Performing Arts

Helen Alving is a widow who’s committed to protecting her son from his father’s unsavory past which was marked by a string of extramarital affairs. She doesn’t want her son to be affected by his scandalous choices.

After her husband’s death, Helen Alving decides to dedicate an orphanage in his memory. She uses the project to drain his estate, so their son Oswald won’t retain any of his fortune. Instead, she plans to bequeath only her money, free from her husband’s influence. Yet Oswald’s health is failing, having inherited a disease from his father. As the pain progresses, Oswald decides to take matters into his own hands. He asks his mother to inject him with a fatal dose of medication to end his suffering once and for all.

In Ghosts, Ibsen covers multiple controversial topics. At the time of its production in 1882, it was immediately criticized for its subject matter. The play destroys the façade of the traditional family, speaking freely about infidelity, incest and venereal disease.

With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Ghosts is both modern and readable.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

Nora Helmer is a dutiful young wife and mother of three children whose attempt to secure her family’s future may ultimately lead to its destruction. Ibsen’s play explores female identity and independence in a male dominated society.

The Helmer family consists of Torvald and Nora, as well as three children: Ivar, Bobby and Emmy. From the outside, they appear to live a happy and idyllic life. Yet, a secret from Nora’s past threatens to destroy everything she loves. One of Torvald’s employees blackmails Nora, hoping she can influence her husband in the workplace. When she doesn’t succeed, Torvald is informed of her misdeeds. This leads to a life-changing confrontation that forces Nora to reevaluate her marriage and desire for a family.

A Doll's House a one of Ibsen’s most forward-thinking plays. It was deemed scandalous for its depiction of a wife who prioritizes her own well-being over others. It’s an insightful examination of how gender roles dominated nineteenth century Europe.

With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of A Doll’s House is both modern and readable.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

While vacationing at a spa, a sculptor, who’s unhappily married, encounters a former model whose love he rejected in favor of a more successful career. As the pair reconnects, they gradually rekindle their relationship, leading them down a dark and dangerous path.

Arnold Rubek is a famous and wealthy sculptor who feels trapped in a mundane marriage. He and his wife Maia are visiting a spa, when he stumbles across a former model named Irena. She’s an old muse who worked with Arnold earlier in his career. Irena was in love with him, but he rejected her to focus on his work. Since then, she’s struggled with madness and a preoccupation with death. Despite the warning signs, Arnold’s pursuit of Irena comes to a volatile conclusion.

When We Dead Awaken is Henrik Ibsen’s final play. It’s a story about the disillusion of success and a fixation on the past. The characters work as active participants in their own demise. It’s a cautionary tale with haunting themes and an unforgettable outcome.

With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of When We Dead Awaken is both modern and readable.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

The arrival of Karsten Bernick’s brother-in-law leads to a series of revelations, exposing a tumultuous history that could destroy his marriage and thriving business empire. To ensure his future, Karsten goes to great lengths to protect his secrets.

Karsten Bernick is a successful businessman and prominent figure in a small Norwegian town. While planning his next big venture, he is startled by the arrival of his brother-in-law, Johan Tønnesen. Johan left 15 years earlier after taking the blame for an indiscretion Karsten committed. Now, he plans to clear his name and create a new life for himself. Johan demands Karsten tell the truth so he can get married and start a family. But the ultimatum forces Karsten to make a hasty decision with potentially fatal results.

With Pillars of Society, Henrik Ibsen examines the corrupt nature of wealth and status. He questions the origin story of many high-class figures. He illustrates how far some people are willing to go to maintain their privilege.

With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Pillars of Society is both modern and readable.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

Ellida Wangel grew up loving the sea, but she eventually moved away and married a doctor instead of the sailor who originally stole her heart. This has put a strain on her relationship with her husband and his two daughters, from his previous marriage.

Ellida Wangel is the second wife of widower, Dr. Edvard Wangel. She is the stepmother to his daughters, Bolette and Hilde, who prefer to keep their distance. The family dynamic is often cold as the marriage is more about convenience than love. Ellida spent her formative years near the sea and has always yearned to return to it. But her life and responsibilities have kept her away. When a former lover reappears, he attempts to convince Ellida to leave her husband and travel abroad. She is forced to choose between the family she knows and the future she desires.

The Lady from the Sea examines the trappings of what appears to be a happy marriage. Despite a stable husband and two children, the wife is unfulfilled. She must look inside herself to discover what truly matters in her heart.

With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of The Lady from the Sea is both modern and readable.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

Halvard Solness is a successful master builder who has acquired both fame and fortune, yet he’s convinced his greatness will fade with the younger generation. He is committed to retaining his success, despite its negative effect on others.

Halvard Solness is an established architect who is well-known throughout his town. Over the years, his professional life has thrived at the expensive of his family. Despite the consequences, his career has become his primary focus. When he meets a young woman named Hilda, she becomes his unofficial muse, inspiring him to tackle new projects. Threatened by the next generation of builders, Halvard derails their progress to maintain his hold.

The Master Builder is an intimate portrait of a man driven by insecurity. His need for external validation clouds his judgment leading him to make a series of rash decisions. Ibsen delivers a poignant character study in this brilliant and indelible work.

With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of The Master Builder is both modern and readable.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

Janie Annie is an overzealous schoolgirl who plans to win the hearts and minds of the student body before revealing her true character and intent. She has a rare skill that allows her to subvert authority and any subsequent punishment. Janie Annie attends a small boarding school near a college town. The all-girl facility is run by Miss Sims who is very strict and powerful. When one of the students reveals a secret to her peers, Janie Annie runs to Miss Sims and discloses the information. Janie Annie attempts to foil one mischievous plot after another, earning the trust of the school’s staff. When she wins the coveted Good Conduct Prize, Janie Annie changes her tune to reveal a darker, more sinister side. Everything isn’t always as it seems. Janie Annie, or The Good Conduct Prize is a two-act play that shows the evolution of an ambitious girl who takes desperate measures to achieve her goals. This is a compelling and entertaining story with a surprising end. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Janie Annie, or The Good Conduct Prize is both modern and readable.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

First performed in 1908, How the Vote Was Won is a one act play by actress Cicely Hamilton and Christopher St. John. Set in England during the early 18th century, How the Vote Was Won uses comedy to tell a story in support of women’s suffrage. In this one act the English government tells its people that women do not need to worry about having the right to vote because the men will be in charge of taking care of them. This was part of the ridiculous idea held by the United Kingdom, and the world at the time. Women were held under the authority of their husbands, and would be solely supported by them. This allowed them no place in politics and took away their autonomy. The play stars Horace, an anti-suffragist, who is confronted by many of his female relatives demanding that he start supporting them since they have no rights. Many of these women formally held jobs, financially supporting themselves but have quit in protest and support of the movement for women to have voting rights, the same as men. Now, Horace is forced to either support each of these women, practicing what he preaches, or admit to his hypocritical beliefs. Written by two of the most notable champions in literature for women’s rights in the United Kingdom, How the Vote Was Won by Cecily Hamilton and Christopher St. John served as a clever and humorous way to address the inequalities women suffered. Today, the work of these two passionate activists still provides an accurate portrayal of the political landscape they lived in. This edition of How the Vote Was Won by Cecily Hamilton and Christopher St. John features an eye-catching new cover design and is presented in a font that is both modern and readable. With these accommodations, this edition is accessible and appealing to contemporary audiences, restoring How the Vote Was Won to modern standards while preserving the clever comedy and impact of the work of Cecily Hamilton and Christopher St. John.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

Queen Elizabeth is at odds with two women, one is a presumed witch, and the other is in love with her suitor, Sir Walter Raleigh. When she discovers their relationship, she makes a drastic emotional decision. The court of Queen Elizabeth is full of aristocrats, guards and Ladies in Waiting. Among this group is Bessie Throckmorton, who is in love with the gentleman, Sir Walter Raleigh. This is hidden from the Queen as she is also smitten by Sir Walter. When he sends a love letter to Bessie, it is intercepted by the Earl of Essex, who delivers it to the Queen. Meanwhile, a woman named Jill is condemned as a witch and forced into captivity alongside the unsuspecting Bessie. Merrie England is a two-part comic opera from Edward German and Basil Hood. Together, they deliver a story about the dangers of jealousy and unrequited love. It’s a vibrant tale enriched with historical figures and fictional details. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Merrie England is both modern and readable.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

The son of the rajah of Chutneypore falls in love with a nautch dancer, which disturbs the political order causing a rift between the powers-that-be. It’s a love story plagued by outside interference from both family and friends. Indru is the young son of Punka, the rajah of Chutneypore. Despite his royal standing, Indru plans to marry a nautch dancer named Hollee Beebee. Indru is a high caste member and Hollee is not, making it difficult to wed. Indru takes a drastic measure to make he and Hollee are more compatible. Meanwhile, another member of the royal family resorts to lies and theft to secure his place as the rajah’s new heir. The Rajah of Chutneypore, also known as The Nautch Girl, is a classic tale of the haves and the have-nots. It’s a reminder that love always finds a way and good will always triumph over evil. Upon its initial release, the opera was based in England and performed more than 200 shows. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of The Rajah of Chutneypore is both modern and readable.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

