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For all rights, except videocassettes,
go to our Licensing
Inquiries page
To purchase videocassettes, see below. |
Exploring Shakespeare
Exploring Shakespeare provides uncut, pure text from Shakespeare’s plays for study in the high school classroom. The goal of the series is to provide teachers with simple renditions to support their own lesson plans, as an alternative to the opulent productions of Hollywood, and to allow an opportunity to discuss the contrast to such productions. The minimalist background allows students to focus on the words and actions delivered by talented actors, and to appreciate the beauty and uniqueness of the language.
The series includes key segments from four of the most studied works of Shakespeare. The programs — on Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, and Julius Caesar — can be used in the study of one play or to compare and contrast the works. Each program contains various segments of the particular play to show the progression of story elements such as plot and character.
King Lear (BPN 700703), and Julius Caesar (BPN 700704) are also available with an additional scene added. Please check under program title for new length and additional scene.
This series is also available as hour half-hour programs, featuring commentary on each plays significance, including background information, historical context, and relevance today, as well as introductions to and reviews of each featured scene, and focuses for viewing. This insightful commentary also links the selected scenes and places them within the context of the entire play. |
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PROGRAMS
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Hamlet
BPN 700701
Central Focus:
The personal journey of Hamlet — depicted through segments from the following key speeches/soliloquies (opening lines are indicated):
• Act I, Scene 2 — “O, that this too, too solid flesh...”
• Act III, Scene 1 — “To be or not to be...”
• Act II, Scene 2 — “Now I am alone...”
• Act V, Scene 1 — “Alas, poor Yorick...”
• Act V, Scene 2 — “There’s a special providence...”
Synopsis:
Through five speeches/soliloquies, we follow the inner life of Hamlet through the play. We begin with Hamlet’s disgust at himself and at the situation in which he finds himself . Next, we go on to examine his longing to leave the world and how his indecision finally breaks through into a resolve of action. We then move to the end of the play, and see Hamlet's realization of human mortality and his final acceptance.
(11:57)
Macbeth
BPN 700702
Central Focus:
The relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth — depicted through segments from the following key scenes (opening lines are indicated):
• Act I, Scene 7 — “If it were done...”
• Act II, Scene 2 — “That which hath made them drunk...”
• Act V, Scene 1 — “Yet here’s a spot...”
• Act V, Scene 5 — “What is that noise?”
Synopsis:
These scenes follow the respective paths of the two Macbeths. In the first scene, Lady Macbeth convinces her husband to kill Duncan. The second, just after the murder, shows Macbeth’s panic and Lady Macbeth’s resolve. Then we examine how each deals with guilt after time: Lady Macbeth is destroyed by it and goes mad in the sleepwalking scene, while Macbeth, just before the final battle, reaches a point of total despair.
(14:12)
King Lear
BPN 700703
Central Focus:
Lear’s descent into madness — depicted through segments from the following key scenes (opening lines are indicated):
• Act I, Scene 3 — “How now, what art thou?...”
• Act I, Scene 5 — “If a man’s brains...”
• Act III, Scene 2 — “Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks...”
• Act III, Scene 4 — “Here is the place, my lord...”
Synopsis:
These scenes follow King Lear through his journey into madness. In the first scene, he meets the disguised Kent and banters amiably with him and the Fool. In the second scene, a troubled dialogue with the Fool suddenly gives way to fears of madness. The third scene finds Lear raging against the elements on the heath, and our final scene shows Lear praying for comprehension and salvation.
(17:00)
Julius Caesar
BPN 700704
Central Focus:
The relationship of Brutus and Cassius — depicted through segments from the following key scenes (opening lines are indicated):
• Act I, Scene 2 — “Brutus, I do observe you now of late...”
• Act II, Scene 1 — “It must be by his death...”
• Act IV, Scene 2/3 — “Most noble brother, you have done me wrong...”
Synopsis:
In these three scenes we look at the character of Brutus, and how he and Cassius work out their troubled relationship. In the first scene, Cassius plants the seeds of revolution in Brutus’s mind by discussing the problem of Caesar’s power. The second scene is a soliloquy in which Brutus decides to kill Caesar. The third scene takes place after the assassination, with all of Rome at war, and Brutus and Cassius fighting over their own personal concerns.
(18:00)
BPN
Central Focus:
Lear’s descent into madness — depicted through segments from the following key scenes (opening lines are indicated):
• Act I, Scene 3 — “How now, what art thou?...”
• Act I, Scene 5 — “If a man’s brains...”
• Act III, Scene 2 — “Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks...”
Synopsis:
These scenes follow King Lear through his journey into madness. In the first scene, he meets the disguised Kent and banters amiably with him and the Fool. In the second scene, a troubled dialogue with the Fool suddenly gives way to fears of madness. The third scene finds Lear raging against the elements on the heath.
()
BPN
Central Focus:
The relationship of Brutus and Cassius — depicted through segments from the following key scenes (opening lines are indicated):
• Act I, Scene 2 — “Brutus, I do observe you now of late...”
• Act IV, Scene 2/3 — “Most noble brother, you have done me wrong...”
Synopsis:
In these three scenes we look at the character of Brutus, and how he and Cassius work out their troubled relationship. In the first scene, Cassius plants the seeds of revolution in Brutus’s mind by discussing the problem of Caesar’s power. The second scene takes place after the assassination, with all of Rome at war, and Brutus and Cassius fighting over their own personal concerns.
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 For Canadian videocassettes, contact Visual Education Centre |
 For U.S. videocassettes, contact Chip Taylor Communications |
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For
all rights, except videocassettes, go to our
Licensing
Inquiries page
To purchase videocassettes, see above.
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