BR 2-09 William Shakespeare

" 'Mr Shakespeare, you are the best playwright in England. I enjoyed your play, and I thought that Sir John Falstaff was very funny. I have known like him. Will you write me another play?' said the Queen. " (p. 26)


Have you ever read or watched 'Romeo and Juliet', 'Phantom of the Opera' or 'Hamlet'? Shakespeare wrote them, and he was very famous playwright in England.


Nearly 400 years after William Shakespeare'e death, people are still enjoyed his plays and poetry. Year after year there are new books about his life and his works, the Royal Shakespeare Company performs the plays in theaters in Stratford, London, and around the country, and there are new versions on the radio, on television, and on film.


Shakespeare's plays are performed all over the world, and in many different ways. There are Italian operas and American musicals- West Side Story was based on Romeo and Juliet. There are many famous films, including a Russian Hamlet and a Japanese King Lear. A film in 1999, called Shakespeare in Love, gave us a picture of Shakespeare as a young man in London, writing Romeo and Juliet, falling in love, and living life to the full. The film was a great success. William Shakespeare has not been forgotten.




Bassett Jennifer (2000) William Shakespeare OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2000

[225 words]