A jealous fairy pines over the beautiful Kenna, who supposedly gave her heart to a mortal and plans to bring him back from the dead. This enrages the fairy prince who desperately wants to prevent their reunion. Prince Azuriel has spent more than a thousand years loving the fairy Kenna. He’s suffered in silence as the devious Puck has led him to believe Kenna’s affection for the human, Prince Albion. Albion has been dead for years but Azuriel is convinced that he will return. Prior to his arrival, he demands Albion marries a mortal woman to ensure Kenna for himself. Puck must manipulate a human couple and create a fake wedding for a man that no longer exists. A Princess of Kensington is a fantastical comic opera full of humor and hijinks. The production debuted in both London and New York in 1903. It was one of many successful collaborations between Edward German and Basil Hood. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of A Princess of Kensington is both modern and readable.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

The Private Secretary (1883) is a three-act comedy by English actor and playwright Charles Hawtrey. Adapted from a popular German farce, The Private Secretary helped launch Hawtrey’s career as one of Victorian England’s leading theatrical figures. Initially panned by critics and audiences, The Private Secretary was revised and shortened by Hawtrey, who then restaged the play to resounding praise. Revived countless times throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, The Private Secretary is a comic masterpiece that set the stage for such playwrights as Oscar Wilde. Harry Marsland and Douglas Cattermole are two young friends who find themselves deeply in debt. Ever unwilling to take responsibility, they look to Robert Spalding, a clergyman as honest as he is innocent, for a way out. While Spalding is employed as a secretary for the Marsland family, Douglas…borrows…his identity in order to seek forgiveness from his creditors. Meanwhile, Douglas’ uncle returns from India and mistakes the unwitting clergyman for his nephew and precedes to berate him for his newfound silence and passivity. When a suspicious creditor uncovers their poorly concealed plan, the two friends must bribe him with a chance to stay at Harry’s family estate, which only further risks the chance of Spalding getting to the bottom of his own strange situation. The Private Secretary is a comedy of manners that dissects English aristocratic life in order to expose its capacity for vanity, greed, and exploitation. This edition Charles Hawtrey’s The Private Secretary is a classic work of English comedy reimagined for modern readers.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

To prolong the inevitable, a king attempts to preserve a painter’s life when he discovers, through his astrological chart, that their fates are suddenly intertwined. The monarch is forced to keep him alive for his own personal reasons. King Ouf is a powerful leader with a weakness for astrology, myths and superstition. During a reading, it is revealed that he is spiritually linked to a traveling painter named Lazuli. If any harm comes to Lazuli, the same fate will befall the king. Therefore, King Ouf declares that when he dies, his astrologer Siroco must also be killed. In an attempt at self-preservation, both men work tirelessly to keep Lazuli alive. Originally composed by Brookfield and Caryll, The Lucky Star was later revised by Helen Lenoir. It’s a witty comedy known for its intricate plot and memorable music. Following its debut, the opera ran for more than 140 performances at London’s Savoy Theatre. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of The Lucky Star is both modern and readable.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

Terence O'Brian returns to Ireland to discover his home has been colonized by the English, so he devises a new plan to reeducate its people. He partners with an English professor who switches sides to aid him in his efforts. Irish villagers are forced to live under England’s rule and taught their dialect, history and culture. When Terence O'Brian returns from his studies abroad he notices the drastic change. In an effort to preserve their remaining culture, he tries to reinstate native customs. With from help from Professor Bunn, who was initially hired by the English, they work to undo years of damage. The villagers create a plot to stamp out England’s influence, once and for all. The Emerald Isle is a rich collaboration between three of the most popular theatrical talents of the nineteenth century. It’s a compelling story about the importance of culture, identity and honoring one’s history. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of The Emerald Isle is both modern and readable.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

The king of Utopia tries to turn his small nation into a more civilized society by implementing six pillars of change led by six Englishmen. Unfortunately, his new and improved rules cause more harm than good. King Paramount plans to make noticeable changes to his South Pacific nation. When his eldest daughter, Princess Zara, returns from studying abroad, she brings six Englishmen of distinction. Called the Flowers of Progress, they help aid the king in his efforts to transform the government. The Utopian citizens adapt to their new way of life eliminating crime, sickness and poverty. Without these societal ills, the people suddenly encounter different problems that require a better solution. Utopia, Limited is a satire of British colonization and its impact on smaller countries. It debuted in 1893 and produced more than 240 performances. Gilbert and Sullivan deliver a grand story with a vibrant locale and captivating characters. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Utopia, Limited is both modern and readable.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

As a child, Casilda is married to Barataria’s future king, yet when she returns as an adult, her husband is nowhere to be found. The heir has been living in hiding with his true parentage forgotten. Marco and Giuseppe are two gondoliers eager to choose their respective brides. Their plans are disrupted when they learn one of them is already married. Years ago, the heir of Barataria was secretly wed to an infant girl called Casilda. Now a woman, Casilda has been named queen but is without her king. Unfortunately, the true heir was taken from his royal home and raised in secret. Both gondoliers fit the description, but only one can ascend to the throne. The Gondoliers, also known as The King of Barataria, is one of Gilbert and Sullivan’s most successful collaborations. It’s a humorous story with fairy tale elements and topical themes such as identity, honor and duty. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of The Gondoliers is both modern and readable.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

A wealthy man unknowingly harbors the Sultana after she sneaks out of the palace, which causes the Sultan and his guards to storm their party. Threatened with death, the man tries to convince the Sultan to spare his life. Hassan is a wealthy merchant who loves the company of common travelers. Despite his social status and many wives (25 to be exact), he constantly opens his home to relative strangers. In one instance, he is entertained by a group of dancers including the Sultana in disguise. She has ventured outside the palace without the Sultan’s knowledge. If the Sultana is discovered, she, Hassan and multiple members of his party will be put to death. The Rose of Persia is an intricate tale about tradition, politics and secret desires. Basil Hood and Arthur Sullivan deliver a humorous tale led by an unlikely but empathetic hero. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of The Rose of Persia is both modern and readable.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

In an effort to maintain his family’s estate, Sir George Vernon attempts to broker a marriage between his daughter and his cousin--despite her reservations. The union will secure the long-term ownership of Haddon Hall. Sir George Vernon is desperate to maintain ownership of Haddon Hall. He is in a legal dispute with his cousin Rupert, who is using his government power and influence to obtain the property. Sir George’s daughter Dorothy is in love with John Manners, but her father plans to marry her off to Rupert as part of the land deal. This leads to Dorothy and John eloping, which forces Sir George to find another way to retain the family estate. Sydney Grundy and Arthur Sullivan explore the exciting origin of one of England’s most notable properties. It’s a captivating interpretation of the Vernon’s story told from a unique point of view. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Haddon Hall is both modern and readable.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

When a reverend disapproves of his daughter’s suitor, he manipulates the church in an effort to discourage their union and find a more favorable partner. It is a drastic decision that effects those inside and outside of the congregation. Rev. William Barlow is the leader of a Low Church, where his curate is a pompous young man named Henry Sandford. Despite his brash persona, Henry and Barlow’s daughter, Dorothy, have fallen in love. Barlow disapproves of the union and makes a sudden shift from Low Church to High Church, infuriating Henry. The young man resigns, making Dorothy available to Tommy Merton, whom her father considers a more suitable match. Barlow’s meddling leaves the church in disarray with multiple members reeling from the fallout. This comic opera debuted in 1882 but didn’t find its audience until nearly a decade later. With the story, Grundy and Solomon deliver a warning about the dangers of good intentions. The Vicar of Bray proves that every man, regardless of their station, is flawed. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of The Vicar of Bray is both modern and readable.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

When a pirate’s apprentice tries to leave the high seas and build a new life, his hopes are dashed when a secret comes to light. The man’s plans are shattered as he’s forced to return to his old stomping grounds. Frederic is a 21-year-old who has spent his life working as a pirate’s apprentice. Now an adult, he’s free from his commitment and able to venture out on his own. He eventually stumbles across a group of women including the beautiful Mabel. They immediately fall in love and plan to spend their lives together. Unfortunately, Frederic discovers that his birthday, Feb. 29 of every leap year, allows for a loophole in his apprenticeship. He is suddenly thrust back into the world of piracy to serve a new sentence, while Mabel waits on the other side. The Pirates of Penzance is a story about sacrifice and personal responsibility. Despite a clear misunderstanding, Frederic proves to be a man of his word. This is a heartfelt tale full of misdirects and love delayed. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of The Pirates of Penzance is both modern and readable.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

Bunthorne is an aesthetic poet struggling with the legitimacy of his work and the female adoration it brings, when one woman suddenly rejects his advances. Patience; or, Bunthorne’s Bride is a satire of an artistic movement and the superficial pressures it may bring. The poet Bunthorne is extremely popular among his male and female peers. He’s the object of desire for many maidens, although only one catches his eye. Patience is a milkmaid who is uninterested in Bunthorne’s work or status. She wants to fall in love with a man, unselfishly, without fame or titles. She and Bunthorne make a rocky connection that may be doomed before it even begins. Meanwhile, the other women look for partners with varying success. Patience; or, Bunthorne’s Bride is a brilliant commentary on the vanity of romance in art. Gilbert and Sullivan deliver earnest characters with strong views in absurdist situations. This is a unique narrative that fits a bold story in a two-act structure. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Patience; or, Bunthorne’s Bride is both modern and readable.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

