Banner Message
SEARCH OUR INVENTORY OF THOUSANDS OF NEW & USED BOOKS
ALL USED BOOKS IN VERY GOOD TO EXCELLENT CONDITION -- MANY LIKE NEW!
Drama & Plays
The dramatization of Sir Thomas More's historic conflict with Henry VIII--a compelling portrait of a courageous man who died for his convictions and a modern classic that "challenges the mind, and, in the end, touches the heart" (New York Times). Sir Thomas More--the brilliant nobleman, lawyer, humanist, author of such works as Utopia--was a long-time friend and favorite of Henry VIII, ascending to the position of Lord Chancellor in 1529. Yet he was also a staunch Catholic, and when Henry broke with the Church in 1531 after the Pope had refused to grant him a divorce from Catherine of Aragon, More resigned the Chancellorship. In 1534, Parliament passed a bill requiring all subjects to take an oath acknowledging the supremacy of England's king over all foreign sovereigns--including the Pope. More refused, was imprisoned, and finally was executed in 1535.
This wisely funny comedy, which contains some of Shakespeare's loveliest poetry, contrasts a country's world of envy and rivalry with a forest's world of compassion and harmony. In the Forest of Arden, the banished young heroine, Rosalind, disguised as a gentleman farmer, encounters an extraordinary assemblage of characters, including a fool, a malcontent traveler, her own banished father, and the banished young man she loves. Romantic happiness triumphs, even as we laugh at the excesses of love, at the ways of court and countryside, indeed, at everything, in this masterpiece of comic writing,
After a lengthy absence Raymond visits his brother Fred, sister-in-law Elizabeth, and her cousin Christine. Raymond has become a Christian and is passionate about sharing the good news, but Fred is an atheist and will have nothing to do with it. This story presents a conversation between Christianity and Atheism by asking challenging questions, such as:
Can morality be a by-product of materialism? Has intelligent design become the new science paradigm, establishing Darwinism technologically obsolete? Are Genesis and the Big Bang the same story? Did WMAP and the Planck satellite's data of the cosmic microwave background reveal a universe aligned with Earth and the solar system, which may show Genesis as history? And isn't it time we begin educating our children with the facts regarding both sides of the debate-or better yet, that the argument even exists?
Can morality be a by-product of materialism? Has intelligent design become the new science paradigm, establishing Darwinism technologically obsolete? Are Genesis and the Big Bang the same story? Did WMAP and the Planck satellite's data of the cosmic microwave background reveal a universe aligned with Earth and the solar system, which may show Genesis as history? And isn't it time we begin educating our children with the facts regarding both sides of the debate-or better yet, that the argument even exists?
"When Annie's husband John dies of leukemia, she and best friend Chris resolve to raise money for a new settee in the local hospital waiting room. They manage to persuade four fellow WI members to pose nude with them for an "alternative" calendar, with a little help from hospital porter and amateur photographer Lawrence. The news of the women's charitable venture spreads like wildfire, and hordes of press soon descend on the small village of Knapeley in the Yorkshire Dales. The calendar is a success, but Chris and Annie's friendship is put to the test under the strain of their new-found fame. Based on the true story of eleven WI members who posed nude for a calendar to raise money for the Leukemia Research Fund"--Excerpt from Amazon.com.
This work is a dramatization of actual historical events. In 1590, during the French Wars of Religion (1562-1598), the small city of Leucate, France, was under siege by allied French and Spanish Catholic forces. The event was part of more than a century of social change and upheaval brought about by the rise of Protestantism in Europe and the consequent challenge to the authority of the Holy Roman Church. Leucate's governor at the time was Jean de Boursiez, seigneur de Pantnaut de Barri. His capture during the siege and the subsequent actions of his wife, Françoise de Cezelly (1558 - 1615), are the subject of this play. It was originally published in 1832, and has now been re-discovered and brought to you here.
This is Edmond Rostand's immortal play in which chivalry and wit, bravery and love are forever captured in the timeless spirit of romance. Set in Louis XIII's reign, it is the moving and exciting drama of one of the finest swordsmen in France, gallant soldier, brilliant wit, tragic poet-lover with the face of a clown. Rostand's extraordinary lyric powers gave birth to a universal hero--Cyrano De Bergerac--and ensured his own reputation as author of one of the best-loved plays in the literature of the stage. This translation, by the American poet Brian Hooker, is nearly as famous as the original play itself, and is generally considered to be one of the finest English verse translations ever written.
On a Caribbean island, the morning after a full moon, Felix Hobain tears through the market in a drunken rage. Taken away to sober up in jail, all that night he is gripped by hallucinations: the impoverished hermit believes he has become a healer, walking from village to village, tending to the sick, waiting for a sign from God. In this dream, his one companion, Moustique, wants to exploit his power. Moustique decides to impersonate a prophet himself, ignoring a coffin-maker who warns him he will die and enraging the people of the island. Hobain, half-awake in his desolate jail cell, terrorized by the specter of his friend's corruption, clings to his visionary quest. He will try to transform himself; to heal Moustique, his jailer, and his jail-mates; and to be a leader for his people. Dream on Monkey Mountain was awarded the 1971 Obie Award for a Distinguished Foreign Play when it was first presented in New York, and Edith Oliver, writing in The New Yorker, called it "a masterpiece."
Three of Derek's Walcott's most popular short plays are also included in this volume: Ti-Jean and His Brothers; Malcochon, or The Six in the Rain; and The Sea at Dauphin. In an expansive introductory essay, "What the Twilight Says," the playwright explains his founding of the seminal dramatic company where these works were first performed, the Trinidad Theatre Workshop. First published in 1970, Dream on Monkey Mountain and Other Plays is an essential part of Walcott's vast and important body of work.