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The curse of Macbeth: is it more than superstition?

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Quizzes

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Staged: the origins of YA’s greatest tropes

Romeo and Juliet

‘For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo.’ 
 
A bloody feud. A tangled love. A senseless tragedy that brings two families to their knees. 
 
After a chance meeting at a ball, young Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet fall desperately in love. But their families are locked in a bitter rivalry, their love forbidden. When blood is spilled, Romeo is banished, forcing Juliet to take desperate measures that spell tragedy for the star-crossed lovers. 
 
Offering the complete and unabridged text, set in a dyslexic-friendly font and introduced by renowned YA authors, this beautifully designed collection is the perfect way to introduce YA readers to Shakespeare's most iconic stories.

‘For never was a story of more woe 
 Than this of Juliet and her Romeo’ 
 A bloody feud. A tangled love. A senseless tragedy that brings two families to their knees. 
 
 After a chance meeting at a ball, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet fall desperately in love. But their families are locked in a bitter rivalry, their love forbidden. Worse still, Juliet’s family already expect her to marry her suitor, Count Paris. 
 Determined to save their love, Romeo and Juliet wed in secret. But when a fight erupts that leaves Montagues and Capulets dead, Romeo is banished from Verona, forcing Juliet to take desperate measures that spell tragedy for the star-crossed lovers. 
 Romeo and Juliet is Shakespeare’s masterclass in tales of love and loss, and the origin of the lovestruck, star-crossed lovers. 
 Discover STAGED, a limited collection of Shakespeare’s unabridged plays that celebrates the genius of the Bard and the tropes that continue to delight YA readers to this day. 
 Explore the rest of the STAGED collection:As You Like It – With a foreword by Talia HibbertHamlet – With a foreword by Faridah Àbíké-ÍyímídéMacbeth – With a foreword by Kat DelacorteA Midsummer Night’s Dream – With a foreword by Becky AlbertalliMuch Ado About Nothing – With a foreword by Holly Bourne

William Shakespeare was born to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden in late April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. He wrote about 38 plays (the precise number is uncertain), many of which are regarded as the most exceptional works of drama ever produced, including Romeo and Juliet (1595), Henry V (1599), Hamlet (1601), Othello (1604), King Lear (1606) and Macbeth (1606), as well as a collection of 154 sonnets, which number among the most profound and influential love poetry in English. Shakespeare died in Stratford in 1616.

Macbeth

‘It will have blood, they say: blood will have blood.’ 
 
On a bleak, stormy night, three witches prophesy: Macbeth will be a lord twice-over, Macbeth will be king, Banquo’s sons will be kings. 
 
When their predictions start to come true, the ambitious Lady Macbeth vows to help her husband become King of Scotland and hold on to the throne – by any means necessary. But as the pursuit of power leads them down a dark and bloody path, the Macbeths begin to unravel. 
 
Offering the complete and unabridged text, set in a dyslexic-friendly font and introduced by renowned YA authors, this beautifully designed collection is the perfect way to introduce YA readers to Shakespeare's most iconic stories.

With a foreword by Kat Delacorte, author of With Fire in Their Blood 
 ‘It will have blood, they say: blood will have blood’ 
 On a bleak, stormy night in Scotland, three witches prophesy: Macbeth will be a lord twice-over and Macbeth will be king; but Banquo’s sons will also be kings. 
 
 When the witches’ predictions start to come true, the ambitious Lady Macbeth vows to help her husband become King of Scotland and hold on to the throne – by any means necessary. But as the pursuit of power leads them down a dark and bloody path, the Macbeths soon begin to unravel. 
 Macbeth is Shakespeare’s famously blood-soaked tale of greed and prophecy so powerful that superstitions about the curse of ‘The Scottish Play’ continue to this day. 
 Discover STAGED, a limited collection of Shakespeare’s unabridged plays that celebrates the genius of the Bard and the tropes that continue to delight YA readers to this day. 
 Explore the rest of the STAGED collection:As You Like It – With a foreword by Talia HibbertHamlet – With a foreword by Faridah Àbíké-ÍyímídéA Midsummer Night’s Dream – With a foreword by Becky AlbertalliMuch Ado About Nothing – With a foreword by Holly BourneRomeo and Juliet – With a foreword by Jennifer Niven

A Midsummer Night's Dream

‘The course of true love never did run smooth …’ 
 
Hermia loves Lysander. But she must marry Demetrius or be condemned to life in a convent. Together, they plan to elope to escape their fate. But Helena, Hermia’s best friend, secretly loves Demetrius and, hoping to win his heart, tells him about the plan. 
 