Mine Eyes Have Seen (1918) is a one-act play by Alice Dunbar Nelson. Published in The Crisis, the influential journal of the NAACP, Mine Eyes Have Seen is a brutal portrait of race and identity in twentieth century America. Exploring themes of violence, faith, patriotism, and economic struggle, Dunbar Nelson crafts a poignant and unforgettable work of fiction. When their father, a successful black man, is lynched by vengeful white neighbors, Dan, Chris, and Lucy flee north with their mother. They reach the city safely, but their mother soon dies from heartbreak and exhaustion, leaving her children to fend for themselves. Dan, the eldest, manages to support his siblings until an accident at the factory leaves him crippled. This forces Chris, a bitter young man, to take financial responsibility for the family. When the United States enters the First World War, authorizing the Selective Service Act of 1917, Chris is drafted into the military. Despite his hesitation and distrust of a government that allowed his father to be murdered with impunity, he soon comes under the influence of patriotic white neighbors who encourage him to sacrifice his life for the nation. This edition of Alice Dunbar Nelson’s Mine Eyes Have Seen is a classic of African American literature reimagined for modern readers.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

Proserpine and Midas (1820) is a collection of plays by Mary Shelley and Percy Bysshe Shelley. Combining Mary’s blank verse and Percy’s lyric poems, the Shelleys offer two groundbreaking retellings of classical myth. Together, the plays illuminate the working relationship of a husband and wife who helped define Romanticism, highlighting their individual talents in the process. While Proserpine was published in 1832 in The Winter’s Wreath, a London periodical, Mary Shelley was unable to find a publisher for Midas, which remained unprinted until the twentieth century. Ceres, the goddess of agriculture, leaves her daughter Proserpine in the care of two trusted nymphs. While the women are out picking flowers, Proserpine is kidnapped by Pluto, the dreaded lord of the underworld. Distraught, Ceres laments the loss of her beloved girl and appeals to Jove for assistance. Proserpine is a retelling of an ancient myth which remains mostly faithful to its source while emphasizing the feminist qualities of its tragic content. In Midas, the wild god Pan is defeated in a musical competition by Apollo, god of the sun. Determined to claim victory, he arranges a new contest with King Midas as judge. Although his power on earth is unmatched by any human, Midas soon learns that to play at divinity one risks reaping the greatest of sorrows. Proserpine and Midas is a masterful take on two of ancient Greece’s central myths. Using their talents for narrative and song, the Shelleys adapt these well-known stories for the nineteenth century and beyond, showcasing their sociopolitical significance in a world defined by the democratic ideals of the Greeks. This edition of Mary Shelley and Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Proserpine and Midas is a classic of English literature reimagined for modern readers.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

What Every Woman Knows (1908) is a play by J. M. Barrie. It ran for 384 performances at the Duke of York’s Theatre in London and was produced on Broadway as well, making it one of the most successful plays of the year. Inspired by the women’s suffrage movement, Barrie sought to explore the intersection of gender and class in Scottish aristocratic society. Adapted numerous times for film and consistently revived on stage, What Every Woman Knows is an enduring work of English theatre by an author whose reputation as the creator of Peter Pan has largely overshadowed the rest of his brilliant career. Behind every great man, an even better woman makes his success possible. In J. M. Barrie’s masterful play, a Scottish family worried for their daughter’s future seizes the chance to marry her off to a promising young man. Having discovered a young university student in their vast library, they offer to pay for his education if he agrees to take Maggie’s hand. Left with no real choice in the matter, John Shand marries into the Wylie family and attempts to launch a career in politics. As his reputation grows—due in no small part to his wife’s hard work—Shand begins to forget his impoverished roots, dreaming instead of a future all his own. Funny and deeply critical of the institution of marriage, What Every Woman Knows is a story of romance, ambition, and humility from a legendarily gifted Scottish storyteller. This edition of J. M. Barrie’s What Every Woman Knows is a classic work of Scottish literature reimagined for modern readers.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

The Power of Darkness (1886) is a play by Leo Tolstoy. Forbidden for decades in Tolstoy’s native Russia, the five-act play was first staged in Paris, where it earned praise from some of France’s leading critics. Noted for its brutal depiction of violence and desperation, the play is concerned with the universal religious and philosophical themes that inspired such masterpieces as War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1877). Peasant life is often portrayed in art as peaceful and romantic, in touch with the rhythms of the natural world and coursing with spirituality. In The Power of Darkness, Tolstoy refuses such empty symbolism, choosing instead to tell a story of greed, murder, and betrayal that has everything to do with the political reality faced by its impoverished characters. Fearful of what will happen to their farm when her aging husband Peter dies, Anisya seduces her farmhand Nikita, whose lack of education and opportunity—as well as a moral emptiness—make him a willing accomplice. Betraying Marinka, a young orphan girl he manipulates for pleasure, Nikita joins Anisya in dispossessing her stubborn husband. Tragic and disturbing, The Power of Darkness is a story of man at war with nature, and therefore at war with himself. This edition of Leo Tolstoy’s The Power of Darkness is a classic work of Russian literature reimagined for modern readers.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

Six Characters in Search of an Author (1921) is a metatheatrical drama by Luigi Pirandello. Viewed as an important work of absurdist literature, the play was a critical failure when it was first staged in Rome. Revised by its author and bolstered by successful performances in New York City, Six Characters in Search of an Author has been recognized as a pioneering examination of the nature of creativity, the relationship of the director and actors to the work of art, and the psychological stress associated with staging a theatrical production. While preparing to rehearse a new play by director Luigi Pirandello, a theatre company is interrupted with the arrival of six strangers on set. After a moment of frustration and confusion, the director is told that they are six unfinished characters whose story cannot be told without his intervention. The Father, Mother, Son, Stepdaughter, Boy, and Child refuse to leave, forcing the director to convince his actors to help them fulfill their wish. As the story begins to take shape, the characters exert more and more control over the set and the participation of the other actors, soon overtaking the director entirely. Strange and compelling, Six Characters in Search of an Author is a unique play which saw resistance from critics and theatergoers for one reason only: its methods forced them to question the nature of reality itself. This edition of Luigi Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author is a classic work of Italian literature reimagined for modern readers.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

The Jewel Merchants: A Comedy in One Act (1921) is a comic fantasy play by James Branch Cabell. Set in a world where history and fantasy collide, where a loyal Count can rise to defy the Duke he so diligently serves, The Jewel Merchants: A Comedy in One Act is included in a series of novels, essays, and poems known as the Biography of the Life of Manuel. “Am I to be welcomed merely for the sake of my gems? You were more gracious, you were more beautifully like your lovely name, on the fortunate day that I first encountered you … only six weeks ago, and only yonder, where the path crosses the highway. But now that I esteem myself your friend, you greet me like a stranger.” Roaming the hills on the outskirts of Florence, Graciosa, the lovely daughter of Balthazar Valori, encounters the jewel merchant Guido. Examining his wares, she is drawn to a magnificent set of pearls intended for Count Eglamore, a man who informed on her cousin Cibo, a man her family has sworn an oath to kill. Set in a fictionalized Tuscany of the Renaissance era, The Jewel Merchants: A Comedy in One Act is a captivating tale of jealousy, revenge, and the lengths to which a man will go for love. Cabell’s work has long been described as escapist, his novels and stories derided as fantastic and obsessive recreations of a world lost long ago. To read The Jewel Merchants: A Comedy in One Act, however, is to understand that the issues therein—the struggle for power, the unspoken distance between men and women—were vastly important not only at the time of its publication, but in our own, divisive world. This edition of James Branch Cabell’s The Jewel Merchants: A Comedy in One Act is a classic of fantasy and romance reimagined for modern readers.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

A Sensation Novel (1871) is a comic musical by W. S. Sullivan. First performed at the Royal Gallery of Illustration in January 1871, A Sensation Novel is one of Gilbert’s collaborations with composer Thomas German Reed, whose German Reed Entertainments have been credited with revitalizing British theatre. As a satire of Victorian sensation novels that employs self-aware stock characters, the play is a metatheatrical work that anticipates Luigi Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author (1921), predating it by half a century. Lamenting his loss of creative energy, an author appeals to the Spirit of Romance for guidance. Appearing before him, the Spirit reveals a shocking truth: the characters he has been working on are actually the souls of sinners condemned to play their polar opposites for eternity. Not only this, but the characters will soon become real. In a panic, the author flees his home for a time. When he returns, he finds the figures who filled the pages of his novel have taken control of their destinies, defying his restrictions and reveling in the chance to be alive. A story of romance, adventure, and crime ensues, blending the popular themes of the era’s sensation novels for comic effect while investigating the nature of creativity itself. This edition of W. S. Gilbert’s A Sensation Novel is a classic work of English literature reimagined for modern readers.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

Nō drama, which integrates speech, song, dance, music, mask, and costume into a distinctive art form, is among Japan’s most revered cultural traditions. It gained popularity in the fourteenth century, when the actor and playwright Zeami (1363–1443) drew the favor of the shogun with his theatrical innovations. Nō’s intricacies and highly stylized conventions continue to attract Japanese and Western appreciation, and a repertoire of some 250 plays is performed today.

