Rainbow Theatre

Rainbow Theatre

Tales from Shakespeare

Adapted for the stage & directed by Makki Marseilles

Music arranged & composed by Matthew Legakis & Myrto Akrivou

Costumes / Hats / Accessories by Kim O'Neill

William Shakespeare himself on stage together with a company of actors, present five of his most famous plays in an original production designed specially for students learning English:

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

Romeo and Juliet

The Taming of the Shrew

King Lear

Othello.

The Playwright (1564-1916)

William Shakespeare is a genius. Perhaps the greatest playwright of all times, certainly equal to the great Greek poets of the antiquity and probably a little more available to the average visitor to the theatre. His star continuous to illuminate the theatrical sky of every single country in the world, despite the fact that his detractors, who admittedly are not few, have from time to time attempted to knock him from his pedestal and place there one of their favourites, always quite unsuccessfully. He was the eldest son of eight children, to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden. His father was a happy-go-lucky glover and ale-taster, (Stratford-upon-Avon was a brewery town and that was an important a civic post), and his mother was an educated woman from a family with aristocratic pretensions to whom William was always very close. Sixteen century England was an unformed, superstitious, church-dominated, excitable and volatile society, full of intrigue, uprisings, mobs and factions. Stratford-upon-Avon was a rich market town, where well-to-do merchants and traders as well as beggars gathered. Young William was only eighteen when Anne Hathaway, eight years older than him, became pregnant. She was a farmer's daughter and it is said she was the prototype for both Cleopatra and Katharina the Shrew. They remained married to the end of his life and they had four children, though William spend most of his time away from his family in London and elsewhere.

The Play

The story of the world's most famous lovers, Romeo and Juliet, is told here, as well as that of another pair - Othello and Desdemona. Other stories tell of the unhappy King Lear, driven out by his daughters, and of the young Hamlet, uncertain how to revenge himself for his father's death. There is also the happier tale of the angry young Katherine, whose marriage to the equally determined Petruccio has unexpected results.

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (1602)

Hamlet comes home to learn that his father, the king of Denmark is dead and that his mother, Queen Gertrude, has married his uncle Claudius, who is now king. His father's ghost visits him and asks him to avenge his death. The young prince goes mad with grief. He rejects Ophelia, whom he loves, and kills her father thinking he was his uncle. The king sends him to England in the company of two of his school-fellows. Hamlet suspects a plot, jumps ship and returns to Denmark on the day of Ophelia's funeral. He starts a fight with her brother, Laertes, who laments her loss. King Claudius, conspires with Laertes to kill Hamlet during a fight with rapiers. Laertes puts poison on the tips and the king throws a poisoned pearl in a cup of wine. During the fight Laertes and Hamlet change swords and the latter wounds Laertes who now knows he is going to die. The Queen drinks from the poisoned cup and dies. Laertes confesses of the plot to kill him, throws the blame on the king and Hamlet kills him before he dies himself.

Romeo and Juliet (1593)
They meet and fall in love, they marry secretly, but they cannot enjoy their love because their families are feuding and they have to die in order to unite them. Tybalt, Juliet's cousin, stabs Mercutio, Romeo's friend, who, mad with grief, kills Tybalt. The Prince, fed up with all the killing sends Romeo into exile. Juliet's family are pressing her to marry Paris, and she runs to father Lawrence for advice. He gives her a potion which will make her appear dead for forty-two hours, and tells her that Romeo, will be there when she wakes ready to take her with him to Mantua, where he lives exiled. Communications break down and the two innocent lovers, believing the other dead and unable to face life without each other, kill themselves. Over the dead bodies of the 'starr'd -crossed lovers', their families, forge a reconciliation to the satisfaction of the Prince and the people of Verona.

The Taming of the Shrew (1596)

Katharine is a wild girl who professes to hate men and does not want to get married, probably because she feels that her suitors are not capable of making her happy. Her younger sister Bianca, cannot do so until Katharine is married first. Petruchio, a young gentleman from Verona, hears of Kate's reputation and vows to win her heart. In fact he bets that he can tame her and make her as obedient as any wife in Italy. Her father consents to the marriage and Petruchio takes his new bride to his home, where through various tricks and stratagems he manages to get her to behave herself, so much so that when the time comes, she upbraids the other brides for not giving their husbands the respect they deserve.

King Lear (1605)

King Lear, old and weak, decides to divide his kingdom among his three daughters, so that he can live the rest of his life happy and care-free. When he asks which of his daughters love him most, Goneril, the eldest and Regan, the next in line, do not hesitate to flatter him and receive their portions, but Cordelia, the youngest, refuses to feed his vanity and earns his wrath. He sends her away and gives her portion of his kingdom to the other two. It is not long before Lear finds out who loves him most. His two daughters refuse to put up with him and the once powerful king finds himself cold, hungry and alone in the heath during a terrible storm. Cordelia, who has married the king of France, learns of her father's plight and invades the country with a strong army in an effort to restore him to his former glory. Her army is defeated however, and she and her rather are taken prisoner. There Cordelia is hanged and Lear goes entirely mad. He now knows who loved him most but it is too late. He dies on the lifeless body of his beloved daughter.

Othello (1404)

Othello, a noble Moor, is employed by the Venetian state as a general. He secretly marries Desdemona. the daughter of Barbantio, a powerful Venetian senator, who accuses him of seducing his daughter by magic and unlawful means. Desdemona, in the presence of the Duke, denies this, professes her love for Othello, and pleads to be allowed to follow him to Cyprus, where he has to fight the Ottomans, in order to be near him. In Cyprus, Iago, Othello's servant who hates him, sets about to make him jealous and succeeds in convincing him that Desdemona is unfaithful to him with Cassio, his lieutenant, whom Othello dismisses from his service when he is found drunk on watch. Emilia, lago's wife and Desdemona's chambermaid, finds a handkerchief which Othello gave Desdemona as a wedding present and gives it to her husband who drops it in Cassio's house, then convinces Othello that Desdemona gave the handkerchief to Cassio as a love gift. Othello foolishly believes him, orders him to kill Cassio, and he suffocates Desdemona in her bed. Emilia reveals she gave the handkerchief to lago, and he stabs her in order to silence her, but with her dying breath she tells Othello that his wife was faithful. Othello goes mad and stabs lago, then when he is told that he would be taken to Venice to stand trial, he stabs himself and dies on Desdemona's lifeless body.