Comedic plays
HarperCollins Publishers Pygmalion Collins Classics
Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.George Bernard Shaw's classic play and satire of the British class system, first performed in 1913.
£5.62
HarperCollins Publishers Twelfth Night
Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.If music be the food of love, play on;Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,The appetite may sicken, and so die.'A comedic romance of mistaken identity, Twelfth Night begins with a shipwreck, splitting up Viola and her twin brother, Sebastian. Alone in a strange land, Viola disguises herself as a male servant, Cesario, in order to work for the Duke Orsino. Orsino is in love with Lady Olivia, but it is Cesario that Olivia falls for. A farcical tale of misplaced love, confusion, gender-swapping and aspiration, Twelfth Night remains one of Shakespeare's best-loved and inventive comedies.
£5.62
HarperCollins Publishers A Midsummer Nights Dream
Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.My Oberon! what visions have I seen!Methought I was enamoured of an ass.'When four young lovers flee from Athens and become lost in an enchanted wood, they stumble into a fairy world where King Oberon, and Queen Titania, are feuding over ownership of a young Indian prince. Seeking his revenge on Titania, Oberon and his servant Puck begin a magical, yet farcical chain of events where all become interwoven in a comedic and mischievous play about the difficulties of love.
£5.62
Pan Macmillan Twelfth Night
Book SynopsisShakespeare’s gentle melancholy, enlivened by a comic sub-plot of considerable accomplishment, has long made Twelfth Night a favourite with Shakespearian audiences.Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition is illustrated throughout by Sir John Gilbert, and includes an introduction by Dr Robert Mighall.Separated from her twin brother Sebastian after a shipwreck, Viola disguises herself as a boy to serve the Duke of Illyria. Wooing a countess on his behalf, she is stunned to find herself the object of his beloved's affections. With the arrival of Viola's brother, and a trick played upon Malvolio, the countess's steward, confusion reigns in this romantic comedy of mistaken identity.Trade ReviewEvery generation continues to be in his debt. Shakespeare’s plots, which are brilliantly polyvalent, continue to inspire ceaseless adaptations and spin-offs. His unforgettable phrase-making recurs on the lips of millions who do not realise they are quoting Shakespeare * Guardian *
£9.49
Prakash Books Greatest Comedies of Shakespeare
Book Synopsis
£13.49
HarperCollins Publishers Much ADO about Nothing
Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.Thou and I are too wise to woo peaceably.'One of Shakespeare's most witty and enjoyable comedies, Much Ado About Nothing is a play that explores courtship, romance and marriage through a number of relationships. Most famously, that of the irrepressible Beatrice and Benedick as they trade their wits against one another, criticising the notion of marriage, yet slowly falling in love with one another as they do so.
£999.99
Penguin Books Ltd The Taming of the Shrew
Book SynopsisWilliam Shakespeare was born in late April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon and died in 1616. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. Stanley Wells is Emeritus Professor of the University of Birmingham and Honorary President of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.Margaret Jane Kidnie is Professor of English at the University of Western Ontario.
