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Two short fragments: an unfinished and a lost play. A Florentine Tragedy, left in a taxi (not a handbag), is Wilde’s most successful attempt at tragedy – intense and domestic, with surprising depth of characterisation. It was adapted into an opera by the Austrian composer Alexander Zemlinsky in 1917. La Sainte Courtisane, or The Woman Covered in Jewels explores one of Wilde’s great idées fixes: the paradox of religious hedonism, pagan piety. Both plays, Wildean to their core, revel in the profound sadness that is the fruit of the conflict between fidelity and forbidden love. Written towards the end of his tragic life, these fragments give us a glimpse of a genius at his best: visceral, passionate, personal, poetic. (Summary by Simon Larois)...

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This collection of eight one-act dramas features plays by Eugene O'Neill, George Bernard Shaw, John Galsworthy, Susan Glaspell, William Dean Howells and John Millington Synge. It also includes a dramatic reading of a short story by Frank Richard Stockton. (Summary by Elizabeth Klett)...

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Don Karlos, Infant von Spanien ist ein Drama von Friedrich Schiller. Es behandelt vordergründig politisch-gesellschaftliche Konflikte – so die Anfänge des Achtzigjährigen Krieges, in dem die niederländischen Provinzen ihre Unabhängigkeit von Spanien erkämpften – und familiär-soziale Intrigen am Hofe von König Philipp II. (Zusammenfassung von Wikipedia) Sektion 00 - Widmung in der Rheinischen Thalia - Vorrede in der Rheinischen Thalia - Fussnote in der Thalia Sektionen 01 - 19 - Ein dramatisches Gedicht Sektionen 20 - 24 - Briefe ueber Don Carlos...

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Play, Tragedy

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Das 1895 uraufgeführte Lustspiel Leonce und Lena von Georg Büchner setzt sich an Hand der Liebesgeschichte der Königskinder Leonce und Lena sartirisch mit Sinn und Rolle des Einzelnen im gesellschaftlichen Gefüge auseinander. Sowohl dem gelangweilten, sinnsuchenden Prinz Leonce, als auch der depressiv, erduldenden Prinzessin Lena, ist die zwischen ihnen arrangierte Hochzeit unerträglich. Unabhängig von einander fliehen sie nach Italien und stellen bei einem zufälligen Treffen, ohne Kenntnis der jeweils anderen Identität, fest, dass sie füreinander bestimmt sind. Als Automaten verkleidet lassen sie sich schlieβlich an Stelle des vermeintlich abwesenden Brautpaars bei Leonce und Lenas Hochzeitsfeierlichkeiten trauen und erkennen erst hinterher die schicksalhafte Fügung. (Zusammenfassung von Franziska)...

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Artur Azevedo foi um dramaturgo, poeta, contista e jornalista brasileiro Amor por anexins é uma curta peça em um ato foi escrita em 1872, sendo o primeiro trabalho de Artur Azevedo deste gênero. Sua primeira peça teve grande êxito sendo representada mais de 1000 vezes ainda no século XIX. (Sumário escrito por Vicente)...

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Nach der Ehe mit Frida Uhl durchlebte Strindberg eine ausgesprochen düstere Phase seines Lebens, in der er unter Wahnvorstellungen, Realitätsverlust und Depressionen litt. Sie wird „Inferno-Krise“ genannt, da Strindberg die Erfahrungen dieser Zeit vor allem in dem Roman Inferno, Legender (1897, Inferno. Legenden.) in Form von autobiografischen, teilweise verklärten Aufzeichnungen verarbeitete. Es ist auch die Zeit, in der Strindberg begann, wissenschaftliche und alchemistische Versuche zu machen. Das Drama Mysterium ist in gewisser Weise der Prolog zum Roman Inferno. (Summary by Wikipedia & Wassermann)...

