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A Fifty-Minute Henry VIII by Shakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff |
Roles | Minimum Male roles = 20. Minimum Female roles = 4. Minimum total with doubling = 24. Minimum total without doubling = 40. Chorus. |
Run Time | Around 50 minutes. [Estimated!] |
Music | None. |
Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'Henry VIII', with the original text cut down to 50 minutes or so. (The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
Synopsis | We meet Henry VIII when he has been king and married to Katharine of Aragon for some 20 years. The court is under the sway of the manipulative, acquisitive Cardinal Wolsey, but Henry falls for Anne Boleyn (or Anne Bullen, as Shakespeare calls her) and in the ensuing turmoil he ditches both Wolsey and Katharine. |
Price | For scripts and live performance rights, please click on the Price Link to find the cost. For scripts and lockdown videos/streaming rights, click here |
Click here to read the script or Click here for more details. |
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A Fifty-Minute Richard The Third by Shakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff |
Roles | Minimum Male roles = 21. Minimum Female roles = 4. Minimum total with doubling = 26. Minimum total without doubling = 48. Chorus. |
Run Time | Around 50 minutes. [Estimated!] |
Music | None. |
Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'The Life and Death of King Richard III', with the original text cut down to 50 minutes or so. (The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
Synopsis | Richard the Third, from the winter of discontent to the kingdom for a horse, as the last of the Plantagenets intrigues and murders his way to the English throne, only to be confronted by the army of the Earl of Richmond - one Henry Tudor. Historical footnote: Shakespeare derived this account from Henry Tudor's historians. In the view of the editor, this makes it unreliable history, but a cracking play! |
Price | For scripts and live performance rights, please click on the Price Link to find the cost. For scripts and lockdown videos/streaming rights, click here |
Click here to read the script or Click here for more details. |
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A Fifty-Minute Titus Andronicus by Shakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff |
Roles | Minimum Male roles = 20. Minimum Female roles = 3. Minimum total with doubling = 24. Minimum total without doubling = 36. Chorus. Large numbers of speaking roles, many appearing on stage at the same time. Flexibility in the non-speaking roles, with Roman nobility and a whole army of Goths (who probably dressed differently in Roman and Shakespearen times). |
Run Time | Around 50 minutes. [Estimated!] |
Music | None. |
Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'Titus Andronicus', with the original text cut down to 50 minutes or so. (The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
Synopsis | When Roman general Titus Andronicus returns victorious from the wars against the Goths, he resolves to be king-maker, rather than taking the role of emperor for himself. Having lost many of his sons in the fighting, Titus has the eldest son of Tamora, captive Queen of the Goths, sacrificed to the gods. When Tamora is freed by the new Emperor, she and her lover Aaron set about avenging themselves - a feud that is tragic for all concerned. Bill Tordoff started this series as abridgements for primary schools. We think that some of the themes in Titus are too adult for that demographic! Asides: This is not for the faint-hearted, though John Webster probably enjoyed it, and Mrs Lovett would have learned a thing or two. |
Price | For scripts and live performance rights, please click on the Price Link to find the cost. For scripts and lockdown videos/streaming rights, click here |
Click here to read the script or Click here for more details. |
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A Forty-Minute All's Well That Ends Well by Shakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff |
Roles | Minimum Male roles = 10. Minimum Female roles = 6. Minimum total with doubling = 16. Minimum total without doubling = 22. Chorus. |
Run Time | Around 40 minutes. [Estimated!] |
Music | None. |
Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'All's Well That Ends Well', with the original text cut down to 40 minutes or so. (The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
Synopsis | Following the death of the Count of Rousillon, his teenage son, Bertrand inherts his estate and departs for the French court with dreams of military glory. He leaves behind Helena, daughter of his father's physician, and desparately in love with Bertrand. Helena follows Betrand to Paris where she uses her father's medicines to cure the sick king. The king grants her a reward, and she claims marriage to Bertrand. He wants none of it, and heads off to war. How can Helena win him back? |
Price | For scripts and live performance rights, please click on the Price Link to find the cost. For scripts and lockdown videos/streaming rights, click here |
Click here to read the script or Click here for more details. |
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A Forty-Minute Coriolanus by Shakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff |
Roles | Minimum Male roles = 19. Minimum Female roles = 3. Minimum total with doubling = 22. Minimum total without doubling = 30. Chorus. As usual with Shakespeare, most of the characters are male - but for your production, you can cast whomsoever you like! |
Run Time | Around 40 minutes. [Estimated!] |
Music | None. |
Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's tragedy 'Coriolanus', with the original text cut down to 40 minutes. (The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
Synopsis | In the early days of the Roman republic, Caius Martius Coriolanus is a brilliant Roman General, but contemptuous of the civilian population. After a successful military campaign against the Volsces (an Italian tribe), Coriolanus runs for Consul. He is supported by the Senate, but the common people are stirred-up to riot against him. Still contemptuous of the people, Corilanus is exciled from Rome and takes his revenge by leading the Volsces against Rome. His mother intervenes and persuades him to sign a peace treaty. Unfortunately, his Volscian allies see this as a betrayal, and Coriolanus pays the price. |