£7.99
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC The Beauty Queen Of Leenane
Book SynopsisThe Beauty Queen of Leenane tells the darkly comic tale of Maureen Folan, a plain and lonely woman in her early forties, and Mag her manipulative ageing mother whose interference in Maureen's first and potentially last loving relationship sets in motion a train of events that is as gothically funny as it is horrific.Trade Review'He (McDonagh) offers all the familiar delights of farce and melodrama, while at the same time offering a powerful critique of contemporary Ireland.' Michael Billington, Guardian, 22.07.10 'Martin McDonagh's play...is not the callous thing that we often hail as;black comedy', but a richly human illustration of that tragicomic paradox. If it wasn't so funny it would be squalid' Libby Purves, The Times, 22.07.10 'The dramatic tension McDonagh creates is brilliantly sustained, while the sudden twists and turns of the plot elicit genuine gasps of surprise from the audience.' Charles Spencer, Daily Telegraph, 23.07.10 'His (McDonagh's) ear for the Irish rhythms and the absurdities of everyday speech is matchless.' Georgina Brown, Mail on Sunday, 01.08.10 'Martin McDonagh is one of the top playwrights to have emerged in the 1990's' Patrick Marmion, Daily Mail, 06.08.10
£10.44
Pan Macmillan A Midsummer Night's Dream
Book SynopsisGorgeous, strange and magical, A Midsummer Night's Dream is perhaps the best-loved of Shakespeare's plays. Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition is illustrated throughout by Sir John Gilbert, and includes an introduction by Ned Halley.A young woman flees Athens with her lover, only to be pursued by her would-be husband and her best friend. Unwittingly, all four find themselves in an enchanted forest where fairies and sprites soon take an interest in human affairs, dispensing love potions and casting mischievous spells. In this dazzling comedy, confusion ends in harmony, as love is transformed, misplaced, and – ultimately – restored.Trade ReviewEvery generation continues to be in his debt. Shakespeare’s plots, which are brilliantly polyvalent, continue to inspire ceaseless adaptations and spin-offs. His unforgettable phrase-making recurs on the lips of millions who do not realise they are quoting Shakespeare * Guardian *
£9.49
Pan Macmillan Much Ado About Nothing
Book SynopsisComedy and tragedy intertwine when two very different couples fall in and out of love in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition features illustrations by renowned artist Sir John Gilbert and an introduction from Professor Tiffany Stern.Whilst Beatrice and Benedick both despise love, exchanging insults and mockery rather than vows, for Hero and Claudio it is love at first sight. But as their marriage preparations begin, so too do Don John’s dirty tricks. Can his scheming get in the way of true love? And can an elaborate plan to bring fiery Beatrice and cynical Benedick closer together really come off? In Much Ado About Nothing, one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays, nothing is quite what it seems.Trade ReviewShakespeare’s voice rings down the ages, and, as with innumerable other human matters, we would do well to listen to it * Independent *When I read Shakespeare I am struck with wonder that such trivial people should muse and thunder in such lovely language -- D. H. LawrenceThe remarkable thing about Shakespeare is that he is really very good -- Robert Graves
£9.49
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Peter Pan Goes Wrong
Book SynopsisIn one of Chris' productions, due to an ill-timed haircut Rapunzel had to be imprisoned in a bungalow. But now with no further ado, please put your hands together for J.M. Barrie's Christmas classic: Peter Pan!The inept and accident-prone Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society set out to present J. M. Barrie''s classic tale of Peter Pan, their most audacious production to date. Flying? Pyrotechnics? Sharp hooks? What ensues is two acts of hysterical disaster. You''ll laugh, they''ll cry. Something so wrong has never been so right.From the mischievous minds of the West End and Edinburgh hit The Play That Goes Wrong comes this highly original, chaos-filled re-telling of J.M. Barrie''s much-loved classic.Peter Pan Goes Wrong received its world premiere at the Pleasance Theatre, London, on 10 December 2013 and transferred to the West End on 4 December 2015. The show opened on Broadway on 19 April 2023, and this updated edition was publishe
£10.99