Joy, Despair, Illusion, Dreams presents a selection of Nō plays, magnificently rendered in English by Royall Tyler, an eminent scholar and translator of classical Japanese literature. It includes both canonical and lesser-known works of Zeami’s, as well as anonymous works. Several are outside the established repertoire, offering glimpses of Nō before the tradition was codified in the Edo period, and have not previously been translated into English. An introduction describes the structure, formal features, and performance conventions of Nō plays, and brief essays precede each work. Through Tyler’s authoritative scholarship and keen ear for the subtlety and beauty of the language, Joy, Despair, Illusion, Dreams gives Anglophone readers access to the complex art of Nō.

This is a comprehensive book about the three significant African American women dramatists whose plays illustrate the debilitating effects of racism, sexism, and classism on African Americans in general and African American women in particular. The book explicates the novel ideas about the African American women who have been oppressed by the men (both white and black); however, they launch a rebellion against the oppressive hegemonic white culture, African American patriarchy, and white materialistic ideology. This book offers an exhaustive background of the social, economic, political, and cultural history of African Americans in general and how the social, economic, political, and cultural history of African American women is different than that of white men, white women, and African American men in particular. The book also discusses how the images of African American women in American mainstream theater and African American male theater are different than the images of African American women in African American women’s dramas. 

The themes of the book are the African American women as warriors or militants. African American women playwrights have transformed and re-invented American theater by writing plays for African American theater which focus on African American concerns, delineation of blackness, challenging the racial and gender authorities, projection of black womanhood, and production of African American history. African American women were truly and genuinely excluded from American mainstream theater because they were projected as stereotypes in American mainstream dramas and theater. Therefore, these women dramatists carried out the African American women’s voice on the African American stage by telling the story of their race, history, African identity as well as being a woman. In their plays, they voice against the brutal treatment meted out to them by the white patriarchal social order and also by the African American patriarchy.

African American women dramatists depict social violence, rape, suicide, domestic violence, racial violence, verbal abuse, child molestation, and so on. In most cases, black women are the victims of the violence and are portrayed as mere objects in a discourse of domination that African American women playwrights challenge. The main characters in the plays are not presented as mere objects, passive victims who endure subjugation; they are surrounded by brutal behavior and they use violence too. This shift in identification and focus is clearly influenced by the playwrights’ adherence to African American feminist thought.

Vladimir Voinovich’s Tribunal: A Courtly Comedy in Three Acts is a wildly satiric send-up of the 1960s/1970s Soviet show-trials by one of the most famous Soviet dissidents, who was also sometimes called 20th Century Russia’s ‘greatest living satirist.’ Based upon his reaction to the Sinyavski/Daniel trial in 1966, which caused him to begin to write scathingly critical letters to Premier Leonid Brezhnev and the Soviet Writer’s Union and finally resulted in his expulsion from the Soviet Union in 1981, Voinovich’s Tribunal is a monument to the Soviet dissidents of the Cold War period and a sardonic critique of the censorship and persecution of dissident writers everywhere. Following in the classical tradition of the theatre of the absurd that stretches from Aristophanes to Sartre, Frisch, and Havel, Voinovich’s comedy describes the black humoresque high jinks and wildly outrageous shenanigans that dizzily unfold when an unsuspecting couple of Soviet citizens, Senya and Larissa Suspectnikoff, clutching their free tickets in their innocent hands, walk into a crowded theatre, expecting to watch a Chekhovian comedy, only to become caught up in the sinister machinations of this Soviet criminal tribunal and its madcap version of the Moscow show trials. 

When The Suspectnikoffs arrive at the theater, they are surprised to find that the stage-sets for this curious theatrical production strangely resemble the precincts of a Soviet criminal justice tribunal, complete with tables and benches for The Prosecutor and The Public Defender and a wild beast-cage for The Defendant. There is also a Greek statue of The Goddess of Justice, Themis, who holds in her outstretched hand the wavering scales of Soviet justice, with on one pan, a hammer-&-sickle, and on the other, a Kalashnikoff. After a few uneasy moments while the stagehands put the props in place, The Bard strolls on stage and strums a few tunes on his guitar, in the futile attempt to set the audience at ease. But from outside the theater come the frightening sounds of screaming police-sirens and the flashing red-and-blue lights of an automobile cortege rushing past at great speeds; and when the hysterical rush of the speeding automobiles has passed, The Tribunal Members (The Chairman, The Secretary, and The Prosecutor, et al.) appear from the wings, strutting onstage in a burlesque chorus-line to the accompaniment of thunderous canned applause. And after this chorus-line of Communist Party bureaucrats has taken their places in the theater, the spectators are chilled to watch as black-clad security-police with submachine-guns appear at the theater-doors, blocking all the exits; and they discover, to their dismay, that they have become the captive audience in a mock-up version of a Stalinist show-trial. And so the third wall falls on this courtly theater, blurring the distinction between fiction and fact, falsehood and truth, nightmare and reality, as Voinovich describes the plight of Soviet citizens held hostage in the strange atmosphere of delirium and unreality that was characteristic of the declining and falling Soviet Union during stagnant chill of the 1970s Brezhnev years.

After a few more uneasy moments, Larissa stands up and whispers: “Senya, I don’t understand what’s going on here! Why are there so many people with guns?” To which Senya replies: “Oh, calm down, Lara! Why are you so nervous? It’s just a show!” The Suspectnikoffs do not realize that by questioning this sinister tribunal, they are destined to become the defendants in a Soviet show-trial. But the show-trial must go on! And as The Chairman says, “Where there’s a show-trial, you know, we need somebody to try!” Senya protests his innocence and attempts to get away. But protestations of innocence have no bearing on these proceedings. And by the end of Act I Scene 1, Senya has been arrested and placed in the defendant’s cage, while his faithful wife, Larissa, still stands behind her man, pleading for his release without quite believing in either his guilt or his innocence. And so Vladimir Voinovich’s Tribunal: A Courtly Comedy in Three Acts also goes on, wavering dizzily between the extremes of sardonic comic bathos and seriocomic tragedy, until Suspectnikoff finally becomes a world-famous dissident, calling upon the world’s leaders of to rise to his defense and inspiring protest movements in the Western democracies. But is Suspectnikoff to be admired for his heroic posturing? Or has he simply submitted to the pressures of the Western media to play the stereotyped role of The Soviet Dissident, who then becomes a pawn in the sinister spy-games of the Cold War superpower standoff between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R? The staggering climax of this absurdist melodrama leaves these difficult questions suspended in doubt as Suspectnikoff is dragged offstage and the stage-curtain falls on the whole cast of characters and the no-longer-innocent spectators of Tribunal: A Courtly Comedy in Three Acts.

A primary focus of this book is on the impact of time and memory as they intersect and constitute the spaces of theatre. These spaces include more traditional sites of theatre, such as those involving stages and curtains, actors and audiences, as well as those other theatres or spaces of performance that range from performance and installation art, to the performance of a string quartet, and from the writing of performance, to the performance of writing. What unites them is the presence of time as the constant and corrosive agent of theatrical absence, a vanishing site that finally affirms these theatres as theatres of thought, as spaces of thoughtful and mirroring reflection.

With such time in mind, attention is directed toward theatre’s own blurred and porous boundaries and, implicitly, that most conventional theatrical form, the proscenium itself, evoking questions such as: where does the performance begin and where does it end? Who is watching and who is being watched? And what, as time takes its toll, is there to be seen at all? For it is from this demarcating line of representation that – like a ‘line in the sand’ – such spaces of thought, theatrical or not, largely determine where the various forms of representation begin and end, where time is told of others, and where time is finally told of each of us.

Subscription-video-on-demand (SVOD) services are available on many online video streaming platforms (VSPs) in China, such as iQiyi, Youku, and Tencent Video, backed by Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent groups (BAT), respectively. The video content on these platforms matches those broadcasted on national or provincial television, or originally produced and exclusively streamed on the VSP. Meanwhile, VSPs purchase the distribution rights of foreign films and television series to enrich the content pool—for instance, the first season of the U.S. sitcom Friends (1994) is now available on Tencent Video. The content on VSPs can be viewed on a computer screen, iPad, or cell phone or be streamed on the television screen, facilitated by 4G or 5G networks. Audiences now have the option of watching video alone on their preferred screen while interacting with other viewers through bullet screen comments. So television has grown to be an increasingly flexible and dynamic mode of communication.

In this context, this book aims to provide an account of Chinese television, particularly online drama series, or webisodes, with an awareness of the existence and competition of Netflix. Currently, Chinese VSPs of webisodes cannot defeat Netflix in terms of production value, nor can they be like Netflix, as is the case for its Belgian alternative. The chapter analyzes the strategies that these VSPs deployed for survival and development. However, the media convergence of broadcasting, telecommunications, and the internet is far more complicated than technology convergence. It involves negotiations of power relations, commercial interests, and national cultural security concerns. 

Traditional models of TV drama distribution are being transgressed. China Central Television (CCTV) and provincial stations no longer dominate the market. TV drama release schedules have changed from “TV station first, internet later” strategies to synchronous schedules, or even “internet first, TV station later” strategies. Audiences 18 to 30 years old represent 67.2% of the audience of TV dramas online. The relationship between state administration and VSP marketization is by no means straightforward or easy to grasp. It is a consensus among Chinese television scholars that there is a paradox between implementing a neoliberal strategy of marketization and maintaining control over ideology and national cultural security. TV drama production and consumption are at the center of this paradoxical relationship. This book, therefore, covers topics on business strategies of VSPs, original content production trends, trans-media stories telling cases, practitioner insights, and audience behavior. 

