Blood on the Stage, 480 B.c. To 1600 A.d. - Milestone Plays of Murder, Mystery, and Mayhem

In four volumes of Blood on the Stage, Amnon Kabatchnik examined more than 400 crime-themed plays produced in the 20th century. As any theater lover knows, however, depicting acts of wrong-doing is not a recent phenomenon. The stark, violent plays of Seneca in ancient Rome were followed by liturgical dramas of the Dark Ages that drew on both the Old and New Testaments. The golden age of Elizabethan drama boasted masterful plays drenched with treachery, bloodshed, and horror.

In Blood on the Stage, 480 B.C. to 1600 A.D.: Milestone Plays of Murder, Mystery, and Mayhem: An Annotated Repertoire, Kabatchnik analyzes more than fifty blood-splattered plays that have withstood the test of time. Beginning with masterpieces like Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus, Oedipus the King by Sophocles, and Medea by Euripides, this volume spans centuries of equally compelling dramas such as The Haunted House (200 B.C.), Phaedra (c. 60 A.D.), and The Killing of Abel (mid-15th century). Later works include Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy, as well as several plays by Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare, notably The Tragedy of Julius Caesar and Hamlet.

The plays in this book-a "prequel" to the other four volumes of Blood on the Stage-represent ancient Greece, ancient Rome, the Middle Ages, and Elizabethan England. The entries are arranged in chronological order and include plot synopses, biographical sketches of playwrights and actors, details about productions, and critical reception, if available. From the killing of Abel by his brother Cain to Hamlet's revenge of his father's murder, Blood on the Stage, 480 B.C. to 1600 A.D. provides a critical overview of some of the most significant dramatizations of criminal behavior.

List of contents

Acknowledgments Introduction Prometheus Bound (480 B.C.) by Aeschylus The Danaid Tetralogy (463 B.C.) by Aeschylus Oresteia (458 B.C.) by Aeschylus Women of Trachis aka The Trachiniae (c. 450 B.C.) by Sophocles Ajax (c. 444 B.C.) by Sophocles Antigone (c. 442 B.C.) by Sophocles Medea (431 B.C.) by Euripides Oedipus the King (c. 429 B.C.) by Sophocles Wasps (422 B.C.) by Aristophanes Women at the Thesmophoria Festival (411 B.C.) by Aristophanes Electra (c. 409 B.C.) by Sophocles The Bacchae aka The Bacchantes (405 B.C.) by Euripides Plutus aka Wealth (388 B.C.) by Aristophanes The Rope aka Rudens (c. 211 B.C.) by Titus Maccius Plautus The Haunted House (200 B.C.) by Titus Maccius Plautus The Pot of Gold (c. 194 B.C.) by Titus Maccius Plautus Mad Hercules aka Hercules Furens (c. 54 A.D.) by Lucius Annaeus Seneca Phaedra (c. 60 A.D.) by Lucius Annaeus Seneca Thyestes (c. 60 A.D.) by Lucius Annaeus Seneca The Little Clay Cart (Sixth Century A.D.?), attributed to King Shudraka The Miracle of Saint Nicholas and the Schoolboys (Twelfth Century) by Anonymous The Miracle of Saint Nicholas and the Image (Twelfth Century) by Hilarius Daniel (c. 1140 A.D.) by Hilarius Abraham and Isaac (between1400-1425 A.D.) by Anonymous David and Bathsheba (between 1450-1500 A.D.) by Anonymous The Second Shepherds' Play (mid-Fifteenth Century) by The Wakefield Master The Killing of Abel (latter half of the Fifteenth Century) by The Wakefield Master The Mystery of the Redemption aka Ludus Coventriae (1468 A.D.) by Anonymous Pierre Patelin aka Master Pierre Patelin (c. 1469 A.D.) by Anonymous Orbecche (1541 A.D.) by Giovanni Battista Giraldi Herod the Great (between 1554-1576 A.D.) by The Wakefield Master Gammer Gurton's Needle (c. 1560 A.D.) by "Mr. S., Master of Art" Gorboduc (1561 A.D.) by Thomas Norton and Thomas Sackville The Life of Cambyses, King of Percia (c. 1561 A.D.) by Thomas Preston The Three Ladies of London (1581) by Robert Wilson Tamburlaine the Great (1587) by Christopher Marlowe The Tragical history of Doctor Faustus (c. 1588) by Christopher Marlowe The Jew of Malta (c. 1589) by Christopher Marlowe The Spanish Tragedy (c. 1590) by Thomas Kyd Edward the Second (c. 1592) by Christopher Marlowe Arden of Faversham (1592) by Anonymous The Tragedy of King Richard the Third (c. 1593) by William Shakespeare Titus Andronicus (c. 1594) by William Shakespeare The Life and Death of King John (c. 1596) by William Shakespeare The Downfall of Robert, Earl of Huntington (1598) and The Death of Robert, Earl of Huntington (1598) by Anthony Munday The Tragedy of Julius Caesar (1599) by William Shakespeare Antonia and Mellida (1599) and Antonio's Revenge (1600) by John Marston Hamlet (c. 1600) by William Shakespeare Appendix A: Lethal Poison Appendix B: Early Trial Plays Appendix C: Mourning Becomes Electra by Eugene O'Neill Appendix D: Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Appendix E: A Yorkshire Tragedy by Anonymous Appendix F: Cue for Passion by Elmer Rice About the Author

About the author

Amnon Kabatchnik, now retired, was a professor of theatre at SUNY Binghamton, Stanford University, Ohio State University, Florida State University, and Elmira College. He is the author of the four previous Blood on the Stage volumes: 1900-1925 (2008), 1925-1950 (2009), 1950-1975 (2011), and 1975-2000 (2012), as well as the author of Sherlock Holmes: A Chronological Encyclopedia of Plays Featuring the Great Detective (2008), all published by Scarecrow Press.

Product details

• Authors: Amnon Kabatchnik
• Publisher: Rowman and Littlefield
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 06.06.2014
• EAN: 9781442235472
• ISBN: 978-1-4422-3547-2
• No. of pages: 402
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art > Theatre, ballet; Non-fiction book > Dictionaries, reference works > Dictionaries, encyclopaedias; LITERARY CRITICISM / Drama, PERFORMING ARTS / Theater / General, Theatre Studies, Literary studies: plays & playwrights, Literary studies: plays and playwrights