Pan Macmillan The Tempest
Book SynopsisThe Tempest is Shakespeare's masterpiece of magical effects, redemptive romance, poetry and politics. Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition features illustrations by renowned artist Sir John Gilbert and an introduction by actor, writer and director Simon Callow.Prospero has long been exiled from Italy and banished to a remote island with his daughter Miranda. He uses his magical powers to conjure up a fearsome storm, and his enemies, including his treacherous broth Antonio, are shipwrecked. There follows a play filled with murderous plots, drunken confusion, love and redemption. And along the way, the reader discovers an unmistakable message that this is Shakespeare’s own farewell to the stage.Trade ReviewShakespeare’s voice rings down the ages, and, as with innumerable other human matters, we would do well to listen to it * Independent *A magical tale of finding love and getting drunk on a tropical island * Time Out *When I read Shakespeare I am struck with wonder that such trivial people should muse and thunder in such lovely language -- D. H. LawrenceThe remarkable thing about Shakespeare is that he is really very good -- Robert Graves
£999.99
Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc Alchemist
Book Synopsis
£9.49
Pan Macmillan The Merchant of Venice
Book SynopsisInitially described as a comedy, Shakespeare's explorations of prejudice, duty and the nature of justice make The Merchant of Venice a far darker, more alluring play.Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition is illustrated throughout by Sir John Gilbert, and includes an introduction by Ned Halley.The Merchant of Venice is most associated not with its titular hero, Antonio, but with the complex, unforgettable figure of the money-lender, Shylock. It is Shylock who finances Antonio's friend Bassanio in his pursuit of the beautiful Portia, and who demands a gruesome bond from the wealthy merchant.Trade ReviewEvery generation continues to be in his debt. Shakespeare’s plots, which are brilliantly polyvalent, continue to inspire ceaseless adaptations and spin-offs. His unforgettable phrase-making recurs on the lips of millions who do not realise they are quoting Shakespeare * Guardian *
£9.49
Alma Books Ltd The Government Inspector: New Translation: Newly
Book SynopsisThe mayor and local officials of a small provincial town in Russia have got it made: corruption is rife and they have all the power. Yet, when they learn that an undercover government inspector is about to make a visit, they face a mad dash to cover their tracks. Soon, the news that a suspicious person has recently arrived from St Petersburg and is staying in a local inn produces a series of events and misunderstandings that lead to a hilarious dénouement. Often quoted as Russian literature’s greatest comedy, The Government Inspector is a trenchant satire of the corruption, greed and stupidity of petty officialdom, and the crowning achievement of Gogol’s skills as a playwright.Trade ReviewRoger Cockrell’s freer and livelier versions, of which there are many more examples, mean that any company planning a new production of the play would be well advised to use this fresh, highly actable (and, for good measure, attractively produced) translation of Gogol’s timeless classic. * East-West Review *Roger Cockrell goes straight for the funny bone. His characters speak their truths in intoxicating, colourful English. […] This reader of Roger Cockrell's lively and hilarious Government Inspector cannot wait to see it staged. * TLS *
£7.99
HarperCollins Publishers Pygmalion Collins Classics
Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.George Bernard Shaw's classic play and satire of the British class system, first performed in 1913.
£6.99
Liverpool University Press Aristophanes Lysistrata
Book SynopsisLysistrata is the third and last of Aristophanes' peace plays. It is a dream of peace, of how the women could help to achieve an honourable settlement, conceived when Athens was going through its most desperate crisis since the Persian War. This fully annotated English translation of the play presents facing translation, commentary and notes.Trade Review‘The scholarship and broad appeal of Sommerstein’s Lysistrata will commend it to individuals and libraries alike.’ Classical WorldTable of ContentsPrefaceAddenda 2007Select BibliographyBibliography to LysistrataReferences & AbbreviationsLYSISTRATA Introductory Note Note on the Text SiglaText and TranslationNotes
£32.54