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readers present the fifth collection of monologues from Shakespeare’s plays. Containing 20 parts. William Shakespeare (April 26, 1564 – April 23, 1616) remains widely to be considered the single greatest playwright of all time. He wrote in such a variety of genres - tragedy, comedy, romance, &c - that there is always at least one monologue in each of his plays. Some of these teach a lesson, some simply characterize Shakespeare at his best, some are funny, some sad, but all are very moving. Each monologue will touch everybody differently. Some people will be so moved by a particular monologue that they will want to record it. (summary by Shurtagal)...

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This collection of ten one-act dramas features plays by James M. Barrie, Hereward Carrington, Marjory Benton Cooke, Alice Gerstenberg, Susan Glaspell and George Cram Cook, St. John Hankin, George Middleton, David Pinski, Frederik Pohl, and an unknown Japanese author. The plays were coordinated by Arielle Lipshaw, Availle, Chuck Williamson, Todd, Peter Yearsley, Caprisha Page, Charlotte Duckett, and Amanda Friday. (Summary by Arielle Lipshaw)...

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Pericles, Prince of Tyre is a Jacobean play written at least in part by William Shakespeare and included in modern editions of his collected works despite questions over its authorship, as it was not included in the First Folio. Modern editors generally agree that Shakespeare is responsible for almost exactly half the play—827 lines—the main portion after scene 9 that follows the story of Pericles and Marina. Modern textual studies indicate that the first two acts of 835 lines detailing the many voyages of Pericles were written by a mediocre collaborator, which strong evidence suggests to have been the victualler, pander, dramatist and pamphleteer George Wilkins....

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Cymbeline is one of Shakespeare's late romances, which (like The Tempest and The Winter's Tale) combines comedy and tragedy. Imogen, the daughter of King Cymbeline of Britain, angers her father when she marries Posthumus, a worthy but penniless gentleman. The King banishes Posthumus, who goes to Rome, where he falls prey to the machinations of Iachimo, who tries to convince him that Imogen will be unfaithful. Meanwhile, the Queen (Imogen's stepmother) plots against her stepdaughter by trying to plan a match between Imogen and her worthless son Cloten. (Summary by Elizabeth Klett)...

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Desencantos é uma curta peça em dois atos, obra da juventude de Machado de Assis, publicada muito antes do seu livro de poemas, Crisálidas e de seus muito famosos romances. (Sumário escrito por Leni)...

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The Life of Timon of Athens is a play by William Shakespeare about the fortunes of an Athenian named Timon (and probably influenced by the philosopher of the same name, as well), generally regarded as one of his most obscure and difficult works. Originally grouped with the tragedies, it is generally considered such, but some scholars group it with the problem plays. The play has caused considerable debate among scholars. It is oddly constructed, with several lacunae (gaps) and for this reason is often described as unfinished, multi-authored, and/or experimental. No precise date of composition can be given and, while most place it as close but prior to the late romances, theories posited have ranged broadly from Shakespeare's first work to his last. It is usually grouped with the tragedies (as in the First Folio), though some scholars have placed it with the problem comedies despite the death of its title character. Source material includes Plutarch's Life of Alcibiades and Lucian's dialogue, Timon the Misanthrope. The play had not been published prior to its inclusion in the First Folio (1623)....

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This collection of ten one-act dramas features plays by Edward Goodman, Alice Gerstenberg, Arnold Bennett, John Galsworthy, Anton Chekhov, Frank Wedekind, Moliere, Theresa Helburn, John Kendrick Bangs, and Harold Brighouse. (Summary by wildemoose)...

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Hedda Gabler is a play first published in 1890 by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. In it, Hedda Gabler, daughter of an aristocratic General, has just returned from her honeymoon with George Tesman, an aspiring young academic, reliable but not brilliant, who has combined research with their honeymoon. The reappearance of Tesman's academic rival, Eilert Lovborg, throws their lives into disarray. (Summary adapted from Wikipedia by wildemoose)...