During the Romantic period, Hannah Cowley (1743–1809) achieved fame both as a playwright and a poet, composing popular comedies and, as Anna Matilda, amorous Della Cruscan verse. But despite a recent surge of scholarly interest in her works, her controversial comedy The World as It Goes has never been published.This edition of The World as It Goes is based on the Larpent licensing holograph manuscript held by the Huntington Library (LA 548). The transcription of the play is supplemented with an introduction providing cultural, theatrical, historical and biographical contexts; contemporaneous reviews; and a note on the text.

The World as It Goes satirizes English tourists visiting a southern French resort and the scoundrels who prey on them. The play’s cast included some of the era’s most popular comic actors: John Edwin, John Quick, Charles Lee Lewes, William Thomas Lewis (aka “Gentleman Lewis”), Ralph Wewitzer (who specialized in stereotypical foreigners), Isabella Mattocks (who specialized in “vulgar” characters) and the famously rotund Lydia Webb. Elizabeth Younge, acclaimed for her portrayals of sentimental wives and daughters, played Lady Danvers, and the future novelist and playwright Elizabeth Inchbald appeared in the role of Sidney Grubb. 

Before the premiere of The World as It Goes at Covent Garden, Cowley’s comedies The Runaway (1776) and The Belle’s Stratagem (1780) and her farce Who’s the Dupe (1779) had been theatrical hits. But reviewers who admired her previous plays found The World as It Goes vulgar and morally offensive, and its sole performance on February 24, 1781, was disrupted by audience members who loudly objected to a ribald scene in a bedroom antechamber and repeatedly interrupted Younge as she attempted to deliver the epilogue, which contained a risqué reference to the transgender Chevalière D’Eon. Cowley heavily revised the play, but its second incarnation as Second Thoughts Are Best (performed March 24, 1781) was also a failure. The World as It Goes is Cowley’s most bawdy, multigeneric and socially subversive comedy and features a valet masquerading as his master and aspiring to take a seat at Westminster; French and German swindlers; a seductive countess; a lecherous, nouveau-riche London “Citizen”; an antiquarian bluestocking modeled after Lady Anna Miller; a fatuous aristocrat who neglects the wife he adores to be seen as fashionable; and a French monk who attempts to rape an Englishwoman. Among the contemporaneous issues and cultural products addressed in the play, its prologue and epilogue are English tourism on the continent; the pantomime Harlequin Free-Mason (1780); the January 1781 French raid on Jersey Island; the Chevalière d’Eon’s androgyny; the Gordon riots and Lord George Gordon’s acquittal in the ensuing treason trial; the recent performances by the French ballet dancer Gaëtano Appoline Balthazar Vestris at the King’s Theatre; anxieties about ambitious and oversexed male servants; bluestocking antiquarianism; the pretensions of the London merchant class; the pro-American revolution Bill of Rights Society and the London Association; James Graham’s Celestial Bed; and prison ships (“Hulks”). 

The comedy’s catastrophic failure influenced the manner in which Cowley handled controversial issues in her subsequent dramas and provides insights into late eighteenth-century anxieties and mores. Mortified by the damnation of The World as It Goes, she omitted it from her posthumous Works (1813), but she reworked some of its themes, situations and characters in her final play, The Town before You, which was staged in 1794. Although The Town before You, like The World as It Goes, portrays nefarious impostors, a philistine businessman, a spurious connoisseur and a wealthy female eccentric obsessed with classical art, it enjoyed a respectable run of nine nights.

The idea of the tragic has permeated Western culture for millennia, being closely bound with the concept of the limit of inescapable necessity that has been embodied in and expressed through theatre since the time of the ancient Greeks. This book addresses the question of how the twentieth century – one of the most violent periods of human history – dealt with the fundamental structure that is the tragic. Examining the consciousness of the era through an in-depth analysis of some of the twentieth century’s most outstanding texts – including works by Ibsen, Claudel, O’Neill, Brecht, Camus, Beckett, Pasolini, Grotowski, Delcuvellerie and Josse De Pauw – ‘Modern European Tragedy’ draws a vivid picture of the development that tragedy experienced during this time. Along the way, the book engages with some of the prominent currents of twentieth-century thought and philosophy that can still be found in the varied map of contemporary thought today: the ideas of modern Christianity, psychoanalysis, the theory of the Absurd, nihilism, Marxism and the acceptance of the limit. Together, analyses of these currents serve to support the book’s key avenues of investigation: its explorations of what inspired these key authors to engage with the idea of the tragic; and its explanation of why the contemporary tragic no longer bears the form of classic tragedy.

The collected essays from noteworthy dramatists and scholars in this book represent new ways of understanding theater in the Middle East not as geographical but transcultural spaces of performance. What distinguishes this book from previous works is that it offers new analysis on a range of theatrical practices across a region, by and large, ignored for its history of traditions and cultures, and it does so by emphasizing diverse performances in changing contexts. Topics include Arab, Iranian, Israeli, diasporic theatres from pedagogical perspectives to reinvention of traditions, from translation practices to political resistance through various performances from the nineteenth century to the present. 

The book is, therefore, concerned with not just the theatrical content of specific or range of plays in a variety of mediums, from stage to the radio, but also political implications, changing imaginaries of home and exile, and practices of identity through a range of performances in both local and translocal settings. The book argues that there are indigenous performers, ranging from actors to producers and audiences, who (re)make theatre through the reinvention of traditions, pedagogy, media, and translation. The book also shows that while all theatre is performance what precisely “performance” means is contingent to the lived context of audiences and performers who make theatre in its diverse forms and also in response to conflict, war, occupation, patriarchy, home, and exile.

‘Rabindranath Tagore's Drama in the Perspective of Indian Theatre’ maps Tagore’s place in the Indian dramatic/performance traditions by examining unexplored critical perspectives on his drama such as his texts as performance texts; their exploration in multimedia; reflections of Indian culture in his plays; comparison with playwrights; theatrical links to his world of music and performance genres; his plays in the context of cross-cultural, intercultural theatre; the playwright as a poet-performer-composer and their interconnections; and his drama on the Indian stage.

The book explores both dramatic as well as theatrical traditions in Tagore’s plays by discussing vital issues on Tagore’s drama including gender politics; Tagore’s poetic tradition of dramatic action, time and space; his use of myth humour and satire in the Indian dramatic milieu and discussing Tagore and his contemporaries; modern Indian drama and also the nation and Tagore’s drama. The book also identifies Tagore’s drama of performance art; his stories that inspired many film creations; furthers the view of Tagore’s theatre as the creations of a poet-dramatist, poet-translator, dramatist-producer, actor-singer-choreographer and dramatist-scenographer, all the while not missing the vitality of the dramatist as seen in his intercultural performance/s; his use of environ, mise en scène and the theatrical milieu and last but not the least, the modern productions of Tagore plays.

Harry Kondoleon has said his plays are “sad, scary, funny.” Though his work has been compared to that of Joe Orton and Oscar Wilde, John Guare and Christopher Durang, his acute and elegant voice has from the first been distinctively his own.

Kondoleon’s tragicomedies are peopled by extremists, their behavior bizarre. And yet these curious characters are driven by the most familiar of passions. Abandonment and betrayal define their pasts, shadow their present. They are needy and lonely and full of desire. They seek transcendence, and this impossible, fundamental longing takes forms both common and strange.

These plays are not only jet-black comedies. They are fairy tales, fables, passion plays, masquerades. Kondoleon’s intensely theatrical sensibility is, finally, romantic. He sees the contemporary world clearly; he also sees other worlds: prior, within, beyond.

This volume also includes: Christmas on Mars, The Vampires, Slacks and Tops and Anteroom.

In Euripides' drama, Hippolytus angers Aphrodite, the goddess of love, so much by worshiping the hunting goddess Artemis that she makes his Stepmother, Phaedra fall in love with him. Phaedra's aged nurse persuades her to confess her love and then informs Hippolytus, who recoils in horror. In desperation Phaedra commits suicide, but leaves a letter in which she names Hippolytus as the reason for her death. As a result he is cursed and banished by his father, Theseus. Whilst taking flight he suffers a gruesome death through Aphrodite's intervention.
Peter Roth presents a bilingual version of Hippolytus with a new prose translation. The extensive commentary requires no prior knowledge of Greek, providing information on factual issues and questions of interpretation. An extensive introduction deals with performance arrangements, the underlying myth, the language and metrics, and general questions of interpretation.

This annotated bibliography of dramas of the 18th century covers all dramas performed and/or published between 1700 and 1799 in the former German Empire, furthermore their translations, adaptations and reprints up to the present; editions in foreign languages are included as far as they were performed and/or published in the territory of the former German Empire. Among them are especially the plays and editions of the court operas in Italian language and an abundance of texts especially by Zeno, Pariati, Metastasio, Da Ponte and others, the Latin dramas of the school theatres and the French drama editions of the big printing offices of the residences of the Empire. Additionally the bibliography contains inventories of titles and performances of dramas not printed, as far as it was possible to discover them in repertories, contemporary reviews, magazines etc. or by research of regional or theatre history. The editions are described up to the first page of the play text. All registrations are based on autopsy. The stocks of about 200 European and US libraries were carefully researched.
The bibliography contains indexes of places, publishers, dedicatees, and illustrators, indexes of authors, composers, and a key-word-index.