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC To Have and To Hold
Book SynopsisRichard Bean: In 2011 Richard became the first playwright to win the Evening Standard Award for Best Play for two plays, The Heretic and One Man, Two Guvnors. The New York production of One Man, Two Guvnors was awarded the 2012 Outer Critics' Circle Award for Outstanding New Broadway Play. His credits include Kiss Me (Hampstead), The Nap (Sheffield Crucible), Great Britain (National Theatre), Made in Dagenham: The Musical (Adelphi Theatre) and Pitcairn (Chichester Minerva Theatre/Shakespeare's Globe). Richard's other work includes Under the Whaleback (Royal Court. George Devine Award 2002), The Heretic (The Royal Court. Evening Standard Best New Play 2011), Honeymoon Suite (Pearson Play of the Year), Harvest (Critic's Circle Best New Play), The House of Games (from David Mamet's film), a new version of Moliere's The Hypochondriac, The Big Fellah (Out of Joint), England Peo
£13.39
BBC Audio, A Division Of Random House Vanity Fair: BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation
Book SynopsisStephen Fry narrates this BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of the famous Victorian comic novel. Orphan Becky Sharp and wealthy Amelia Sedley are best friends at Miss Pinkerton's Academy for Young Ladies. On leaving school, ambitious, social-climbing Becky looks for a rich man to support her, while the sweet-natured Amelia meets her old friend Dobbin, who is instantly captivated. Becky takes a job in the service of Sir Pitt Crawley, and uses her charm to hook his dashing son. However, marriage to Captain Rawdon of the Guards does not provide the fortune she seeks. Meanwhile, Amelia rejects the faithful Dobbin and becomes engaged to the handsome George Osborne – but destiny has some shocks in store for her, too. As time goes by, the girls' fortunes rise and fall. War, financial disaster and the ruin of her reputation leave the resourceful Becky undaunted, but Amelia finds it harder to bear fate's blows. It will be many years before their story is played out, and their futures finally decided... William Makepeace Thackeray's classic satire of passion and ambition, first published in 1847 and 1848, is a deliciously ironic portrait of English society and its mores. This engaging 2004 radio production, published for the first time on audio, features a distinguished cast including Emma Fielding as Becky Sharp, Katy Cavanagh as Amelia and Toby Jones as Jos Sedley. Duration: 5 hours approx
£19.72
HarperCollins Publishers As You Like It Collins Classics
Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.All the world''s a stage,And all the men and women merely players.'Featuring Rosalind, one of Shakespeare's most likeable and strong female protagonists, As You Like It is a comedic play centred around concealed identity, love, exile and artifice. Banished from the court by her uncle, Rosalind flees to the forest with her cousin Celia and her jester, joining her already exiled father, and disguising herself as a boy. In the guise of a young man, she instructs her would-be lover Orlando in the ways of love and in doing so allows Shakespeare to explore the dynamics of the city and the country as well as the sexual politics of the time.
£5.62
HarperCollins Publishers Twelfth Night
Book SynopsisBuild your child's reading confidence at home with books at the right levelEnjoy the hilarity and mischief amidst the mistaken identities, mixed messages and cross dressing in this wonderful retelling of William Shakespeare's comedy play by Celia Rees. As all the characters get their wires crossed, and fall in love with the wrong people, time is running out to reveal their true identities before they head to the church!Diamond/Band 17 books offer more complex, underlying themes to give opportunities for children to understand causes and points of view.
£10.69
Transworld Publishers Ltd Men At Arms Playtext
Book SynopsisScarcely a year on from the events of Guards! Guards!, the Ankh-Morpork City Night Watch find their services are once more needed to tackle a threat to their city. A threat at least as deadly as a 60-foot dragon, but mechanical and heartless to boot. It kills without compunction. It is the first gun on the Discworld. The original Watch - Captain Vimes, Sergeant Colon, Corporal Carrot and Corporal Nobbs - are joined by some new recruits, selected to reflect the city''s ethnic make-up - Lance-Constable Cuddy (a dwarf), Detritus (a troll) and Angua (a w..., well, best to find out for yourself).
