Drama Books

ACT I An October night on the Syrian border of Egypt towards the end of the XXXIII Dynasty, in the year 706 by Roman computation, afterwards reckoned by Christian computation as 48 B.C. A great radiance of silver fire, the dawn of a moonlit night, is rising in the east. The stars and the cloudless sky are our own contemporaries, nineteen and a half centuries younger than we know them; but you would not... more...

MEMORANDUM The Sacred Legends touched by this Trilogy would be familiar, in outline, to the Auditors: e. g.: The woes of the House of Atreus: the foundation of them laid by Atreus when, to take vengeance on his brother Thyestes, he served up to him at a banquet the flesh of his own sons; His grandsons were Agamemnon and Menelaus: Menelaus' wife, Helen, was stolen by a guest, Paris of Troy, which... more...

Dramatis Personae Caesar . . . . . . . Ruler of the State. Francos . . . . . . Governor General of a Province. Quezox  . . . . . . Resident Delegate from the Province.                             Page. Scene:   Throne Room at the Capitol Caesar:   Most noble Francos, I greet thee heartily. A function truly noble falls within thy grasp; And thou wilt with it deal as only... more...

THE TURN OF THE ROAD. Mrs. Granahan.Is that the whole of them now Ellen?Ellen.Yes that's all now but one.She goes across to grandfather and lifts the plate.Have you finished granda?Grandfather.Yes dearie I have done.He pauses and fumbles for his pipe, &c.Is'nt that a fiddle I'm hearing?Ellen.Yes. Robbie's playing the fiddle in the low room. Mrs. Granahan.Arranging plates on... more...

PREFACE Believing plays to be solely for the stage, I have never before allowed any of mine to be printed until they had first faced from a stage the judgment of an audience, to see if they were entitled to be called plays at all. A successful production also has been sometimes a moral support to me when some critic has said, as for instance of "A Night at an Inn," that though it reads passably... more...

This is one of the three plays which Strindberg placed at the head of his dramatic production during the middle ultra-naturalistic period, the other two being "The Father" and "Miss Julia." It is, in many ways, one of the strongest he ever produced. Its rarely excelled unity of construction, its tremendous dramatic tension, and its wonderful psychological analysis combine to make it a... more...

COSTUMES. The simplicity of the costuming as well as of the stage setting makes the play an easy one for amateurs to produce. The dress of the four school girls should be as modern as possible. Their hair should be elaborately arranged. Hippolyta should wear the dress of an Amazon, armor if possible, or a short skirt, sandals laced high with crossed strings, waist to match the skirt, a crown, and a... more...

INTRODUCTION* Exactly a year after the production of Lady Inger of Ostrat—that is to say on the "Foundation Day" of the Bergen Theatre, January 2, 1866—The Feast at Solhoug was produced. The poet himself has written its history in full in the Preface to the second edition. The only comment that need be made upon his rejoinder to his critics has been made, with perfect fairness as it seems... more...

GEORGE HENRY BOKER (1823-1890) The name of George Henry Boker suggests a coterie of friendships—a group of men pledged to the pursuit of letters, and worshippers at the shrine of poetry. These men, in the pages of whose published letters and impressions are embedded many pleasing aspects of Boker's temperament and character, were Bayard Taylor, Richard Henry Stoddard, and Charles Godfrey Leland,... more...

Actus Primus. Scena Prima. Enter Dinant, a[n]d Cleremont. Din. Disswade me not. Clere. It will breed a brawl. Din. I care not, I wear a Sword. Cler. And wear discretion with it,Or cast it off, let that direct your arm,'Tis madness else, not valour, and more baseThan to receive a wrong. Din. Why would you have meSit down with a disgrace, and thank the doer?We are not Stoicks, and that passive... more...