This bibliography contains all the dramas and theatrical pieces spoken or sung printed and/or performed in the territory of the German Empire and Switzerland from 1700 to 1799 together with their translations, adaptations and reprints, and in addition all printed foreign-language works as long as they were performed and/or published in the territory of the then German Empire. In addition, it provides evidence of the titles and performances of works performed but not published insofar as these can be established from repertoire documents, contemporary reviews, periodicals etc or from research into regional or theatrical history. The prints are described up to the first page of text. All entries are based on personal observation.

This annotated bibliography of dramas of the 18th century covers all dramas performed and/or published between 1700 and 1799 in the former German Empire, furthermore their translations, adaptations and reprints up to the present; editions in foreign languages are included as far as they were performed and/or published in the territory of the former German Empire. Among them are especially the plays and editions of the court operas in Italian language and an abundance of texts especially by Zeno, Pariati, Metastasio, Da Ponte and others, the Latin dramas of the school theatres and the French drama editions of the big printing offices of the residences of the Empire. Additionally the bibliography contains inventories of titles and performances of dramas not printed, as far as it was possible to discover them in repertories, contemporary reviews, magazines etc. or by research of regional or theatre history. The editions are described up to the first page of the play text. All registrations are based on autopsy. The stocks of about 200 European and US libraries were carefully researched.
The bibliography contains indexes of places, publishers, dedicatees, and illustrators, indexes of authors, composers, and a key-word-index.

This annotated bibliography of dramas of the 18th century covers all dramas performed and/or published between 1700 and 1799 in the former German Empire, furthermore their translations, adaptations and reprints up to the present; editions in foreign languages are included as far as they were performed and/or published in the territory of the former German Empire. Among them are especially the plays and editions of the court operas in Italian language and an abundance of texts especially by Zeno, Pariati, Metastasio, Da Ponte and others, the Latin dramas of the school theatres and the French drama editions of the big printing offices of the residences of the Empire. Additionally the bibliography contains inventories of titles and performances of dramas not printed, as far as it was possible to discover them in repertories, contemporary reviews, magazines etc. or by research of regional or theatre history. The editions are described up to the first page of the play text. All registrations are based on autopsy. The stocks of about 200 European and US libraries were carefully researched.
The bibliography contains indexes of places, publishers, dedicatees, and illustrators, indexes of authors, composers, and a key-word-index.

Gotthold Ephraim Lessings (1729-1781) »Emilia Galotti« liegt in einer neuen historisch-kritischen Ausgabe vor. Resultat der Auseinandersetzung mit den Quellen ist eine Ausgabe, die sich in drei große Bereiche gliedert: Der edierte Text folgt der Erstausgabe vom März 1772. Durch gründliche Analysen des Erstdruckes und der 1948 wieder gefundenen Druckvorlage konnten der Druckverlauf geklärt und bislang zweifelhafte Stellen eindeutig als Druckfehler identifiziert und emendiert werden.

In einem Apparatteil findet sich eine ausführliche Beschreibung der zeitgenössischen Handschriften und Drucke und ihrer Abhängigkeiten zueinander. Ein Variantenverzeichnis gibt Aufschluß über alle Unterschiede der autorisierten Textträger. Jeder Eingriff seitens der Herausgeberin wird separat vermerkt und begründet. Einführende Kapitel zur Entstehung und Wirkung ergänzen diesen Teil. Ein Verzeichnis der Aufführungen zu Lebzeiten Lessings enthält darüber hinaus bisher unbekannte Vorstellungen und gibt Auskunft über die Besetzung sowie das Begleitprogramm.

Den dritten Schwerpunkt bildet ein Dokumentationsteil mit über 500 zeitgenössischen Rezeptionszeugnissen. Die Dokumente sind durch ein detailliertes Register leicht zugänglich. Es werden Verknüpfungen einzelner Texte aufgezeigt und der jeweilige Inhalt kurz erwähnt. Ein Personenverzeichnis komplettiert die Ausgabe. Durch das dargebotene umfangreiche Material ist es jetzt möglich, sich auf einer völlig neuen Datenbasis mit Lessings Trauerspiel auseinanderzusetzen.

This work is the first major commentary on Euripides' Iphigenia in Tauris to appear in English in more than 65 years. It offers detailed analysis of a fascinating play that scholars so far had considered mainly as a source of information about Athenian cult and viewed as a romantic adventure story with happy end. Apart from including sober assessments of textual, linguistic and metrical problems, the commentary sheds new light on the play’s treatment of myth, its intricate structure, presentation of character, and place in Euripides’ work. In particular it offers fresh insights into the play’s relationship to the literary tradition, especially its treatment of the crimes of the Pelopids, and its presentation of the complex, ambiguous relationship of humans and gods as well as that of Greeks and barbarians. Unlike most other tragedies, Iphigenia in Tauris does not feature any villain and avoids concentrating on past crimes and their corrosive influence on the characters’ present. The Taurians are not portrayed simply as savage and slow barbarians and Iphigenia, the most intelligent character, fails to transcend her limitations. Religion and cult in both myth and contemporary Athens are a mixture of traditional and invented elements and the play as a whole turns out to be an intriguing and unique experiment in Euripides’ career.

Vorliegende Studie tritt dem verbreiteten Urteil entgegen, August Wilhelm Iffland hätte das Berliner Nationaltheater von 1796 bis 1814 im Gegensatz zu Goethes Weimarer Bühne nur unter ökonomischem Aspekt geführt. Sie untersucht die komplexen Prozesse ökonomischer und ästhetischer Wertebildung im Theater und seinem Umfeld. Analysiert werden Repertoiregestaltung, Theaterkritiken, Theaterbilder und Bühnenstücke.

Die Studie wird von einem dokumentarischen Anhang, bestehend aus einem Bild- und einem Textteil, ergänzt. Der Bildteil enthält Quellen, die Ifflands Berliner Zeit illustrieren. Der Textteil enthält u. a. Briefe von und an Iffland, Quittungen und Rechnungen der Autoren und Schauspieler, Gehaltslisten und Verträge. Erstmals wird ein monographischer Text des Berliner Lustspieldichters Julius von Voß über Iffland abgedruckt. Die Texte dienen zur Erläuterung der Monografie und sollen darüber hinaus der Forschung gleichzeitig neues Quellenmaterial liefern.

Das dritte Bruno Snell-Symposion stellt die interdisziplinären Beiträge zur Aktualisierung von Antike unter den Leitbegriff der Inszenierung. Der Begriff deckt ein Spektrum ab, das vom klassischen Theater bis zu metaphorischen Konnotationen reicht. Das Ergriffenwerden im Sinne des aristotelischen Affekts gehört ebenso in dieses Feld, wie die Selbstverständigung und -inszenierung einer Gesellschaft, die mediale Inszenierung und die Neuinterpretation des bekannten Materials.Ausgehend von der Frage nach der Selbstinszenierung der athenischen Polisgesellschaft und dem Verhältnis von Sprache und Gestik in der griechischen Tragödie, zeigen die Beträge zu Montaigne, zur romantischen Ode in England, zu Paveses Dialog mit der Antike, zur deutschen Lyrik und zum Einfluss der Antike auf den Naturbegriff in der deutschen Literatur wichtige Stationen europäischen Antikeverständnisses auf. Die Aktualisierung des griechischen Körperkults gibt Anlass zu kritischer Nachfrage, LaButes Pygmalion wirft die Frage nach Relevanz des Stoffes in den USA der Gegenwart auf, am Beispiel Thomas Hettches lassen sich antike Mythen als Inszenierungsmittel für ästhetische Probleme beschreiben.

This annotated bibliography of dramas of the 18th century covers all dramas performed and/or published between 1700 and 1799 in the former German Empire, furthermore their translations, adaptations and reprints up to the present; editions in foreign languages are included as far as they were performed and/or published in the territory of the former German Empire. Among them are especially the plays and editions of the court operas in Italian language and an abundance of texts especially by Zeno, Pariati, Metastasio, Da Ponte and others, the Latin dramas of the school theatres and the French drama editions of the big printing offices of the residences of the Empire. Additionally the bibliography contains inventories of titles and performances of dramas not printed, as far as it was possible to discover them in repertories, contemporary reviews, magazines etc. or by research of regional or theatre history. The editions are described up to the first page of the play text. All registrations are based on autopsy. The stocks of about 200 European and US libraries were carefully researched.
The bibliography contains indexes of places, publishers, dedicatees, and illustrators, indexes of authors, composers, and a key-word-index.