£11.69
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Mates in Chelsea
Book SynopsisRory Mullarkey's original plays include Pity, The Wolf from the Door (Royal Court Theatre), Saint George and the Dragon (Royal National Theatre), Each Slow Dusk (Pentabus Theatre/UK Tour), Cannibals, Single Sex (Royal Exchange, Manchester), The Grandfathers (National Theatre Connections, then Bristol Old Vic/National Theatre) and On the Threshing Floor (Heat & Light Company, Hampstead Theatre). His adaptations/translations include The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov (Bristol Old Vic/Manchester Royal Exchange), The Oresteia by Aeschylus (Shakespeare's Globe) and Remembrance Day by Aleksey Scherbak (Royal Court). He has written the libretti for The Skating Rink by David Sawer (Garsington Opera), Coraline by Mark-Anthony Turnage (Royal Opera House) and The Way Back Home by Joanna Lee (ENO/Young Vic). He has won the Abraham Woursell Prize (co-winner 2017), the James Tait Black Prize for
£13.10
Columbia University Press A TopsyTurvy World
Book SynopsisA Topsy-Turvy World presents English translations of shorter late Ming and early Qing plays. Satirical and often earthy, these mostly one-act plays provide a glimpse of Chinese daily life and mores even as they question or subvert the boundaries of social, moral, and political order.Trade ReviewThis treasure box of eleven short plays, most available in English for the first time, will delight anyone interested in early modern Chinese drama, culture, and society. Ranging from Buddhist charades to human puppet shows, from sword dances to drag masquerades, these thematically diverse and inventive plays are admirably translated with erudition and panache. -- Judith Zeitlin, author of The Phantom Heroine: Ghosts and Gender in Seventeenth-Century Chinese LiteratureA splendid expansion of the canon of traditional Chinese drama translations—the short plays offer a riotous deep dive into a world of laughter, while the scholarly commentary succinctly explores some of the fault lines of the early modern imagination. -- Patricia Sieber, coeditor of How to Read Chinese Drama in Chinese A Language CompanionA brilliant collection of rare and original works that provides a broad and varied view of Chinese performance traditions. The dominant leitmotif of these translations is the ingenuity and audacity with which writers subvert convention while questioning the sociopolitical order. -- Regina Llamas, translator of Top Graduate Zhang Xie: The Earliest Extant Chinese Southern PlayZaju plays of the Ming and Qing dynasties have long been a neglected area both in China and elsewhere. For that reason, this anthology is a timely translation. It provides new materials not only for general readers interested in premodern Chinese zaju plays but also for students and scholars to engage in further studies of the genre. -- Hongchu Fu, author of Chinese DramaTable of ContentsIntroductionTable of Dynasties1. Cracking a Dumb Chan Riddle2. The Mad Drummer: Thrice-Played Yuyang3. Chan Master Yu Has a Dream of Cuixiang4. Real Puppets5. Sublime Jokes from the Back of Beyond6. Pinning Flowers in His Coiffure7. A Song for a Laugh8. Ramblings with Magicians in Lyrics and Songs9. Black and White Donkeys10. Zaju from the Studio of Singing on the Wind11. Song of Dragon Well TeaAppendix: A List of Short Plays from the Period 1400 to 1850 Already Available in English TranslationContributorsReferences
£120.00
Liverpool University Press Aristophanes Clouds
Book SynopsisClouds has always fascinated students of philosophy because of its portrayal of Socrates as an atheist and a teacher of dishonest rhetoric, justly punished by the agents of the gods whom he refuses to recognise. [Greek text with facing translation, commentary and notes. 2007 reprint of the 1991 third edition, with addenda and a new bibliography.]Trade Review‘For an overall series of the entire corpus, including critical text, commentary, translation, and full introduction, all subsumed to one man’s intelligent analysis and wide-ranging scholarship, Sommerstein stands triumphantly alone. [...] Aristophanes is lucky to have so devoted, erudite, and witty a modern celebrant.’Scholia‘This work is a fine and unpretentious introduction to Aristophanic comedy.’Journal of Hellenic Studies'Sommerstein has exercised throughout the refreshing independence of judgement, backed by learning.’JACTTable of ContentsPrefaceAddenda 2007Select BibliographyBibliography to CloudsReferences and AbbreviationsCLOUDS Introductory Note Select Bibliography Note on the Text Sigla Text and Translation Notes
