Hamlet to Hamilton: Exploring Verse Drama

Sometimes we learn best by learning from other people's mistakes.  Such is the case of Stark Young's 1906 verse play, Guenevere: A Play in Five Acts.  (Don't worry, Young went on to have a very good career in books and film.  Just...not so much verse drama.)

Need to refresh yourself on why line endings matter?  Check out: Whose Line Ending Is It Anyway from Season One.

As an extra special bonus, we'll be dropping the Zoom video for the Melodrama episode for our patrons on Patreon.  To join, visit http://www.patreon.com/hamlettohamilton.com

Season Two we're looking at Arthur Through the Ages, looking at how  English verse playwrights took on the King Arthur myth, from 1587-2019.

Show Notes and Texts: https://www.hamlettohamilton.com/s2e9.html

Did you know Gilbert and Sullivan wrote a King Arthur play?  Well, okay, that Sir Arthur Sullivan provided music for a King Arthur play in new verse, which was such a hit that it toured the UK and the US? And did you know that it was only one of three plays either performed or published in 1895?  We did!  Today, we take a look at King Arthur: A Drama in a Prologue and Four Acts, with verse by J. Comyns Carr and music by Sir Arthur Sullivan, as well as Mordred: A Tragedy by Henry Newbolt.

As an extra special bonus, we'll be dropping the Zoom video for the Melodrama episode for our patrons on Patreon.  To join, visit http://www.patreon.com/hamlettohamilton.com

Season Two we're looking at Arthur Through the Ages, looking at how  English verse playwrights took on the King Arthur myth, from 1587-2019.

Show Notes and Texts: https://www.hamlettohamilton.com/s2e8.html

Get ready to swoon in every single scene, because we're focusing on our first Canadian playwright, William Wilfred Campbell's melodramatic Mordred: A Tragedy in Five Acts.  We're jumping out of windows, we're stealing armor, we're mistaking our identities, and choosing our romantic partners by way of dibs.  Start twirling your moustache and enjoy the melodrama!

As an extra special bonus, we'll be dropping the Zoom video for this episode for our patrons on Patreon.  To join, visit http://www.patreon.com/hamlettohamilton.com

Season Two we're looking at Arthur Through the Ages, looking at how  English verse playwrights took on the King Arthur myth, from 1587-2019.

Show Notes and Texts: https://www.hamlettohamilton.com/s2e7.html

Nick, Colin and Emily are taking a look at Richard Hovey's The Birth of Galahad, a sequel verse play to his brilliant The Marriage of Guenevere.  Can Hovey write his characters consistently?  How has his writing changed from his early poetry to his later life?  What does this have to do with Shakespeare?  And what modern verse play did Emily hate read?

Texts available at https://www.hamlettohamilton.com/s2e6.html.

It's time to look at Emily's favorite new author!  Richard Hovey's The Tragedy of Guenevere - as well as the Gilbert and Sullivan-esque The New King Arthur: An Opera Without Music by Edgar Fawcett.

Season Two we're looking at Arthur Through the Ages, looking at how English verse playwrights took on the King Arthur myth, from 1587-2019.

Episode Guide: https://www.hamlettohamilton.com/episodeguide.html

Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/hamlettohamilton.com

It's time to dive in to Lancelot and Guinevere scenes with Reithmuller's The Misfortunes of Arthur and Akhurst's Burlesque Extravaganza!  We've got the noble knight jumping out of casements and dishing out puns as we continue looking at Arthur Through the Ages.

Season Two we're looking at Arthur Through the Ages, looking at how English verse playwrights took on the King Arthur myth, from 1587-2019.

Episode Guide: https://www.hamlettohamilton.com/episodeguide.html

Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/hamlettohamilton.com

It's time to talk international verse drama with none other than Dr. Kasia Lech! Her new book, Dramaturgy of Form: Performing Verse in Contemporary Theatre looks at new fusions of verse drama, hiphop, slam poetry, multilingual artists and more.

H2H LISTENERS: Use the code FLY21 for a discount code when you buy the book today!

Learn more at: hamlettohamilton.com

Follow Dr. Kasia Lech on Twitter

We're looking at the overlap of burlesque and verse drama, with not one - not two - but FOUR iterations of Henry Fielding's Tom Thumb the Great.  From the original publishing of the fairy tale, through to Fielding's two rewrites of his play, to the burlesques (verse musical comedies) that were derived from the same.  Phew!

Season Two we're looking at Arthur Through the Ages, looking at how English verse playwrights took on the King Arthur myth, from 1587-2019.

Episode Guide: https://www.hamlettohamilton.com/episodeguide.html

Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/hamlettohamilton.com

Today we're looking at a truly interesting and pivotal moment in the development of verse drama as we know it, as we delve into the origins of the verse "opera," with John Dryden's King Arthur, Or The British Worthy.

Show Notes: http://www.hamlettohamilton.com

Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/hamlettohamilton

Before we jump back into Arthur's world, we want to give you this interview with playwright Caeden Musser!  Caeden is an actor-combatant, playwright, opera singer, and so much more.  Their new Cassandra-inspired play was featured in several of the "Tool Boudoir" episodes from Season One, and Caeden's here today talking about how music and movement influences their writing in verse.

Photo: Caeden Musser and Laurel Andersen in a scene from The Lifted Instants Before the Fall: A Tale of Troy. TURN TO FLESH PRODUCTIONS 2019 gala.  Photo courtesy of Lisa LaGrande.

Referencing: 

“In the Forest She Grew Fangs” by Stephen Spotswood on NPX: https://newplayexchange.org/plays/1299/forest-she-grew-fang

Spit and Vigor Theatre: https://www.spitnvigor.com/*

Colin’s Published Poems: https://macrinamagazine.com/issue-6-general/guest/2021/01/30/visitation-thank-you-note-how-what-if-love/