SeanCarrollJan 7, 20205 min readA New Way to Pay Old Debts by Philip Massinger (1626) This is the first play of my daily-drama project to feature a really tasty villain. That combined with the fact that it’s a tightly...
SeanCarrollJan 5, 20206 min readThe Beau Defeated by Mary Pix (1700)This is the breeziest play I’ve read so far, and also the latest. It was famously revived by the RSC last year as The Fantastic Folliest...
SeanCarrollJan 4, 20207 min read‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore by John Ford (1631)I confess, I thought this was a comedy. It’s really not. I usually know something about plays before I read them, but, honestly, I picked...
SeanCarrollJan 3, 20206 min readThe Sociable Companions, By Margaret Cavendish (1668)Why choose as my next read The Social Companions, which never acted in its day? First, I wanted to get a woman writer in, right at the...
SeanCarrollJan 2, 20202 min readConcerning the Reading of Plays, by Margaret CavendishThe next play on on my list is the The Sociable Companions, and this note from the several prefaces to her 1662 Collection Playes is such...
SeanCarrollJan 2, 20205 min readThe Roaring Girl by Middleton & Dekker (1607)This play is such a stew of interesting sexual politics, breeches-part sword fights, yard-arm jokes, and clunky plotting that I could...
SeanCarrollJan 1, 20204 min readA Play a Day? Really?Welcome to my play-reading project. My goal is to read, and write about, a Restoration or Renaissance play every day of 2020. I have an...