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Literature, Play, Humor

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The Ghost Sonata (Spöksonaten) is a play in three acts by Swedish playwright August Strindberg. Written in 1907, it was first produced at Strindberg's Intimate Theatre in Stockholm on 21 January 1908... The Ghost Sonata is a key text in the development of modernist drama and a vivid example of a chamber play. In it, Strindberg creates a world in which ghosts walk in bright daylight, a beautiful woman is transformed into a mummy and lives in the closet, and the household cook sucks all the nourishment out of the food before she serves it to her masters. The play relates the adventures of a young student, who idealizes the lives of the inhabitants of a stylish apartment building in Stockholm. He makes the acquaintance of the mysterious Jacob Hummel, who helps him to find his way into the apartment, only to find that it is a nest of betrayal and sickness. The world, the student learns, is hell and human beings must suffer to achieve salvation....

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Henry VI, Part 1 or The First Part of Henry the Sixt (often written as 1 Henry VI) is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1591, and set during the lifetime of King Henry VI of England. Whereas 2 Henry VI deals with the King's inability to quell the bickering of his nobles, and the inevitability of armed conflict, and 3 Henry VI deals with the horrors of that conflict, 1 Henry VI deals with the loss of England's French territories and the political machinations leading up to the Wars of the Roses, as the English political system is torn apart by personal squabbles and petty jealousy....

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The Cherry Orchard is Russian playwright Anton Chekhov's last play. It premiered at the Moscow Art Theatre 17 January 1904 in a production directed by Constantin Stanislavski. Chekhov intended this play as a comedy and it does contain some elements of farce; however, Stanislavski insisted on directing the play as a tragedy. Since this initial production, directors have had to contend with the dual nature of this play. The play concerns an aristocratic Russian woman and her family as they return to the family's estate (which includes a large and well-known cherry orchard) just before it is auctioned to pay the mortgage. The story presents themes of cultural futility — both the futility of the aristocracy to maintain its status and the futility of the bourgeoisie to find meaning in its newfound materialism. In reflecting the socio-economic forces at work in Russia at the turn of the 20th century, including the rise of the middle class after the abolition of serfdom in the mid-19th century and the sinking of the aristocracy, the play reflects forces at work around the globe in that period. (Summary from Wikipedia, edited by Elizabeth K...

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I find it very hard to classify The New York Idea under any of the established rubrics. It is rather too extravagant to rank as a comedy; it is much too serious in its purport, too searching in its character-delineation and too thoughtful in its wit, to be treated as a mere farce. Its title—not, perhaps, a very happy one—is explained in this saying of one of the characters: Marry for whim and leave the rest to the divorce court—that's the New York idea of marriage. Like all the plays, from Sardou's Divorçons onward, which deal with a too facile system of divorce, this one shows a discontented woman, who has broken up her home for a caprice, suffering agonies of jealousy when her ex-husband proposes to make use of the freedom she has given him, and returning to him at last with the admission that their divorce was at least premature. In this central conception there is nothing particularly original. It is the wealth of humourous invention displayed in the details both of character and situation that renders the play remarkable. (Summary from Project Gutenberg)...

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A one-act play. Eccentric (crazy?) Captain Hagberd has been waiting for years for his son to come home from the sea. He has scrimped and saved, outfitting a house for Harry to inherit upon his return, which will be in only one day more. He has also planned that Harry will marry Bessie, the repressed maiden next door. Note: The recording was done outside, so there will be some ambient noise (airplanes, lawn mowers, birds, children... etc). (Summary by TriciaG)...

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Troilus and Cressida is Shakespeare's problem play about the Trojan War. As the opening Chorus tells us, the play begins in the middle of the epic conflict, and counterpoints the drama of battle with the romance of the title characters. Just as Agamemnon and his Greek forces (particularly the smooth-tongued Ulysses) attempt to woo the invincible Achilles to resume fighting on their side, the Trojan go-between Pandarus tries to bring together Troilus, a son of King Priam, with his niece, the lovely Cressida. (Summary by Elizabeth Klett)...

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