This annotated bibliography of dramas of the 18th century covers all dramas performed and/or published between 1700 and 1799 in the former German Empire, furthermore their translations, adaptations and reprints up to the present; editions in foreign languages are included as far as they were performed and/or published in the territory of the former German Empire. Among them are especially the plays and editions of the court operas in Italian language and an abundance of texts especially by Zeno, Pariati, Metastasio, Da Ponte and others, the Latin dramas of the school theatres and the French drama editions of the big printing offices of the residences of the Empire. Additionally the bibliography contains inventories of titles and performances of dramas not printed, as far as it was possible to discover them in repertories, contemporary reviews, magazines etc. or by research of regional or theatre history. The editions are described up to the first page of the play text. All registrations are based on autopsy. The stocks of about 200 European and US libraries were carefully researched.
The bibliography contains indexes of places, publishers, dedicatees, and illustrators, indexes of authors, composers, and a key-word-index.

Nur wenige Tragödien Senecas lassen sich bisher mit einiger Sicherheit datieren: Hercules furens und Troades sind sehr wahrscheinlich vor Kaiser Claudius' Tod geschrieben, denn die paratragodischen Elemente der Apocolocyntosis verweisen auf diese Stücke, Thyestes und Phoenissae bilden, wie sprachliche und andere Indizien nahelegen, die letzten der dramatischen Werke. Die hier vorgelegte Untersuchung gelangt zu einer relativen Chronologie sämtlicher Tragödien, indem sie - eine Methode, die bislang nur sporadisch angewandt wurde - sprachlich-motivische Parallelen, die sich in zwei (oder mehr) Tragödien finden, mit dem Ziel analysiert, die jeweils frühere bzw. spätere Fassung zu ermitteln. Das Kriterium ist die je größere oder geringere "Erwartbarkeit" einer Formulierung. Auf diesem Weg wird die Vermutung bestätigt, dass Thyestes und Phoenissae am Ende der Reihe stehen, wird aber auch eine neue Reihenfolge der sechs älteren Stücke begründet, nämlich: Hercules furens, Oedipus, Phaedra, Medea, Troades, Agamemnon. Also sind - zumindest - auch Oedipus, Phaedra und Medea vor dem Regierungsantritt Neros verfasst. Dies hat erhebliche Konsequenzen für die Versuche, in den Tragödien Anspielungen auf zeitgenössische Ereignisse zu finden.

No story was more interesting to Shakespeare and his contemporaries than that of Troy, partly because the story of Troy was in a sense the story of England, since the Trojan prince Aeneas was supposedly the ancestor of the Tudors. This book explores the wide range of allusions to Greece and Troy in plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries, looking not only at plays actually set in Greece or Troy but also those which draw on characters and motifs from Greek mythology and the Trojan War. Texts covered include Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida, Othello, Hamlet, The Winter’s Tale, The Two Noble Kinsmen, Pericles and The Tempest as well as plays by other authors of the period including Marlowe, Chettle, Ford and Beaumont and Fletcher.

Für diese zweisprachige Ausgabe wurde der griechische Text anhand der vorhandenen Ausgaben kritisch überprüft; die Prosaübersetzung versucht ihm Vers für Vers zu folgen, um den Wechsel zwischen Text, Übersetzung und Kommentar zu erleichtern. Die ausführliche Einleitung informiert über historisches Umfeld (Entstehungszeit, Aufführung), die zugrunde liegenden Mythen (Admet, Alkestis, das Motiv "Überwindung des Todes"), die voreuripideische Literarisierung und das Neue bei Euripides (vom "Lebenstausch" zum "Opfertod"), außerdem über Textüberlieferung, Nachleben bis in die Gegenwart und moderne Interpretationen. Die genaue Analyse der Motivstruktur (Lebenstausch und Opfertod, Tod und Wiederkehr) erlaubt, moderne Fragen (Durfte Admet das Opfer seiner Frau annehmen? Ist der gute Ausgang ironisch gemeint?) etwas zu relativieren und demgegenüber eine bisher vernachlässigte Seite (bürgerliches Drama, Alltagsprobleme der Zeit) hervorzuheben. Der Kommentar, der keine Griechischkenntnisse voraussetzt, geht neben Sach- und Textfragen auch auf die Motivstruktur ein. Ein Anhang zu Metrik und ein Literaturverzeichnis runden den Band ab.

Egert Pöhlmann war bis 2001 Ordinarius für Klassische Philologie an der Universität Erlangen. Die hier vereinten Kleinen Schriften reichen von 1968 bis 2008. Neben Beiträgen zur Griechischen und Lateinischen Philologie und zur Antiken Musik stehen solche, die die Verbindung von Themen der Klassischen Philologie zu benachbarten Fächern wie Antike Philosophie, Archäologie, Kunstgeschichte, Neuere Deutsche Literatur und Musik suchen. Schwerpunkte innerhalb der Klassischen Philologie sind Theorie und Geschichte der literarischen Gattungen, Textgeschichte und Textkritik, Bühnendichtung und Bühnenspiel sowie das Nachleben der Antiken Literatur. Die Beiträge zur Antiken Musik wenden sich der Antiken Musiktheorie und der Musikpraxis der Antike zu. Antike Bühnenbauten sowie Vasenbilder schlagen die Brücke zur Archäologie. Der Band wird durch ein Schriftenverzeichnis von Egert Pöhlmann beschlossen.

The text used for this edition of Euripides' Hecuba is based on the editor's own manuscript studies; a prose translation, introduction and detailed commentary are provided. The introduction and the commentary treat the structure of the play and its parts, the interpretation of it, and also problems of staging it; they also give historical and factual information. They are written in such a way that they can also be used by readers without a knowledge of Greek.

Das Verhältnis des "Seneca philosophus" zum "Seneca tragicus" ist für die Interpretation von Senecas Tragödien noch immer entscheidend. Die Autorin widmet sich dem Problem im Bereich der Theologie. Als zentrale theologische Problemfelder untersucht sie in Senecas philosophischen Schriften und Tragödien sein Verständnis von providentia und damit die Theodizeefrage sowie sein Verständnis des fatum und damit die Willensfreiheit. Anders als die bisherigen Untersuchungen, deren Interesse vorrangig den Dramen galt und die die philosophischen Schriften nur am Rande berücksichtigten, bildet in dieser Studie die Theologie der philosophischen Schriften den Ausgangspunkt, um deren Problemstellungen auch für eine Deutung der Dramen fruchtbar zu machen.

Im Gegensatz zu den Forschungspositionen, die Senecas Dramen entweder als philosophische Lehrstücke oder als Negation der stoischen Philosophie verstehen, erhellt die von der Autorin gewählte Vorgehensweise Senecas Bezugnahme auf philosophische Fragestellungen innerhalb der Dramen. In ihnen setzt sich Seneca im Gedankenexperiment mit Problemen und Aporien auseinander, die auch im philosophischen Diskurs der Stoa nicht zufriedenstellend aufzulösen sind.

Goethe leitete die Weimarer Hofbühne von 1791 bis 1817. In diesen Jahren war er nicht nur Theaterleiter, sondern auch Schriftsteller, Vertrauter des Herzogs Carl August sowie Minister in der Regierung Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach. Seine verschiedenen Funktionen innerhalb des Herzogtums sollten sich nachhaltig auf die Theaterkonzeption auswirken. In einer Zeit, die einschneidende politische und soziale Umbrüche erlebte, nutzte Goethe die Bühne als kulturpolitisches Kommunikationsmedium.
Bisher war das Weimarer Hoftheater in der Forschung als ein künstlerisches Institut untersucht worden, das Goethe, wie bereits der Zeitgenosse Saint-Aignan 1812 formulierte, „von politischen Angelegenheiten […] gänzlich fern“ gehalten habe. Der Theaterleiter wollte tatsächlich in den Jahren zwischen Französischer Revolution und Wiener Kongress den Anschein erwecken, seine Bühnenkonzeption sei unpolitisch. Doch war dies vielleicht nur ein diplomatischer Schachzug, um unter dem Deckmantel des Unpolitischen zu wirken? Dieser Frage widmet sich die vorliegende Studie und zeigt damit exemplarisch neue Ansätze für die Analyse von kulturellen Bestrebungen in deutschen Kleinstaaten um 1800 auf.

British drama of the 1990s is most commonly associated with the term in-yer-face theatre, which was coined by Aleks Sierz to describe the shocking and provocative work of emerging playwrights such as Mark Ravenhill or Sarah Kane. Taking a cue from Sierz’s own suggestion that what still remains to be researched more thoroughly in this field is the particular relationship between the stage and the audience, this monograph undertakes precisely that task.

Rather than use the term offered by Sierz, however, the study proposes a different concept to account for the dynamics of communication within the particular theatre of the 1990s, namely the aesthetic category of the sublime. Coupled with elements of Reader Response Theory, the sublime proves to be a more fruitful term, as it provides more precise tools for the analysis of the audience’s aesthetic response than does in-yer-face theatre.

With the help of four representative plays by four key playwrights of that time, Closer by Patrick Marber, Normal by Anthony Neilson, Faust is Dead by Mark Ravenhill and 4.48 Psychosis by Sarah Kane, the book details the consecutive stages in the process of the plays’ reception that the members of the audience go through while forming their aesthetic response to them. Looking through the prism of the sublime, the study not only offers a detailed analysis of each play but also suggests an entirely new approach to British drama of the 1990s.

This book reads Martin Crimp’s The Treatment (1993), Attempts on her Life (1997), The Country (2000), Face to the Wall (2002), Cruel and Tender (2004) and his adaptation of Chekhov’s The Seagull (2006) in the context of contemporary, late capitalist societies of control or of ‘spectacle’, and explores how female collapse in particular works as a form of denunciation of the violence of globalized, technological neo-liberalism.

