Showing results by narrator "Leanne Yau" in All Categories

The Noh theatre of Japan was popularized towards the end of the 14th century. It was heavily influenced by Buddhism in philosophy and style, and was made up of dances performed at Shinto shrines to honor spirits and gods and old lyric poetry. Around the same time Shakespeare's Hamlet was being performed in London, Noh was integral to official ceremonies at Kyoto, and young nobles and princes were encouraged to attend and perform. This is a collection of four short plays from the Noh theatres of Japan - Hagoromo, Kumasaka, Kagekiyo, and Nishigiki.

In Jane Austen's unfinished novel, young Emma Watson returns to her father's house after being raised by her wealthy and refined uncle. As she gets to know her family, she finds that her father is reclusive and sickly, her sisters are crude and shallow, and her eldest brother has a petulance that is matched only by his wife's.

Hands Around, also known as La Ronde or Reigen, is possibly Schnitzler's most provocative and controversial work. In a series of 10 conversations occurring before or after a sexual encounter, between 10 pairs of characters from all walks of life, Hands Around offers a playful scrutiny of the sexual morals and class ideology of the era.

Alice Gerstenberg (1885-1972) was an American playwright, actress, and activist. She is best known for her many feminist plays, which often feature female lead characters and all-female casts (a rare occurrence at the time). This is a collection of ten one-act plays, which cover a wide range of topics -highlights include a lighthearted farce involving gossiping women, a satire about dinner parties, and a comedy about the pretensions of conventional theater, but some plays also touch on more serious themes such as death, war, and the effects of an unhappy marriage.

King Claudius, when a young man, wrote a five-act tragedy which was damned, and all reference to it forbidden under penalty of death. The King has a son - Hamlet - whose tendency to soliloquize has so alarmed his mother, Queen Gertrude, that she has sent for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to devise some Court revels for his entertainment. Rosencrantz is a former lover of Ophelia, to whom Hamlet is betrothed, and they lay their heads together to devise a plan by which Hamlet may be put out of the way. Some Court theatricals are in preparation.

This summer, Elsie is finally going to confess her feelings to her longtime—and long-distance—crush. Ada’s fanfics are to die for, and she just gets Elsie like no one else. That is, until Joan, Elsie’s childhood best friend, literally walks back into her life and slots in like she never left. Like she never moved away to Hong Kong and never ignored Elsie’s dozens of emails and letters. Then Ada mentions her grandmother’s own long-lost pen pal (and maybe love?), a woman who once lived only a train ride away from Elsie’s Oxford home, and Elsie gets the idea for the perfect grand gesture.

A rich widow finds that the man she wishes to marry is already engaged. He has just suddenly become a peer and cannot, he thinks, break his promise.

When a Jasmine Revolution sweeps away the brutal Communist regime, China transforms into the world's first AI-driven Direct Democracy, ushering in a golden age of peace and prosperity. From the earliest days of revolutionary fervor to the turbulence of war and rebellion, the powerful Zhang family is at the center of the storm. Now when protests and terrorism bring ultra-nationalism storming back, the nation's favorite son, Colonel Ju-Long, must uncover the traitors in his midst before his beloved country explodes into another civil war.

At fourteen, my life was perfect. The beach was my playground, and the boy who stole my heart lived just around the corner. But perfect never lasts. In one horrifying moment, I lost it all. My family was destroyed, and the boy I believed in turned his back on me. Paradise became a nightmare.

Anatol, one of Arthur Schnitzler's earliest works, concerns the life of a shallow and immature playboy, who has multiple dalliances with various women but suffers from a crippling fear of commitment underneath his womanising facade. The play offers sharp social commentary on the themes of toxic masculinity and fidelity, and has been adapted in English to two different musicals: The Game of Love and The Gay Life.

Franz Kafka was one of the first and greatest masters of dystopian literature. In his bleak world view, man is presented as helpless and ineffectual, his destiny determined by distant, obscure and essentially unfriendly agencies. In none of his works is this savage and unreasoning enslavement presented more vividly than in Metamorphosis, a novella in which Gregor Samsa, a respectable employee and dutiful son, wakes to find himself transformed into a gigantic insect.

Six quirky radio dramas brought to you by members of The Online Stage.

Set in Vienna at the turn of the 19th century, the romantic entanglements of four young individuals, Fritz, Theodor, Christine, and Mizi, offer a sharp social commentary and insight on the influence of personal and social morals on relationships.

These six plays are Japanese classics from the 14th century and are presented in the order of a traditional Nō programme. Nō, the Japanese word for "skill", is a form of Japanese musical drama that originated in the eighth century, and is the oldest major theatre art that still survives today. Alongside Nō plays were kyōgen plays, which were short works typically inserted as a comedic interlude of sorts between the more classical Nō performances.

This book contains proven steps and strategies on how to eliminate jealousy and insecurity in your life. Any relationship is prone to certain hurdles. There are times in which you and your significant other fight over even the simplest things. Choosing a restaurant to dine in for the night can very well nurture an atmosphere of contempt. And then there are other things like finances, careers, relationships and emotional space that constitute the core of human life.

Ava Jones has settled for a life that she's not sure she wants anymore, but won't admit it. Her best friend Erica Davidson talks her into taking a break on the Isle of Wight. Her days on the island are spent thinking things through and arguing with Morgan, whom she hates on principle. Is it so wrong for her to want a life that follows the script of an honest-to-god romance film?

This is final installment in Edith Nesbit's classic trilogy of time-traveling adventures by four enterprising children.

A collection of one-acts by the Pulitzer-winning playwright, including Close the Book, Suppressed Desires, Tickless Time, Woman's Honor, The People, and Trifles.

This play is a fictionalized account of the life of William Shakespeare, beginning from his humble origins in Stratford-upon-Avon with his wife, Anne Hathaway, to his life as a successful playwright in London. This play uses several biographical speculations about Shakespeare's life to tell a fascinating tale, such as his relationship with his wife (to whom he famously left his "second-best bed" in his will), his friendship with fellow playwright and competitor Christopher Marlowe, his interactions with Queen Elizabeth I, and an extramarital dalliance with the queen's maid of honor.

A single kiss on a dark night at a lonely inn changed Prudence’s life forever...and not for the better. Deemed “the Baggage” by the ladies of Nettlefold, Prudence Baggington held secrets they could never know. She thought to marry an earl. Instead, she married a monster. Fearful for her life, she runs, seeking safe haven at a convent. As a married woman she cannot join the convent, nor can she marry again. How could love ever be in her future? Her only hope is for peace and simple friendship with the Abbess’ nephew, the Baron Halthaven.