Play Suggestions

Plays and other dramatic works
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alanmapstone
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Post by alanmapstone »

Re: Plautus

The most famous of his plays in Pseudolus, a classic story of a clever and witty servant having to serve less clever people. It is the basis of Stephen Sondheim's A funny thing happened on the way to the forum.

As the plays by Terence have proved popular perhaps we could also try some of Plautus.
Alan
the sixth age shifts into the slippered pantaloon with spectacles on nose
ToddHW
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Post by ToddHW »

These look good, maybe run them after the Terence plays end. Note the translator Henry Thomas Riley is associated with the Terence plays as well.

Thanks, Todd
alanmapstone
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Post by alanmapstone »

ToddHW wrote: April 16th, 2019, 11:37 am These look good, maybe run them after the Terence plays end. Note the translator Henry Thomas Riley is associated with the Terence plays as well.

Thanks, Todd
:thumbs:
Alan
the sixth age shifts into the slippered pantaloon with spectacles on nose
mightyfelix
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Post by mightyfelix »

I came across two plays in the Book Suggestions forum yesterday, while trying to track down something I found ages ago and foolishly failed to bookmark.

Betty's Last Bet
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=64327
For Five Men and Six Women.

Mrs. Darling
A Widow with Four Great Problems.
Katherine
Called "Kitty," Her Eldest Daughter.
Margaret
Called "Peggy," Her Second.
Dorothy
Called "Dolly," Her Third.
Elizabeth
Called "Betty," Her Fourth.
Hannah
A General Servant Who Doesn't Like Men.
Richard Wentworth
Wealthy Man of Affairs and Colonel of National Guard.
Percy Wentworth
His Nephew and Ward; a Student, and Heir to a Large
Portion of the Wentworth Fortune.

Jack Van Loon .
Of the Historic Van Loons.
Hamilton Moriarity
A Rising Young State Legislator.
Edgar Darling
A Cousin Who Is a Student of Archaeology.
Jeppe on the Hill, or, The Transformed Peasant
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=64850
Only two female roles, and about fourteen male, but most or all could easily be gender neutral
Jeppe, the principal character, is a poor oppressed peasant, abused by his wife and trodden down by his superiors. We are introduced in the opening scene to his wife, Nille, a veritable Xanthippe transplanted to the eighteenth century. With her shrill voice and stout whip,—Master Erik, by name,—she drives him out at an unreasonably early hour to go an unreasonable long distance for an insignificant amount of soap. She is, in fact, a true counterpart of Dame Van Winkle, wielding authority over a poor, weak Rip. Without so much as a cup of coffee, he starts with his dozen pence with which he is to make his purchase. On the way he stops in at the rascally innkeeper's, Jakob Skomager's, who induces the vacillating Jeppe to part little by little with his money until the poor peasant finds himself "broke," and with nothing to show for his departed coin but a "glorious drunk." After a soliloquy in which he calls to mind his past life, especially his brief experience in the army, he is overcome by his intoxication and falls in a drunken stupor by the wayside. In this senseless condition he is found by his "liege lord and master," the nobleman, and his servants. They decide to play a joke on the fellow; they dress him in the baron's clothes, take him to the castle and put him in the baron's bed, and then wait near by to see the show.

Both are comedies, and both look like lots of fun!
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Post by ToddHW »

Betty would not be PD for a lot of people - Ellis died in 1961. But both look good.

Thanks, Todd
SonOfTheExiles
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Post by SonOfTheExiles »

Looking at the Jeppe (Jeopardy?) play, I see that the womenfolk will be ganging up on Todd again. Though at least this time he gets a skinful or three to dull the pain. :lol:

Chris
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mightyfelix
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Post by mightyfelix »

ToddHW wrote: May 2nd, 2019, 4:52 pm Betty would not be PD for a lot of people - Ellis died in 1961. But both look good.

Thanks, Todd
I didn't even notice that. :oops:
ZamesCurran
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Post by ZamesCurran »

alanmapstone wrote: April 16th, 2019, 12:44 am The most famous of his plays in Pseudolus, a classic story of a clever and witty servant having to serve less clever people. It is the basis of Stephen Sondheim's A funny thing happened on the way to the forum.
I tried finding some interest in recording Pseudolus some time ago. I had trouble getting people to believe that a play written 2000 years ago, and translated 150 years ago was PD.

