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Essays and key play scenes from the American theatrical quarterly, The Drama.

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Essay/Short nonfiction, Play

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The Roaring Girl is a rip-roaring Jacobean comedy co-written by Thomas Middleton and Thomas Dekker and first published in 1611. The play is a fictionalized dramatization of the life of Mary Frith, known as Moll Cutpurse, a woman who had gained a reputation as a virago in the early 17th century. (The term roaring girl was adapted from the slang term roaring boy, which was applied to a young man who caroused publicly, brawled, and committed petty crimes.) The play combines the exploits of the cross-dressed Moll with the amorous adventures of a trio of merchants' wives, and the forbidden romance between Sebastian Wengrave and Mary Fitzallard. ( Summary by Elizabeth Klett and Wikipedia )...

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Play, Comedy, Biography

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In this, the only extant tragedy from Aeschylus' trilogy about the House of Oedipus, Thebes is under siege from Polynices, a former prince of Thebes. After King Oedipus left his city and cursed the princes, Polynices and his brother, Eteocles, decided to rule alternately, switching at the end of every year. However, at the end of his year as king, Eteocles refused to turn power over to his brother and exiled him, fulfilling his father's curse that the two brothers could not rule peacefully. In the action of the play, Polynices and a group of Argive soldiers are attacking Thebes so that he can take his place as ruler. Eteocles must combat both the foreign forces outside the walls and the crazed, frightened women within. Note: The ending of this play is suspect. The lines Antigone and Ismene's entrance to the end may have been added later, either after Sophocles' Theban plays became popular or in the Middle Ages. (Summary by Libby Gohn)...

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Ancient Texts, Play, Tragedy, Classics (antiquity)

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Die Braut von Messina oder die feindlichen Brüder ist ein Drama von Friedrich Schiller, dem der Autor die Gattungskennzeichnung „Ein Trauerspiel mit Chören“ gegeben hat. (Zusammenfassung von Wikipedia) Sektion 00 - Ueber den Gebrauch des Chors in der Tragoedie Sektionen 01 - 11 - Ein Trauerspiel mit Chören...

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Tragedy, Play

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The tragedy is based on the mythological story of King Pentheus of Thebes and his mother Agavë, and their punishment by the god Dionysus (who is Pentheus' cousin) for refusing to worship him....

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Play, Tragedy

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This is the final installment in Sophocles's Theban Plays, following Oedipus Rex and Oedipus at Colonus. Oedipus's daughter Antigone deliberately breaks the laws of Thebes when she buries her brother's body and is sentenced to death. She clashes with Creon, the King of Thebes, over what constitutes justice and morality: the laws of the state or the laws of the individual. (Summary by Elizabeth Klett)...

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Tragedy, Play

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Guido Ferranti, a young man, travels to Padua with his friend Ascanio after receiving a mysterious letter from a stranger, claiming to know the true secret of Guido's birth. His plan of revenge goes awry, however, when he falls in love with his enemy's beautiful wife, the Duchess of Padua. (Summary by Wikipedia and wildemoose)...

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Play, Romance, Tragedy

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The Importance of Being Earnest is a classic comedy of manners in which two flippant young men, in order to impress their respected beloveds, pretend that their names are “Ernest,” which both young ladies believe confers magical qualities on the possessor. It was first performed for the public on February 14, 1895 at the St. James’ Theatre in London, and is regarded by many critics and scholars as being the wittiest play in the English language. (Summary from Wikipedia.org)...

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Comedy, Play

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volunteers bring you 15 recordings of Where the Bee Sucks by William Shakespeare. This was the Weekly Poetry project for April 8, 2012. Where the Bee Sucks is a song performed by Ariel, an airy spirit, in Shakespeare's The Tempest. The Tempest has proved more popular as a subject for composers than most of Shakespeare's plays. Scholar Julie Sanders ascribes this to the perceived 'musicality' or lyricism of the play. Thomas Arne, best known for the patriotic song Rule, Britannia!, set this piece to music....

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Nature, Play, Poetry

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readers present the fourth 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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Poetry, Play

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Richard III is an early history play probably written and performed around 1592-93. It is the culmination of Shakespeare's earlier three plays about Henry VI, and chronicles the bloody career of Richard, Duke of Gloucester. As the play opens, the Wars of the Roses are over, King Edward IV (Richard's brother) is on the throne, and all is ostensibly well. The problem? Richard wants to be king - and he'll stop at nothing to realize his ambition. (Summary by Elizabeth Klett)...