Soon, the four unlucky lovers cross paths with Oberon, the jilted fairy king. When a powerful, love-inducing flower is put to nefarious use, a case of multiple mistaken identities sets in motion a night of magic and mayhem that could change all of their lives forever. 
 
Offering the complete and unabridged text, set in a dyslexic-friendly font and introduced by renowned YA authors, this beautifully designed collection is the perfect way to introduce YA readers to Shakespeare's most iconic stories.

With a foreword by Becky Albertalli, author of Imogen, Obviously and Love, Simon 
 
 ‘The course of true love never did run smooth’ 
 Hermia loves Lysander. But she must marry Demetrius or be condemned to life in a convent. Together, Hermia and Lysander plan to elope to escape their fate. But Helena, Hermia’s best friend, secretly loves Demetrius and, hoping to win his heart, tells him about the plan. 
 
 Deep in the forest, the four unlucky lovers cross paths with Oberon, the jilted fairy king. When a powerful, love-inducing flower is put to nefarious use, a case of multiple mistaken identities sets in motion a night of magic and mayhem that could change all of their lives forever. 
 
 A Midsummer Night's Dream is Shakespeare’s magical romantic comedy of trickery, love triangles and mistaken identities. 
 Discover STAGED, a limited collection of Shakespeare’s unabridged plays celebrating the genius of the Bard and the tropes that continue to delight YA readers to this day. 
 Explore the rest of the STAGED collection:As You Like It – With a foreword by Talia HibbertHamlet – With a foreword by Faridah Àbíké-ÍyímídéMacbeth – With a foreword by Kat DelacorteMuch Ado About Nothing – With a foreword by Holly Bourne 
 Romeo and Juliet – With a foreword by Jennifer Niven

As You Like It

‘We that are true lovers run into strange capers.’ 
 
Banished from her ambitious uncle’s court, the lovesick Rosalind flees to the forest with her cousin, Celia. Disguised as shepherds, they soon meet the dashing Orlando – forced into hiding by a plot against his life, heartbroken at the separation from his beloved Rosalind. 
 
Oblivious to her identity, Orlando grows close to Rosalind. But a local shepherdess has also fallen for Rosalind. 
 
As their hopes and dreams entangle, can everyone get what they want? 
 
Offering the complete and unabridged text, set in a dyslexic-friendly font and introduced by renowned YA authors, this beautifully designed collection is the perfect way to introduce YA readers to Shakespeare's most iconic stories.

With a foreword by Talia Hibbert, author of Get a Life, Chloe Brown 
 ‘We that are true lovers run into strange capers’ 
 Banished from her ambitious uncle’s court, the lovesick Rosalind flees to the forest with her cousin, Celia. Disguised as the handsome shepherd Ganymede and simple shepherdess Aliena, the two soon meet the dashing Orlando – forced into hiding by a plot against his life, heartbroken at the separation from his beloved Rosalind. 
 
 Fooled by Rosalind’s disguise, Orlando grows close to ‘Ganymede’. But Phoebe, a local shepherdess, also has her eye on Ganymede. As their hopes and dreams entangle, can everyone get what they want? 
 As You Like It is Shakespeare’s brilliant gender swapping, fake dating classic comedy of errors. 
 Discover STAGED, a limited collection of Shakespeare’s unabridged plays that celebrates the genius of the Bard and the tropes that continue to delight YA readers to this day. 
 Explore the rest of the STAGED collection:Hamlet – With a foreword by Faridah Àbíké-ÍyímídéMacbeth – With a foreword by Kat DelacorteA Midsummer Night’s Dream – With a foreword by Becky AlbertalliMuch Ado About Nothing – With a foreword by Holly BourneRomeo and Juliet – With a foreword by Jennifer Niven

Hamlet

‘Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.’ 
 
When Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, discovers his father was murdered, he swears vengeance against the killer: his father’s brother, Claudius, who has married Hamlet’s mother and taken the throne. 
 
Furious at this betrayal, Hamlet devises a complex plot to reveal the truth and enact his revenge. But Claudius has a devious plan of his own. Together, they will bring devastation to the entire court. 
 
Offering the complete and unabridged text, set in a dyslexic-friendly font and introduced by renowned YA authors, this beautifully designed collection is the perfect way to introduce YA readers to Shakespeare's most iconic stories.

With a foreword by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, author of Ace of Spades 
 ‘Something is rotten in the state of Denmark’ 
 The King of Denmark is dead. When Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, meets the King’s ghost and discovers he was murdered, he swears vengeance against the killer: his father’s brother, Claudius, who has married Hamlet’s mother and taken the throne. 
 
