The Classic Theatre

A Sonnet (or short poem) from a collection written by William Shakespeare, published in 1609. #11 Synopsis: The poet once again urges the young man to choose a future in which his offspring carry his vitality forward instead of one in which his natural gifts will be coldly buried. The very exceptionality of the young man’s beauty obliges him to cherish and wisely perpetuate that gift.   As fast as...

A Sonnet (or short poem) from a collection written by William Shakespeare, published in 1609. #10 Synopsis: This sonnet, expanding the couplet that closes s. 9, accuses the young man of a murderous hatred against himself and his family line and urges him to so transform himself that his inner being corresponds to his outer graciousness and kindness.   For shame deny that thou bear’st love to any,...

Nellie is dreamy and lost in thoughts of her future and the man she loves. As she stares into the mirror, she sees the reflection of her future husband and begins to imagine her life with him. Suddenly, Nellie's dream is interrupted by a crisis. Her husband is ill and Nellie rushes to the doctor's house for help.

And here comes the winning ticket! The numbers are... When Ivan Dmitritch reads the newspapes, he sees that the winning numbers from the lottery are very much the same as his wife’s ticket. They immediately start to daydream about all the things they can buy now and the life they are going to have from now on. And it is exactly because of this that they fail to notice the obvious problem. Enjoyabl...

A Sonnet (or short poem) from a collection written by William Shakespeare, published in 1609.  #9 Synopsis: The poet argues that if the young man refuses to marry for fear of someday leaving behind a grieving widow, he is ignoring the worldwide grief that will be caused if he dies single, leaving behind no heir to his beauty.   Is it for fear to wet a widow’s eye That thou consum’st thyself in sin...

A Sonnet (or short poem) from a collection written by William Shakespeare, published in 1609.  #8 Synopsis: The poet observes the young man listening to music without pleasure, and suggests that the young man hears in the harmony produced by the instrument’s individual but conjoined strings an accusation about his refusing to play his part in the concord of “sire and child and happy mother.”   Mus...

A Sonnet (or short poem) from a collection written by William Shakespeare, published in 1609.  #7 Synopsis: This sonnet traces the path of the sun across the sky, noting that mortals gaze in admiration at the rising and the noonday sun. When the sun begins to set, says the poet, it is no longer an attraction. Such is the path that the young man’s life will follow—a blaze of glory followed by desce...

A Sonnet (or short poem) from a collection written by William Shakespeare, published in 1609.  #6 Synopsis: Continuing the argument from sonnet 5, the poet urges the young man to produce a child, and thus distill his own summerlike essence. The poet then returns to the beauty-as-treasure metaphor and proposes that the lending of treasure for profit—i.e., usury—is not forbidden by law when the borr...

"About Love" is an 1898 short story by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov. The third and final part of the Little Trilogy, started by "The Man in the Case" and continued by "Gooseberries". (Project Gutenberg, Public Domain)

A Sonnet (or short poem) from a collection written by William Shakespeare, published in 1609.  #5 Synopsis: In this first of two linked sonnets, the poet compares the young man to summer and its flowers, doomed to be destroyed by winter. Even though summer inevitably dies, he argues, its flowers can be distilled into perfume. The beauty of the flowers and thereby the essence of summer are thus pre...

A Sonnet (or short poem) from a collection written by William Shakespeare, published in 1609.  #4 Synopsis: The poet returns to the idea of beauty as treasure that should be invested for profit. Here, the young man’s refusal to beget a child is likened to his spending inherited wealth on himself rather than investing it or sharing it generously.   Unthrifty loveliness, why dost thou spend Upon thy...

The Proposal is a one-act farce by Anton Chekhov, written in 1888–1889 and first performed in 1890. A young man Lomov comes to propose to his neighbour Natalya but they keep on fighting over various topics. Rather than emotionally bonding in relationships, people instead connect with wealth and money. (Project Gutenberg, Public Domain)

A Sonnet (or short poem) from a collection written by William Shakespeare, published in 1609.  #3 Synopsis: The poet urges the young man to reflect on his own image in a mirror. Just as the young man’s mother sees her own youthful self reflected in the face of her son, so someday the young man should be able to look at his son’s face and see reflected his own youth. If the young man decides to die...

William Shakespeare’s ‘The tragedy of Macbeth’ as performed by Sanio Kurtesevic

William Shakespeare’s ‘The tragedy of Macbeth’ as performed by Sanio Kurtesevic

William Shakespeare’s ‘The tragedy of Macbeth’ as performed by Sanio Kurtesevic

A Sonnet (or short poem) from a collection written by William Shakespeare, published in 1609.  #2 Synopsis: The poet challenges the young man to imagine two different futures, one in which he dies childless, the other in which he leaves behind a son. In the first, the young man will waste the uninvested treasure of his youthful beauty. In the other, though still himself subject to the ravages of t...

William Shakespeare’s ‘The tragedy of Macbeth’ as performed by Sanio Kurtesevic

A Sonnet (or short poem) from a collection written by William Shakespeare, published in 1609.  #1 Synopsis: In this first of many sonnets about the briefness of human life, the poet reminds the young man that time and death will destroy even the fairest of living things. Only if they reproduce themselves will their beauty survive. The young man’s refusal to beget a child is therefore self-destruct...

William Shakespeare’s ‘The tragedy of Macbeth’ as performed by Sanio Kurtesevic

William Shakespeare’s ‘The tragedy of Macbeth’ as performed by Sanio Kurtesevic

William Shakespeare’s ‘The tragedy of Macbeth’ as performed by Sanio Kurtesevic

William Shakespeare’s ‘The tragedy of Macbeth’ as performed by Sanio Kurtesevic

William Shakespeare’s ‘The tragedy of Macbeth’ as performed by Sanio Kurtesevic

William Shakespeare’s ‘The tragedy of Macbeth’ as performed by Sanio Kurtesevic