After nearly a decade of the Trojan War, the women of Greece are growing restless. Led by the indomitable Penelope and the fierce Clytemnestra, a band of Grecian women defy the odds and bravely set sail for the shores of Troy, determined to end the conflict themselves. The journey is fraught with danger—bloodthirsty warriors, mythical beasts, and the capricious will of the gods. But these women are no mere bystanders in the tales of men. Get ready to embark on the greatest adventure that H...

If We Were Birds is a shocking, uncompromising examination of the horrors of war, giving voice to a woman long ago forced into silence, and placing a spotlight on millions of female victims who have been silenced through violence. A deeply affecting and thought-provoking re-imagining of Ovid’s masterpiece "Tereus, Procne, and Philomela," Erin Shields’s award-winning play is an unflinching commentary on contemporary war and its aftermath delivered through the lens of Greek tragedy....

Set seven years before King Lear, Queen Goneril centres the struggles of Lear’s daughters as they negotiate patriarchal systems built to keep them relegated to the sidelines. In Goneril, we find a natural-born leader. In Regan, a boundary pusher. And in Cordelia, a reluctant peacekeeper. As the three work to dismantle their individual constraints, a storm of inner reckoning begins to brew that reflects their deepest yearnings and mirrors our contemporary world.Whi...

Award-winning playwright Erin Shields has crafted three thought-provoking plays that centre on the inner lives of women, offering space for those who dare to listen.An eviscerating satire of gender roles in popular culture, Beautiful Man imagines a world in which women are the subjects and men the objects. As three women dissect the latest Hollywood blockbuster, narrative after narrative of strong female characters fold into each other, fusing into a brutally recognizable ...

“The biggest mistake any of us could make would be to underestimate Satan.”The seventeenth century and present day are seamlessly intertwined as Satan vents to an audience about her frustration at being cast out of Heaven and her thoughts on oppression. When she finds out that God has created delicate new creatures called “humans,” she crafts a plan for revenge and betrayal on the Almighty.Erin Shields turns Heaven and Hell upside down in this witty, modern, femini...

In these two plays for young audiences, award-winning playwright Erin Shields presents the challenges of friendship and communication.In Mistatim, two eleven-year-olds strike up an unlikely friendship at the fence between one’s reserve and the other’s ranch. On Speck’s side, she’s carved names of family members into the wooden posts as she tries to piece together her identity. On Calvin’s side, he’s trying to train a horse in order to prove himse...

Penelope. Immortalised in legend and myth as the devoted wife of the glorious Odysseus, silently weaving and unpicking and weaving again as she waits for her husband's return.Now Penelope wanders the underworld, spinning a different kind of thread: her own side of the story - a tale of lust, greed and murder.

An aging king's decision to divide his kingdom based on a test of flattery leads to the disintegration of his family and the state. Cast out into a raging storm, Lear undergoes a painful education in humanity, stripped of his privilege to feel the suffering of the "poor naked wretches." The play is a relentless descent into chaos, challenging the idea of cosmic justice and the bonds of nature. It stands as a colossal monument to suffering and the redeeming, yet tragic, power of love.

King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1603 and 1606, and is considered one of his greatest works. The play is based on the legend of King Leir of Britain. It has been widely adapted for stage and screen, with the part of Lear being played by many of the world's most accomplished actors.There are two distinct versions of the play: The True Chronicle of the History of the Life and Death of King Lear and His Three Daughters, which appeared in qua...

As portrayed in Homer's Odyssey, Penelope - wife of Odysseus and cousin of the beautiful Helen of Troy - has become a symbol of wifely duty and devotion, enduring twenty years of waiting when her husband goes to fight in the Trojan War. As she fends off the attentions of a hundred greedy suitors, travelling minstrels regale her with news of Odysseus' epic adventures around the Mediterranean - slaying monsters and grappling with amorous goddesses. When Odysseus finally comes home, ...

**The acclaimed Pelican Shakespeare series, now in a dazzling new series designWinner of the 2016 AIGA + Design Observer 50 Books | 50 Covers competitionGold Medal Winner of the 3x3 Illustration Annual No. 14**This edition of King Lear presents a conflated text, combining the 1608 Quarto and 1623 Folio Texts, edited with an introduction by series editor Stephen Orgel and was recently repackaged with cover art by Manuja Waldia. Waldia received a Gold Medal f...

A serious paucity of accessible and reliable literature exists on The Warrior-Prince, Saint Michael the Archangel. Written simply, with icons and a fairly comprehensive bibliography included, derived from both Judeo-Christian scholarship and tradition, this small book is intended to fill that need in relation to the great, humble, but ever-powerful warrior and guardian of the universal Church. The book is particularly suitable for those who do not know the Archangel Michael or who...