The book contends that Crimp is a post-Holocaust writer, whose dramaturgy is pervaded by the ethical and aesthetic debates that the Holocaust has generated in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Its main claim is that, by interpellating spectators through the defamiliarized language of collapse and testimony, Crimp invites spectators to contribute to detecting the seeds of ‘barbarism’ as they may detect them in their context, thus warning them about the introduction of violence in supposedly civilized relationships and thereby also contributing to overcoming the contemporary ethical impasse.

The book finally argues that female characters who pass on their testimony are shown to the audience in the ‘process of becoming’ ethical bodies – namely, they are emerge as ethical out of the perceived necessity to integrate both the Other as essential parts of their beings, thus recovering an innate, Baumian sense of responsibility towards the Other.

Die vorliegende Studie fragt nach der Relevanz ,mittelalterlicher‘ Sujets in der Oper der frühen Neuzeit und versucht mithin den Beitrag des Genres, das sich mit Blick auf seine humanistisch-renaissancezeitlichen Wurzeln gemeinhin eher als Sachwalter und Vermittler antiker (Stoff-)Traditionen darstellt, für eine Rezeption des ,Mittelalters‘ als einer historischen Periode an der Wende vom 17. zum 18. Jahrhundert zu bestimmen.
Ihren Ausgangspunkt nimmt die interdisziplinär angelegte Untersuchung von einer ausgreifenden heuristischen Erschließung entsprechender Stoffe und Werke an 15 bedeutenden Opernzentren im Reich, in Italien, Frankreich und England. Ein signifikantes Resultat dieser Bestandsaufnahme ist der speziell für das norddeutsche Musiktheater um 1700 charakteristische Typus der ,dynastischen Mittelalteroper‘, der sich für die Fragestellung und Perspektive der Arbeit als überaus fruchtbar erweist und dem sich die detaillierten Analysen des Hauptteils in ihrer jeweiligen Zusammenschau von konkretem Libretto (Haupt- und Paratexte), Partitur, zeitgenössischer Inszenierungspraxis und kulturgeschichtlichen Kon-texten eingehend widmen. Dabei werden nicht nur die Verschiebungen aufgezeigt, die zwischen höfischer (Braunschweig, Hannover) und städtischer bzw. stadtrepublikanischer (Hamburg) Repräsentations- und Memorialkultur zu Tage treten, sondern auch Spielräume des Dramma per musica – das im Anschluss an den aktuellen historisch-wissenschaftlichen Diskurs der Zeit auf das ,Mittelalter‘als Ursprungs- oder Frühraum der je eigenen Geschichte rekurriert – zwischen politisch motivierter Funktionsoper einerseits und genuiner Historienoper andererseits offengelegt.

Walter Mehring (1896‑1981), in der Weimarer Republik einer der herausragenden satirischen Schriftsteller und Kabarett-Autoren, hat - neben Gedichten und Chansons, Romanen und essayistisch-erzählenden Texten (Die verlorene Bibliothek , 1951) - auch Dramen geschrieben. Das wichtigste unter ihnen, Der Kaufmann von Berlin (1929), spielt zur Zeit der Inflation 1923 und liefert ein facettenreiches und in den Details geistvoll-treffsicher gezeichnetes Bild der Großstadt Berlin - von der Börse bis zum Scheunenviertel - und einen politisch-sozialen Querschnitt durch die deutsche Bevölkerung nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg. Das Drama, das bei der Aufführung durch Erwin Piscator (1929) den größten Theaterskandal der Weimarer Republik verursachte, veranschaulicht unter anderem auch das Leben von Juden im Berlin dieser Zeit und ist vielleicht nicht zuletzt deshalb mehrfach neu gedruckt worden. Die jetzige Ausgabe erfüllt, auf der Grundlage der Erstausgabe, die Ansprüche, die man an eine kritische Ausgabe stellen kann, und erschließt heutigen Lesern den Text durch einen Kommentar, der die Bezüge zum Inflationsgeschehen ebenso berücksichtigt wie die zum jüdischen Leben in Deutschland.

This collection examines some of the people, places, and plays at the edge of early modern English drama. Recent scholarship has begun to think more critically about the edge, particularly in relation to the canon and canonicity. This book demonstrates that the people and concepts long seen as on the edge of early modern English drama made vital contributions both within the fictive worlds of early modern plays, and without, in the real worlds of playmakers, theaters, and audiences. The book engages with topics such as child actors, alterity, sexuality, foreignness, and locality to acknowledge and extend the rich sense of playmaking and all its ancillary activities that have emerged over the last decade. The essays by a global team of scholars bring to life people and practices that flourished on the edge, manifesting their importance to both early modern audiences, and to current readers and performers.

Die Forschung zur Tragödie der Klassischen Moderne ist nicht nur dünn, sie bewegt sich auch innerhalb überraschend konstanter Rezeptionsbahnen: Tragödie und Moderne seien unvereinbar, ihre Verbindung paradox und eine literaturwissenschaftliche Auseinandersetzung somit auch nicht lohnenswert.
Diese scheinbar einfache Erzählung, die sich spätestens mit Peter Szondis Theorie des modernen Dramas von einer Diskurs- zu einer Forschungskonvention verhärtet, verdeckt jedoch die Komplexität der zeitgenössischen Gemengelage – sowohl in Hinblick auf die tragödientheoretischen Überlegungen der Zeit als auch die dramatische Produktion. Die vorliegende Studie fordert diese Grundannahme heraus und weist Tragödie und Tragödientheorie am Beispiel von zeitgenössischen Texten der Theateressayistik und dramatischen Texten von Henrik Ibsen, Frank Wedekind und Hugo von Hofmannsthal als zentralen Verhandlungsort für die Programmatik der frühen Moderne aus, gebündelt in der Inversionsfigur der Entbindung.
Ermöglicht wird so nicht nur ein vollkommen neuer Blick auf die Dramenproduktion und Theaterpraxis der Wende ins 19. Jahrhundert, sondern gleichzeitig die Geschichte der deutschsprachigen Moderne neu erzählt.

"Everyman" as actor on life's stage has been a recurrent theme in popular literature--epecially persuasive in these times of powerful electronic media, celebrity hype, and professional image-makers--but the great Victorians exuded sincerity. Nina Auerbach reminds us that all lives can be subversive performances. Charting the notable impact of the theater and theatricality on the Victorian imagination, she provocatively reexamines the concept of sincerity and authenticity as literary ideal.

In novels, popular fiction, and biographies, Auerbach unveils the theatrical element in lives imagined and represented. Focusing on three major points in the life cycle--childhood, passage to maturity, and death--she demonstrates how the process of living was for Victorians the acting of a role; only dying generated a creature with an "own self." Her discussion draws not only on theater history, but on demonology-the ghosts and monsters so much a part of the nineteenth-century imagination.

Nina Auerbach has written a closely reasoned and stimulating book for everyone interested in the Victorian age, and everyone interested in theatricality---whether private or on the stage.

Der Nachtragsband zum Deutschen Theater-Lexikon, das 2011 abgeschlossen wurde, ergänzt und erweitert die Bände I - IV (A - T), die zwischen 1953 und 1998 erschienen. Mit Schwerpunkt auf dem 20.Jahrhundert werden überholte Artikel bearbeitet und ergänzt, noch nicht gelistete Persönlichkeiten des deutschsprachigen Bühnengeschehens kommen neu hinzu.

Das Lexikon enthält bio-bibliographische Angaben zu Dramatikern, Komponisten, Theaterleitern, Regisseuren, Schauspielern, Sängern , Bühnen- und Kostümbildnern.

Selected present-day dramatists from Spain and Latin-America speak about their theatre and its present situation. The perspective is that of the authors, not of literary or drama critics. The result is a series of surprising thoughts and analyses which do not feature in the usual specialist discussions.

Eugene O’Neill wrote his most enduring and important plays after he won international acclaim as the first and only American playwright to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1936. In the midst of the Great Depression, with his health failing and spirits sunk, he and his third wife, former actress Carlotta Monterey, moved to California to escape the materialism and commercialism of a declining “West,” and they built a new home called Tao House. A reasonably good translation of tao is “the way,” and in this house, which was largely the creation of Carlotta, he found the way to his most famous play, Long Day’s Journey Into Night.

As an unusually explicit autobiographical drama, this play returns to 1912, the outset of O’Neill’s writing career, when he confronted tragedy in his family story and found a way to dramatize his mother, father, brother, and himself in a way that has resonated with audiences since its publication and production in 1956. But this book argues that the play originates as much in the moment of its creation, 1939–1941—in the family relationships, the historical circumstances, and the fact that this work would represent a moment of closure of his great career.

Key to this heroic story of creation is the intervention of his wife, Carlotta, whose diaries enable a day-to-day observation of how the play was written. She was the driving force behind the design of Tao House, and she managed the rhythms and patterns of life within its architecture. It was her masterpiece, just as Long Day’s Journey was his. This book develops a close reading of their house and marriage and also uses many of O’Neill’s previous plays to illuminate the breakthrough of Long Day’s Journey.

This book is the most granular and at the same time the most far-reaching inquiry into how this quintessential play was written (and almost not written) and how it came into the world.