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Play, Tragedy

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Euripides' tragedy focuses on the disintegration of the relationship between Jason, the hero who captured the Golden Fleece, and Medea, the sorceress who returned with him to Corinth and had two sons with him. As the play opens, Jason plans to marry the daughter of King Creon, and the lovesick Medea plots how to take her revenge. (Summary by Elizabeth Klett)...

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Myths/Legends, Play, Tragedy

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Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend; a highly successful scholar, but also dissatisfied with his life, and so makes a deal with the devil, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust is a tragic play in two parts. It is Goethe's most famous work and considered by many to be one of the greatest works of German literature. This first part of Faust is not divided into acts, but is structured as a sequence of scenes in a variety of settings. After a dedicatory poem and a prelude in the theatre, the actual plot begins with a prologue in Heaven and Scene 1 in Faust's study. (Summary modified from Wikipedia)...

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Literature, Play, Tragedy, Myths/Legends

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William Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, based on true events, concerns the conspiracy against Julius Caesar, his assassination in 44 BC, and its immediate aftermath. Probably written in 1599 and among the first of Shakespeare's plays to be performed at the Globe Theater, Julius Caesar is one of his best-known dramas and has received innumerable performances throughout the centuries. (Summary by Laurie Anne Walden after Wikipedia) Cast: Julius Caesar - /newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=4358>Kim Stich Octavius Caesar - /newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=3370>Glenn Simonsen Antony - /newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=3664>Barry Eads Lepidus and Cicero - /newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=2911>David Lawrence Publius, Poet, and Pindarus - /newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=4444>Nathan Miller Popilius Lena and First Commoner - /newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=4435>Andrew Brutus - /newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=26>Denny Sayers Cassius - /newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=4402>Christopher Sanner Casca - /newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=1492>mb Trebonius and First Sold...

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Play, Historical Fiction

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Götz von Berlichingen mit der eisernen Hand ist ein Schauspiel in fünf Aufzügen von Johann Wolfgang Goethe. Als Vorbild der Hauptfigur galt der schwäbische Reichsritter Gottfried (genannt: Götz) von Berlichingen zu Hornberg. (Zusammenfassung von Wikipedia) Text: Fassung Weimar...

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Literature, Play

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Creditors is a tragicomedy by August Strindberg that plumbs the depths of the twisted triangular relationship between Tekla, her husband Adolph, and her ex-husband Gustav. (Summary by Elizabeth Klett)...

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Play, Tragedy

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Kabale und Liebe ist ein Drama in fünf Akten von Friedrich Schiller. Das von Schiller als Bürgerliches Trauerspiel bezeichnete Drama zeigt die durch niederträchtige Intrigen (= Kabalen) zerstörte Liebe zwischen dem Adelssohn Ferdinand von Walter und der bürgerlichen Musikertochter Luise Miller.(Zusammenfassung von Wikipedia)...

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Play, Literature

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The Way of the World is a play written by British playwright William Congreve. It premiered in 1700 in the theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields in London. It is widely regarded as being one of the best Restoration comedies written and is still performed sporadically to this day. The play is based around the two lovers Mirabell and Millamant (originally famously played by John Verbruggen and Anne Bracegirdle). In order for the two to get married and receive Millamant's full dowry, Mirabell must receive the blessing of Millamant's aunt, Lady Wishfort. Unfortunately, she is a very bitter lady, who despises Mirabell and wants her own nephew, Sir Wilful, to wed Millamant. Other characters include Fainall who is having a secret affair with Mrs. Marwood, a friend of Mrs. Fainall's, who in turn once had an affair with Mirabell. Waitwell is Mirabell's servant and is married to Foible, Lady Wishfort's servant. Waitwell pretends to be Sir Rowland and, on Mirabell's command, tries to trick Lady Wishfort into a false engagement....

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Comedy, Play, Romance

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Shakespeare's pastoral comedy was written and first performed around 1599, and presents some of his familiar motifs: a cross-dressing heroine, a wise-cracking fool, brothers usurping their brothers' power, a journey from the court to the country, and various romantic entanglements. (Summary by Elizabeth Klett)...

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Comedy, Play

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Die Huldigung der Künste ist ein dramatisches Gedicht von Friedrich Schiller. Es ist das letzte dramatische Werk Schillers. (Zusammenfassung von Wikipedia)...

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Literature, Play