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Curated category

Plays adapted into operas

  • MacbethWilliam Shakespeare wrote The Tragedy of Macbeth using material from Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles, published in 1587. This history book covered England…
  • HamletThe Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark emerged from a deep well of ancient legends and medieval texts. Scholars point to the 13th-century Life of Amleth by…
  • The TempestThe year 1610 marked the beginning of a creative period for William Shakespeare. Evidence suggests he wrote The Tempest between late 1610 and mid-1611.
  • Romeo and JulietThe story of Romeo and Juliet did not begin in Shakespeare's mind. It emerged from a long tradition of tragic love stories stretching back to antiquity.
  • The Winter's TaleThe play The Winter's Tale draws its main plot from Robert Greene's pastoral romance Pandosto, published in 1588. Shakespeare made uncharacteristically…
  • Richard III (play)The Tragedy of Richard the Third likely took shape between 1592 and 1594, a period when William Shakespeare was refining his historical narratives.
  • The Importance of Being EarnestOscar Wilde spent the summer of 1894 with his family at Worthing on the Sussex coast. He began work on a new play during this period.
  • OthelloWilliam Shakespeare wrote The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice around 1603. This play draws its core plot from a novella by Giovanni Battista Giraldi…
  • The Merchant of VeniceThe play The Merchant of Venice emerged between 1596 and 1598, a period when William Shakespeare was establishing his reputation in London.
  • Goethe's FaustJohann Wolfgang von Goethe began drafting the earliest versions of his play between 1772 and 1775. These initial drafts, known as the Urfaust, contained…
  • Caligula (play)Albert Camus began writing Caligula in 1938, though the first surviving manuscript bears the date 1939. The work emerged during a period of intense personal…
  • King LearThe Tragedy of King Lear emerged from a convergence of historical chronicles and folk traditions in the early 17th century.
  • A Midsummer Night's DreamFour days before the wedding of Duke Theseus and Queen Hippolyta, Hermia stands in Athens facing a choice that could end her life.
  • Oedipus RexScholars debate the exact year Sophocles first staged Oedipus Rex, though some point to a devastating plague that struck Athens in 430 BC.
  • The BacchaeEuripides wrote The Bacchae during his final years in Macedonia, at the court of Archelaus I. The play premiered posthumously at the Theatre of Dionysus in…
  • No ExitThe Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier in Paris hosted the first performance of No Exit in May 1944. Jean-Paul Sartre wrote this play to explore how human…