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During an Italian war, Evandra is captured and faces execution in revenge for a battle. Three men love her and each considers sacrificing himself; Evandra instead surrenders to the authorities to protect them. A series of disguises and revelations resolves the conflict, and Evandra marries Leonell while Alvaro marries Melora.
The Muses, driven from Greece and Italy, wander until they find a new home in Britain. The court masque surrounds their arrival with grotesque anti-masques and elaborate lighting, ending with the Queen descending from the clouds as the Earthly Deity.
The nine Muses, driven from Greece and Italy by invading forces, wander in search of a new home and find one in Britain, where a welcoming king and queen receive them. The court masque includes comic anti-masques set in a City of Sleep and concludes with an aerial ballet in which Henrietta Maria descends as an Earthly Deity.
In this court masque, Charles I appears as Philogenes, a well-intentioned but misunderstood ruler who endures a tempest associated with Discord before Concord and the Good Genius of Great Britain herald a prosperous calm. An anti-masque of disruptive figures is dispelled, and the performance concludes with an idealized London and celestial spectacle.
A masque about Sir Francis Drake’s 1572 expedition on the northeastern coast of South America. William Davenant’s text depicts Drake allying with the Cimaroons and presents the English as a humane alternative to the Spanish.
William Davenant reshapes Measure for Measure by adding Beatrice and Benedick from Much Ado About Nothing, making Angelo and Benedick brothers and introducing Beatrice’s singing, dancing younger sister Viola.
Theander and Eurithea begin with idealized intellectual love, while their siblings Phylomont and Ariola represent a more physical romance. When medicine changes Theander's view of women, his courtly equality with Eurithea gives way to a controlling marriage, exposing the pretensions of platonic love.
A five-act theatrical anthology begins with actors auditioning for a vacant playhouse, then links a translation of Molière’s Sganarelle, two earlier Davenant dramatic tableaux, and a final burlesque of tragedy. The pieces range across comedy, historical spectacle and parody, while the framing act comments on the theatre and its performers.
In Arcadia, Theocles and Philander become rivals for Heraclia’s affection. Their competition tests desire and virtue in a comedy that reshapes the setting, characters and action of The Two Noble Kinsmen.
This early English opera depicts the 1522 siege of Rhodes by the Ottoman forces of Suleiman the Magnificent. The story includes Roxelana, Suleiman’s chief consort.
Dryden and D'Avenant adapt Shakespeare's The Tempest, retaining much of its verse while changing its language and adding characters. Prospero's daughter Dorinda and Ariel's girlfriend Milcha expand the island's relationships, including a parallel romance between Dorinda and Hippolito.
Impoverished Younger Pallatine plots with Lady Ample and her followers to outwit his wealthy brother and the elderly men who pursue the women for money. A series of tricks humiliates the self-styled wits and a miserly guardian, leaving Younger Pallatine and Lucy free to marry and Lady Ample willing to marry the older brother on her own terms.
During an Italian war, Evandra is captured and faces execution in revenge for a battle. Three men love her and each considers sacrificing himself; Evandra instead surrenders to the authorities to protect them. A series of disguises and revelations resolves the conflict, and Evandra marries Leonell while Alvaro marries Melora.
The Muses, driven from Greece and Italy, wander until they find a new home in Britain. The court masque surrounds their arrival with grotesque anti-masques and elaborate lighting, ending with the Queen descending from the clouds as the Earthly Deity.
The nine Muses, driven from Greece and Italy by invading forces, wander in search of a new home and find one in Britain, where a welcoming king and queen receive them. The court masque includes comic anti-masques set in a City of Sleep and concludes with an aerial ballet in which Henrietta Maria descends as an Earthly Deity.
In this court masque, Charles I appears as Philogenes, a well-intentioned but misunderstood ruler who endures a tempest associated with Discord before Concord and the Good Genius of Great Britain herald a prosperous calm. An anti-masque of disruptive figures is dispelled, and the performance concludes with an idealized London and celestial spectacle.
A masque about Sir Francis Drake’s 1572 expedition on the northeastern coast of South America. William Davenant’s text depicts Drake allying with the Cimaroons and presents the English as a humane alternative to the Spanish.
William Davenant reshapes Measure for Measure by adding Beatrice and Benedick from Much Ado About Nothing, making Angelo and Benedick brothers and introducing Beatrice’s singing, dancing younger sister Viola.
Theander and Eurithea begin with idealized intellectual love, while their siblings Phylomont and Ariola represent a more physical romance. When medicine changes Theander's view of women, his courtly equality with Eurithea gives way to a controlling marriage, exposing the pretensions of platonic love.
A five-act theatrical anthology begins with actors auditioning for a vacant playhouse, then links a translation of Molière’s Sganarelle, two earlier Davenant dramatic tableaux, and a final burlesque of tragedy. The pieces range across comedy, historical spectacle and parody, while the framing act comments on the theatre and its performers.
In Arcadia, Theocles and Philander become rivals for Heraclia’s affection. Their competition tests desire and virtue in a comedy that reshapes the setting, characters and action of The Two Noble Kinsmen.
This early English opera depicts the 1522 siege of Rhodes by the Ottoman forces of Suleiman the Magnificent. The story includes Roxelana, Suleiman’s chief consort.
Dryden and D'Avenant adapt Shakespeare's The Tempest, retaining much of its verse while changing its language and adding characters. Prospero's daughter Dorinda and Ariel's girlfriend Milcha expand the island's relationships, including a parallel romance between Dorinda and Hippolito.
Impoverished Younger Pallatine plots with Lady Ample and her followers to outwit his wealthy brother and the elderly men who pursue the women for money. A series of tricks humiliates the self-styled wits and a miserly guardian, leaving Younger Pallatine and Lucy free to marry and Lady Ample willing to marry the older brother on her own terms.