young woman and her two roommates. When Norma's childhood nanny is found dead, apparently by suicide, Poirot believes he has identified the victim. Next he must deduce the killer, while Norma's family fears for her sanity"--Container....