Poets - Softcover

Murphy, James

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1999614917 ISBN 13: 9781999614911

Publisher: Heretic's Press, 2018

Synopsis

Forget the tired movie clichés - 'Poets' is a scandalous new stage play, the first ever theatrical drama to lay bare the whole infamous summer of 1819 when Byron, Shelley, Mary Shelley, Trelawney and the Pisan Circle passionately shared lovers, lifestyles, ideals and domestic arrangements - to devastating effect for all of them. At once wholly reliable and schizophrenically treacherous with the known facts, 'Poets' inflammatory plot incendiarises the tinder-dry details of history. Alternating moments of acerbic comedy with bleak nihilism, 'Poets' reveals Shelley not only attacking the idea of religion but also confronting a sinister Abbess in an Italian priory; he also contributes to the eventual death of his friend, Lord Byron. Similarly, Mary Shelley, in life highly attracted to, and suspicious of, Byron, goes one step further in 'Poets' and confronts him in a romantically and erotically charged encounter. As the play hurtles to its tragic finale, ‘Poets’ gives new voice to eternal questions; is idealism a sickness or a cure? Is real love compatible with sex and romance? Can humanism and religion ever co-exist? Is God an illusory tyrant or a real redeemer? How much, if anything, should we sacrifice in the pursuit of truth in human relationships? 'Poets' is, then, not so much a play about Romanticism as a dramatic evocation of it, and in its flamboyant celebration of larger-than-life characters, resoundingly proves that myth remains a vital literary means of moving us and revealing our deeper truths. Poets is also – shamelessly, flamboyantly and tragicomically - one hell of a story.

About this title

About the Author

Born in 1957, James Murphy grew up in the suburbs of South London. He graduated in Philosophy from the University of East Anglia at Norwich. He then worked in several different fields (sometimes literally), including journalism and teaching. He is the author of several books including 'Crash the Bus' (novel) 'To Hell in a Handcart' (play-script); 'Stroke' (play script); 'The Misanthropist’s Secret Love Life' (poetry); 'The art of Exile' (poetry) 'Wrongdoing' (poetry); 'Handbook for the Damned' (cultural & literary criticism) During the 1980s, he lived in Tuscany. He recently moved to Sussex, his house having burned down in Hampshire (as per Nietzsche’s metaphorical Vesuvian exhortation). He is married with a son.

Edition details

• Publisher: Heretic's Press
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1999614917
• ISBN 13: 9781999614911
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 136