Plays

PERICLESKING JOHNTIMON OF ATHENSTHE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONATROILUS AND CRESSIDA

Over the course of his twenty-year career as a playwright, William Shakespeare introduced an astounding number of important tragedies, comedies, and histories into the canon, most of which have become immortal classics of the English language.However, at the same time, he also wrote a handful of works which, for one reason or another, have failed to achieve the same classic status as the rest of his oeuvre.This presentation looks at five of these plays: Pericles, Timon of Athens, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Troilus and Cressida, and King John, and examines the reasons these plays have not attained the same popular or critical rank as their peers.

Pericles, Prince of Tyre is a Jacobean play written at least in part by William Shakespeare and included in modern editions of his collected works despite questions over its authorship, as it was not included in the First Folio. Whilst various arguments support that Shakespeare is the sole author of the play, modern editors generally agree that Shakespeare is responsible for almost exactly half the play.Modern textual studies indicate that the first two acts detailing the many voyages of Pericles were written by a mediocre collaborator, which strong evidence suggests to have been the victualler, panderer, dramatist and pamphleteer George Wilkins.

In the convoluted story, Pericles, the Prince of Tyre, flees the wicked king Antioch, who has sent an assassin to kill him for discovering the Kings secret. Pericles is eventually shipwrecked in Pentapolis, where he wins the beautiful Thaisa in a tournament, and later they have a daughter, Marina. However, during the birth, Thaisa appears to die, and Pericles has her buried at sea in a wooden chest. The chest washes up on the shores of Ephesus, where a doctor revives Thaisa, and, believing Pericles to be dead, enters a convent.Marina, having been entrusted to two friends of Pericles, has been sold into slavery. Sixteen years later, through her virtuous conduct, she becomes a teacher to young women. Pericles is told, however, that she has died.Eventually, Pericles is reunited with his now grown daughter, as well as his wife, and they have a joyous reunion as a family.

Unlike Shakespeares most famous works, Pericles doesnt share their deep philosophical, or psychological traits, being simply a collection of events stacked one upon another in seeming haphazard fashion.Pericles and his family suffer several tragedies, but dont appear to deserve them, having no tragic flaw in their characters. Yet it doesnt fit the model of Shakespeares comedies, despite having a happy ending.Furthermore, Pericles doesnt engage audiences emotionally, since none of the characters are written with any depth.Some modern productions have mounted handsome productions, with eye-popping seascapes and inventive set designs, but Pericles main structural and character problems remain.

Timon of Athens (The Life of Tymon of Athens) is a play by William Shakespeare, published in the First Folio (1623) and probably written in collaboration with another author, most likely Thomas Middleton, in about 16051606. It is about the fortunes of an Athenian named Timon (and probably influenced by the philosopher of the same name). The central character is a well beloved citizen of Athens who through tremendous generosity spends his entire fortunes on corrupt hangers-on who are only interested in getting the next payout.

Timon of Athens is considered to be the most misanthropic of Shakespeares plays: the title character, although generous and honest, spends most of the play in self-exile, spewing hate and scorn at humanity, and lamenting their greed, selfishness, and lusts.There is no character arc, no struggle or quest, and Timon himself appears to learn nothing from his experience, leaving the audience to wonder what the purpose of the play really is.Although the lead character is a tour-de-force for actors, audiences feel little pity or compassion for Timons sufferings.

The Two Gentlemen of Verona is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1589 and 1593. It is considered by some to be Shakespeare's first play, and is often seen as showing his first tentative steps in laying out some of the themes and motifs with which he would later deal in more detail; for example, it is the first of his plays in which a heroine dresses as a boy. The play deals with the themes of friendship and infidelity, the conflict between friendship and love, and the foolish behaviour of people in love. The highlight of the play is considered by some to be Launce, the clownish servant of Proteus, and his dog Crab, to whom "the most scene-stealing non-speaking role in the canon" has been attributed.

The basic plot of The Two Gentlemen of Verona is how the friendship of two young men, Valentine and Proteus is tested when they both fall in love with Silvia, a beautiful young lady in Milan.Despite some truly despicable behavior from Proteus, including casting away his own girl Julia, and trying to forcibly take Silvia, Valentine forgives his friends lies and betrayal, even giving Silvia away to his friend as a token of their bond, and the play ends happily. (?)

Modern audiences have a very difficult time with the ending of the play not only the ease and quickness in which Valentine forgives his false friends atrocious behavior, but the gifting of Silvia to Proteus at the end is untenable by modern standards.Perhaps, because this was possibly one of Shakespeares earliest efforts, he had yet to master finding the right tone. A problem that would crop up later in the similarly strained ending to The Taming of the Shrew.Regardless, The Two Gentlemen of Verona has many virtues, including some humorous subplots and characters that make this play worth exploring.

Troilus and Cressida is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1602. It was described by Frederick S. Boas as one of Shakespeare's problem plays. The play ends on a very bleak note with the death of the noble Trojan Hector and destruction of the love between Troilus and Cressida. Throughout the play, the tone lurches wildly between bawdy comedy and tragic gloom, and readers and theatre-goers have frequently found it difficult to understand how one is meant to respond to the characters. However, several characteristic elements of the play (the most notable being its constant questioning of intrinsic values such as hierarchy, honour and love) have often been viewed as distinctly "modern."

Troilus and Cressida is set during the later years of the Trojan War, faithfully following the plotline of the Iliad from Achilles' refusal to participate in battle to Hector's death.Essentially, two plots are followed in this play. In one, Troilus, a Trojan prince (son of Priam), woos Cressida, another Trojan. They profess their undying love, before Cressida is exchanged for a Trojan prisoner of war. As he attempts to visit her in the Greek camp, Troilus glimpses Diomedes flirting with his beloved Cressida, and decides to avenge her falseness.

The odd tonal constructs and seemingly unconnected halves of the play make it confusing for most modern audiences, and directors have a difficult time reconciling the satiric, comedic elements with the more serious scenes of war and personal vengeance.In many ways, it mirrors the tone and style of another of Shakespeares problem plays: The Merchant Of Venice, which more successfully weaves the disparate comedic and tragic plot lines together.

King John, a history play by William Shakespeare, dramatises the reign of John, King of England (ruled 11991216), son of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine and father of Henry III of England. It is believed to have been written in the mid-1590s but was not published until it appeared in the First Folio in 1623.

King John receives an ambassador from France, who demands, on pain of war, that he renounce his throne in favor of his nephew, Arthur, whom the French King, Philip, believes to be the rightful heir to the throne.Internal turmoil threatens to destroy the kingdom as war erupts between France and England, and several men step forward, believing they have as much right to the throne as John.In the end, Arthur dies during a failed assassination attempt, John is poisoned, and Johns son, Prince Henry, ascends to the English throne.

Unlike Shakespeares other history plays, King John suffers from being decidedly less epic in its scope, and relies far more on politicking and talk than action, making for a less vital and immediate play-going experience. (As a side note, King John is only the second Shakespeare play, other than Richard II, containing no prose.)Coupled with Johns relative obscurity as an English king, and general unfamiliarity with his reign, prevents directors from staging the play, and it is rarely performed.

A NUTSY THE SQURREL PRODUCTIONCOPYRIGHT 2016 OAK HILLS MEDIA CENTERALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pericles,_Prince_of_Tyrehttp://www.nosweatshakespeare.com/play-summary/pericles/http://www.shakespeare-online.com/faq/kjfaq.html

MUSICOverture Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country; Cliff Eidelman, Intrada Records, 1991. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT-wunjnEXA

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