 Furious at this betrayal, Hamlet devises a complex plot to reveal the truth and enact his revenge. But Claudius has a devious plan of his own. Together, they will bring devastation to the entire court. 
 Hamlet is Shakespeare’s timeless story of grief and a revenge so unrelenting that by curtain’s close, all the major players are dead. 
 Discover STAGED, a limited collection of Shakespeare’s unabridged plays that celebrates the genius of the Bard and the tropes that continue to delight YA readers to this day. 
 Explore the rest of the STAGED collection:As You Like It – With a foreword by Talia HibbertMacbeth – With a foreword by Kat DelacorteA Midsummer Night’s Dream – With a foreword by Becky AlbertalliMuch Ado About Nothing – With a foreword by Holly BourneRomeo and Juliet – With a foreword by Jennifer Niven

Sonnets

Love sonnets are for romantics, starry-eyed lovers and ardent hearts. And Shakespeare's sonnets are the best ever written. But this is why they are also for cynics, for star-crossed lovers and for those who know the anguish of unrequited love. 
 
Some appear to be written to a young man, some to a woman. And although the poems are full of mystery - why did Shakespeare write them, and to whom? - each one speaks to us from across the centuries of love, hate and the intensity of being alive. 
 
INTRODUCED BY ANDREW McMILLAN 
 
'This is a crazy, all-consuming, feverish and sweaty love; love, in all its uncut, full-strength intensity; an adolescent love' Don Paterson, Guardian

William Shakespeare (Author) William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, and was baptised on 26 April 1564. His father was a glove maker and wool merchant and his mother, Mary Arden, was the daughter of a well-to-do local land owner. Shakespeare was probably educated in Stratford’s grammar school. In 1582 he married Anne Hathaway, and the couple had a daughter the following year and twins in 1585. 
 
Shakespeare’s theatrical life seems to have commenced around 1590. We do know that he was part of the Lord Chamberlain’s Company, which was renamed the King’s Company in 1603 when James I succeeded to the throne. The Company acquired interests in two theatres in the Southwark area of London, near the banks of the Thames - the Globe and the Blackfriars. 
 
Shakespeare’s poetry was published before his plays, with two poems appearing in 1593 and 1594, dedicated to his patron Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton. Most of Shakespeare’s sonnets were probably written at this time as well. 
 
Records of Shakespeare’s plays begin to appear in 1594, and he produced roughly two a year until around 1611. His earliest plays include Henry VI and Titus Andronicus. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merchant of Venice and Richard II all date from the mid to late 1590s. Some of his most famous tragedies were written in the early 1600s; these include Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth and Antony &amp; Cleopatra. His late plays, often known as the Romances, date from 1608 onwards and include The Tempest. 
 
Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616 and was buried in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford. The first collected edition of his works was published in 1623 and is known as ‘the First Folio’. Andrew McMillan (Introducer) Andrew McMillan's first collection, physical, was the first poetry collection to win the Guardian First Book Award; it also won a Somerset Maugham Award, an Eric Gregory Award, a Northern Writers' Award and the Aldeburgh First Collection Prize. His second collection, playtime, won the inaugural Polari Prize, and his most recent collection is pandemonium. McMillan is a Senior Lecturer at the Manchester Writing School at Manchester Metropolitan University and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

William Shakespeare

With a foreword by Holly Bourne, author of Am I Normal Yet? 
 ‘I love you with so much of my heart that none is left to protest’ 
 Love, deception and discord are flourishing in the court of Messina. 
 Sweet, innocent Hero and the famed soldier Claudio are immediately infatuated, while the bickering Beatrice and Benedick can agree on just one thing: the other is insufferable. Little do they know, two plans are afoot – one to make Beatrice and Benedick fall in love, another to break up Hero and Claudio. 
 Much Ado About Nothing is Shakespeare’s witty comedy of words where sharp-tongued enemies become lovers and sweet romance turns sour. 
 Discover STAGED, a limited collection of Shakespeare’s unabridged plays that celebrates the genius of the Bard and the tropes that continue to delight YA readers to this day. 
 Explore the rest of the STAGED collection:As You Like It – With a foreword by Talia HibbertHamlet – With a foreword by Faridah Àbíké-ÍyímídéMacbeth – With a foreword by Kat DelacorteA Midsummer Night’s Dream – With a foreword by Becky AlbertalliRomeo and Juliet – With a foreword by Jennifer Niven

William Shakespeare

Much Ado About Nothing

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