Drama Books

TO THERIGHT HONOURABLE CHARLES MONTAGUE,ONE OF THE LORDS OF THE TREASURY. Sir,—I heartily wish this play were as perfect as I intended it, that it might be more worthy your acceptance, and that my dedication of it to you might be more becoming that honour and esteem which I, with everybody who is so fortunate as to know you, have for you.  It had your countenance when yet unknown; and now it is made... more...

THE STAGE AS IT IS. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, You will not be surprised that, on this interesting occasion, I have selected as the subject of the few remarks I propose to offer you, "The Stage as it is." The stage—because to my profession I owe it that I am here, and every dictate of taste and of fidelity impels me to honor it; the stage as it is—because it is very cheap and empty honor that is... more...

THE ALLEVIATIONS OF MONOGAMY. This piece is not an argument for or against polygamy. It is a clinical study of how the thing actually occurs among quite ordinary people, innocent of all unconventional views concerning it. The enormous majority of cases in real life are those of people in that position. Those who deliberately and conscientiously profess what are oddly called advanced views by those... more...

ACT I ANDREW GIBSON'S _office in his piano factory where he manufactures "The Gibson Upright." A very plain interior; pleasant to the eye, yet distinctly an office in a factory, and without luxuries; altogether utilitarian. Against the wall on our right is a roll-top desk, open, very neat, and in the centre of the writing pad a fresh rose stands in a glass of water. Near by is a long,... more...

INTRODUCTION BOTH volumes of the Scandinavian Classics selected to appear in 1916 are by natives of Iceland. They belong, however, to periods of time and to modes of writing remote from each other. Snorri Sturluson, the greatest of Icelandic historians, was born in 1179. His Prose Edda, the companion-piece of the present volume, is a Christian's account of Old Norse myths and poetic conceptions... more...

THE TRAGICAL HISTORY OF DOCTOR FAUSTUS FROM THE QUARTO OF 1616. Enter CHORUS. CHORUS. Not marching in the fields of Thrasymene,Where Mars did mate the warlike Carthagens;Nor sporting in the dalliance of love,In courts of kings where state is overturn'd;Nor in the pomp of proud audacious deeds,Intends our Muse to vaunt her heavenly verse:Only this, gentles,—we must now performThe form of... more...

THE CAST Princess Maria Theresa of Aragon. Warren Jarvis, of Kentucky. Nita, the Princess' Maid. House Detective, Manhattan Hotel. Rusty Snow, Warren Jarvis' Colored Servant. Detectives, from Police Headquarters. Hotel Porter. Steward, on S.S. Aquitania. Carlos, Duke d'Alva. Dolores, the Innkeeper's Daughter. Vardos, Messenger to the Missing Prince. Don Robledo, a Soldier of... more...

ACT I. SCENE I. Mr. ANDREWS's house. Enter MARIA and THOMAS. MARIA. But why these moping, melancholy looks?Each eye observes and marks them now unseemly,Whilst every countenance but your's speaks joy,At the near wedding of our master's daughter.Sure none so well deserv'd this noble prize:And young lord Weston will be bless'd indeed. THOMAS. It has been countermanded. MARIA.... more...

ACT I A fine October morning in the north east suburbs of London, a vast district many miles away from the London of Mayfair and St. James's, much less known there than the Paris of the Rue de Rivoli and the Champs Elysees, and much less narrow, squalid, fetid and airless in its slums; strong in comfortable, prosperous middle class life; wide-streeted, myriad-populated; well-served with ugly iron... more...

TRISTAN AND ISOLDA. ACT I. [A pavilion erected on the deck of a ship, richly hung with tapestry, quite closed in at back at first. A narrow hatchway at one side leads below into the cabin.] SCENE I. ISOLDA on a couch, her face buried in the cushions.— BRANGÆNA holding open a curtain, looks over the side of the vessel. THE VOICE OF A YOUNG SAILOR (from above as if at the mast-head).   ISOLDA... more...