Shakespeare is that one guy who wrote 37 plays 400 years ago. A play is a book out loud and moving around. A one sentence summary is a description that is just long enough to be fun. For examples, see below.
"Twelfth Night" – Identity theft runs rampant in a beach community.
"A Midsummer Night's Dream" – Some hooligans run away and end up getting their dream weddings.
"Romeo and Juliet" – Some guy doesn’t get all the information necessary to make a decision but he makes it anyway; naturally he makes the wrong decision.
"Titus Andronicus" – An eye for an eye. And a hand for a hand…for a tongue for a pie for - oh boy that’s a lot of blood.
"Macbeth" – One man single-handedly ruins an entire country on the advice of three scary homeless ladies.
"Hamlet" – A fully-grown, college-educated man mopes and whines like a child about his home life.
"Measure for Measure" – Some shady characters make a whole bunch of outdated law puns; also a woman clearly says no yet in a play full of lawyers no one brings up the issue of consent.
"Merchant of Venice" – A Jewish stereotype is born. Or maybe just perpetuated.
"As You Like It" – Everyone wanders around the woods until the dude reveals he’s a girl.
"The Tempest" – A bunch of royals get stuck on the most wicked awesome deserted island ever.
"Othello" – A wife loses a hankie and also her life.
"Julius Caesar" – For the first half of the play, the Senate plots to kill a dictator; for the second half, historical events are needlessly mangled for the purpose of entertainment.
"Antony and Cleopatra" – A foolish army commander drags an awesome, strong queen into his stupid affairs.
"Henry VI, Part I" – The War of the Roses.
"Henry VI, Part II" – The War of the Roses.
"Henry VI, Part III" – The War of the Roses. Seriously,they're all just detailed chronicles of war.
"Timon of Athens" – Timon hates money and is surrounded by practical people.
"King John" – A small boy battles it out with an experienced weasel and nobody wins.
"Love's Labour's Lost" – People get engaged and set a date a year from now, but because they wanted to elope they get all sad about it.
"Much Ado About Nothing" – Two annoying grumps who deserve each other spend the entire play leading each other on.
"The Winter's Tale" – For the first half of the play, a king tragically accuses his queen of adultery and executes her for it. For the second half, everyone trips on acid and talks to a statue.
"The Taming of the Shrew" – A woman’s basic right of free speech is continually questioned.
"Richard III" – A guy who professes to be evil at the very opening of the show surprises us all by turning out to be, well, evil.
"King Lear" – An ENTIRE family tragically passes away…but the fool is good for a few laughs.