But I'd be happy to be a part of it...
Truth,
James
---------------------
Elizabby
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Post by Elizabby »

ZamesCurran wrote: May 3rd, 2019, 9:27 am
alanmapstone wrote: April 16th, 2019, 12:44 am The most famous of his plays in Pseudolus, a classic story of a clever and witty servant having to serve less clever people. It is the basis of Stephen Sondheim's A funny thing happened on the way to the forum.
I tried finding some interest in recording Pseudolus some time ago. I had trouble getting people to believe that a play written 2000 years ago, and translated 150 years ago was PD.
It’s not belief, but proof that matters. Finding an online text which is demonstrably PD can be harder for older texts - every time someone copies text and makes their own edits it muddies the water. Even Shakespeare can be a pain - lots of people upload an online text, slap their own intro or commentary on it and get a new copyright!
SonOfTheExiles
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Post by SonOfTheExiles »

alanmapstone wrote: April 16th, 2019, 12:44 am Re: Plautus

The most famous of his plays in Pseudolus, a classic story of a clever and witty servant having to serve less clever people.
Does it have a part for a smooth-talking villain? Ever since Fantome got expert coaching by that character in “The Drummer”, he’s been wanting to try out this sort of part. Look, he can do the smoothie chat now.

“Abigal is her name,
Sweeter than aspartame...”. :mrgreen:
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Post by ToddHW »

alanmapstone wrote: January 16th, 2019, 9:24 am
ToddHW wrote: January 15th, 2019, 5:20 am
SonOfTheExiles wrote: December 30th, 2018, 1:13 am Bandicooting around in archive.org yielded the following 1923 plays.
Dr Johnson -: https://archive.org/details/docjohnson00newtrich
Cheers,
Chris
I like Crossings and Dr Johnson, and will offer them (unless someone else wants to). Dr Johnson is sorta like an "epistolary" play - the character lines are all words from letters to or from Johnson (or so I learned from wikipedia and the play's introduction) - so little plot but lottsa good words.

Thanks, Todd
Can I put in a word of support for the Dr Johnson play. Unusual but interesting. Being mostly dialogue it would suit an audio recording and has fascinating characters like David Garrick, Oliver Goldsmith and Joshua Reynolds as well as Boswell and Johnson. Difficult to decide which one I would like to play most.
Dr Johnson started.

Thanks, Todd
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Post by ToddHW »

alanmapstone wrote: March 8th, 2019, 11:20 pm As the play by Terence proved so popular can I suggest that another Terence play would be equally popular. Eunuchus looks interesting but it does include scenes of "ravishing" (i.e. rape) and buying and selling of female slaves which some may find too offensive. The summary at the beginning also suggests an incestuous marriage but that may be a misprint.

We would of course be relying on Todd and Sonia (our heroes) to do the hard work as usual. :clap:
Yup, getting ready to launch another Terence and Eunuchus it will be. Offensive nowadays as you say; shows that hopefully times have changed!

Thanks, Todd
ToddHW
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Post by ToddHW »

Peter Why wrote: March 31st, 2019, 10:35 am I'm definitely not able to judge the quality of this, but W.S. Gilbert (1836-1911) wrote a comic play about Rosencrantz and Guildenstern:

Wikipedia entry about the play is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosencrantz_and_Guildenstern_(play)

The play is available in the collection of Gilbert stories called "Fogerty's Fairy and other tales": https://archive.org/details/00189951.2023.emory.edu/page/n1

Peter
Launched.

Thanks, Todd
SonOfTheExiles
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Post by SonOfTheExiles »

I’ve noticed that while the 1902 novel “Brewster’s Millions” has been read as a solo book recording several times, the 1906 play version doesn’t seemed to have been done in DR form yet at LV.

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leanneyauyau
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Post by leanneyauyau »

BellonaTimes wrote: June 24th, 2009, 9:04 pm [PLAY] Anatol, by Arthur Schnitzler

http://www.archive.org/details/anatolsequenceof00schniala

translation published 1913. I've been interested in reading this since I heard Orson Welles' Mercury Theater version The Affairs of Anatol http://sounds.mercurytheatre.info/mercury/380822.ra


Schnitzler's adult themes were also adapted into the films La Ronde and Eyes Wide Shut.
Can anyone find the text for Eyes Wide Shut?
Leanne (leanneyauyau) :9:
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