Price | For scripts and live performance rights, please click on the Price Link to find the cost. For scripts and lockdown videos/streaming rights, click here |
Click here to read the script or Click here for more details. |
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A Forty-Minute Henry V by Shakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff |
Roles | Minimum Male roles = 20. Minimum Female roles = 3. Minimum total with doubling = 23. Minimum total without doubling = 29. Chorus. As usual for Shakespeare's time, there's a dearth of female characters, which does not preclude inventive casting! |
Run Time | Around 40 minutes. [Estimated!] |
Music | None. |
Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'Henry V', with the original text cut down to 40 minutes. (The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
Synopsis | King Henry the Fifth is at war with the French, and facing daunting odds. He rallies his troops, wanders amongst them in disguise to find what they really think, then leads them, once more, unto the breach. |
Price | For scripts and live performance rights, please click on the Price Link to find the cost. For scripts and lockdown videos/streaming rights, click here |
Click here to read the script or Click here for more details. |
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A Forty-Minute Henry VI Part 1 by Shakespeare, adapted by Bill Tordoff |
Roles | Minimum Male roles = 17. Minimum Female roles = 2. Minimum total with doubling = 19. Minimum total without doubling = 31. Chorus. Shakespearian theatre, history and war conspire to leave few female roles. Don't let that put you off! |
Run Time | Around 40 minutes. [Estimated!] |
Music | None. |
Style | One-act adaptation of Shakespeare. Other plays in this series are abridgements. This is an adaptation (Bill Tordoff felt that it worked better with the verse form used throughout), hence both script and performances are subject to copyright licensing. |
Synopsis | Subtitled 'The Wars Of Henry VI And Joan Of Arc'. Henry V has died, but his dukes continue to prosecute his war in France. Joan of Arc arises to lead the French. The English lose ground as they bicker amongst themselves and the first quarrels of the Wars of the Roses begin. Henry V1 is crowned and the fortunes of war change again... Despite all the fighting and infighting, the play also has room for some moments of broad comedy. |
Price | For scripts and live performance rights, please click on the Price Link to find the cost. For scripts and lockdown videos/streaming rights, click here |
Click here to read the script or Click here for more details. |
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A Forty-Minute King John by Shakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff |
Roles | Minimum Male roles = 19. Minimum Female roles = 4. Minimum total with doubling = 23. Minimum total without doubling = 33. Chorus. Characters include Arthur, aged 8 and Blanche, aged 14. |
Run Time | Around 40 minutes. [Estimated!] |
Music | None. |
Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'King John', with the original text cut down to 40 minutes or so. (The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
Synopsis | War amongst the descendants of King Henry II with Henry's wife, the powerful Eleanor of Aquitaine, supporting her son, King John, whilst the King of France, mendaciously, backs Arthur, the young son of John's elder brother. John's treatment of the captured Arthur causes his barons to rebel and join forces with a French invasion. |
Price | For scripts and live performance rights, please click on the Price Link to find the cost. For scripts and lockdown videos/streaming rights, click here |
Click here to read the script or Click here for more details. |
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A Forty-Minute King Lear by Shakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff |
Roles | Minimum Male roles = 13. Minimum Female roles = 3. Minimum total with doubling = 16. Minimum total without doubling = 23. Chorus. As usual with Shakespeare, the characters are male-heavy. Also as usual, you can cast it how you like! |
Run Time | Around 40 minutes. [Estimated!] |
Music | None. |
Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'King Lear', with the original text cut down to 40 minutes or so. (The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
Synopsis | The king proposes to retire and divide his kingdom amongst his daughters. The elder two, Goneril and Regan, are happy to sweet-talk their father and go along with his plans - just until they have power. Cordelia, the youngest, loves her father, but refuses to flatter him, and, as a result, is banished. Soon the elder daughters take power and dishonour their father. Edmund, illegitimate son of the Duke of Gloster, aids Goneril and Regan, but becomes a focus for their rivalry. With Lear cast out, there is war between Cordelia and her sisters. Playing-out the themes of pride, deceit and jealousy, all ends tragically. |
Price | For scripts and live performance rights, please click on the Price Link to find the cost. For scripts and lockdown videos/streaming rights, click here |
Click here to read the script or Click here for more details. |
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A Forty-Minute Othello by Shakespeare, abridged Bill Tordoff |
Roles | Minimum Male roles = 13. Minimum Female roles = 3. Minimum total with doubling = 16. Minimum total without doubling = 25. Chorus. |
Run Time | Around 40 minutes. [Estimated!] |
Music | None. |
Style | Abridgement of William Shakespeare's 'Othello', with the original text of around three hours cut down to 40 minutes. (The abridgement is copyrighted, so we charge for scripts and copying rights, but performances are royalty-free.) |
Synopsis | Othello, a Moorish general in the Venetian army, secretly marries Desdemona, daughter of a nobleman. Roderigo, a suitor of Desdemona, and Iago, a jealous soldier, conspire against Othello, turning him against Desdemona, with disastrous consequences. An introduction to Shakespeare for schools. |
Price | For scripts and live performance rights, please click on the Price Link to find the cost. For scripts and lockdown videos/streaming rights, click here |
Click here to read the script or Click here for more details. |
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