Mary Stuart - Softcover

Schiller, Frederich

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1605976148 ISBN 13: 9781605976143

Publisher: Book Jungle, 2008

Synopsis

Starred Review. In the global literary cannon, Friedrich Von Schiller wears the label of Germany's Shakespeare. His drama, penned in the year 1800, recounts the tumultuous days leading up to the execution of Mary Queen of Scots under the authority of her cousin Queen Elizabeth I. Contemporary British playwright Peter Oswald has won tremendous acclaim for his translation of Von Schiller's play, which L.A. Theatre Works recently staged. Given such wide shifts across centuries, languages and oceans, the audio performance offers a remarkably relevant story line for 21st-century America. The angst-ridden Queen Elizabeth, played by veteran actress Jill Gascoine, ponders the very real threats of sabotage and insurgency as she moves toward a decision that smacks of pre-emptive capital punishment for political purposes. As she awaits her fate, the imprisoned Mary Queen of Scots, played by ER's Alex Kingston, must contend both with overzealous followers on their way to certain martyrdom and complicated romantic double-crossing worthy of Desperate Housewives. Both astute history buffs interested in intellectual speculation and more casual listeners simply in the mood for catty monarch-vs.
monarch banter will find themselves transfixed. (Sept.)
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About this title

Review

'Exhilarating - a fast moving narrative about the imprisoning effect of power.' Guardian

About the Author

"Peter Oswald was born in England in 1965. His original plays include the verse plays 'Allbright' and 'Valadonama', and 'Fair Ladies At A Game Of Poem Cards', 'Augustine's Oak', 'Ramayana', and 'Sha Kuntala'. He has also adapted plays by Sophocles and Lorca. Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1805) ranks as one of the greatest figures in European drama and literature. That Verdi based four of his operas on Schiller's plays is not surprising (I masnadieri, Giovanna d'Arco, Luisa Miller, Don Carlos). Both men were deeply preoccupied with the battle for political freedon, projecting the moral victory of the doomed individual over the power of the immutable State as potent historical drama. Schiller's nobility of theatrical concept perfectly suited the energy and majesty of Verdi's scores. Yet in the English-speaking world Schiller's works are comparatively little known to theatregoers. The dedication of the renowned Glasgow-based Citizens' Company and the inspired decision to present the plays alongside Verdi's operas at the Edinburgh International Festival have gone a long way to remedy this neglect. The fifth play included in this edition was the source fro the opera by Donizetti (Maria Stuarda). Also translated for the Citizens' Company by Robert David MacDonald, Schiller's 'Mary Stuart' is acknowledged masterpiece. "

Edition details

• Publisher: Book Jungle
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1605976148
• ISBN 13: 9781605976143
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 232