£34.88
Pan Macmillan Valparaiso
Book SynopsisIn Valparaiso, a breathtaking play from Don DeLillo, a man sets out on what he imagines will be an ordinary business trip to Valparaiso, Indiana. It proves to be anything but run-of-the-mill, turning instead into a mock-heroic journey toward identity and transcendence. Valparaiso is a funny, sharp and deeply satirical look at our information age. This is the way we talk to each other today. This is the way we tell each other things, in public, before listening millions, that we don't dare say privately. Nothing is allowed to be unseen. Nothing remains unread. And everything melts repeatedly into something else, as if driven by the finger on the TV remote. This is also a play that makes obsessive poetry out of the language of routine airline announcements and the flow of endless information.Trade ReviewValparaiso is art at its finest. * Boston Globe *A play that crawls into the most carefully protected corners of one’s consciousness—gorgeous, frightening, stunningly poetic, wickedly funny, surprisingly voluptuous and poetic. * Chicago Sun-Times *
£9.99
Bloomsbury Academic Stephenson Plays 1 1 A Memory of Water Five Kinds
Book SynopsisThis collection of Shelagh Stephenson plays offers her Olivier award-winning work - "A Memory of Water", "Five Kinds of Silence", "Experiment with an Air Pump", and "Ancient Lights".Table of ContentsA Memory of Water; Five Kinds of Silence; An Experiment with an Air Pump; Ancient Lights
£26.48
Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) Jokes in Greek Comedy
Book SynopsisNaomi Scott is A.G. Leventis Fellow in Greek Studies at the University of Bristol, UK.Table of ContentsNote on Texts and Translations List of Abbreviations Introduction Playing with Words: Jokes and Poetic Language Playing With Theatre: Jokes and Dramatic Performance Playing with Plot: Jokes and Storytelling Conclusions: Comedy and the Avant-Garde in the Fifth-Century and Beyond Bibliography
£999.99
Renard Press Ltd Foggerty's Fairy
Book Synopsis‘Take care. The consequences of an act are often much more numerous and important than people have any idea of.’ Today W.S. Gilbert is best known for the comic operas he produced in collaboration with Arthur Sullivan, a creative partnership that diverged over the supernatural. Unlike Sullivan, Gilbert was a great fan of fairy tales, and Foggerty’s Fairy, one of his most unjustly neglected plays, is a brilliant farcical comedy that hinges on the wish-granting of a fairy. Loosely based on his short story ‘The Story of a Twelfth Cake’, Foggerty’s Fairy considers the dangers of playing with the past. Trying to shore up his relationship, a man enlists a fairy’s help to make a few tweaks in his past – he soon realises, however, these small changes have made great waves through time, and his present becomes unbearable.Trade Review'The wildest absurdity ever perpetrated.' (The Era)
£7.99
Columbia University Press A TopsyTurvy World
Book SynopsisA Topsy-Turvy World presents English translations of shorter late Ming and early Qing plays. Satirical and often earthy, these mostly one-act plays provide a glimpse of Chinese daily life and mores even as they question or subvert the boundaries of social, moral, and political order.Trade ReviewThis treasure box of eleven short plays, most available in English for the first time, will delight anyone interested in early modern Chinese drama, culture, and society. Ranging from Buddhist charades to human puppet shows, from sword dances to drag masquerades, these thematically diverse and inventive plays are admirably translated with erudition and panache. -- Judith Zeitlin, author of The Phantom Heroine: Ghosts and Gender in Seventeenth-Century Chinese LiteratureA splendid expansion of the canon of traditional Chinese drama translations—the short plays offer a riotous deep dive into a world of laughter, while the scholarly commentary succinctly explores some of the fault lines of the early modern imagination. -- Patricia Sieber, coeditor of How to Read Chinese Drama in Chinese A Language CompanionA brilliant collection of rare and original works that provides a broad and varied view of Chinese performance traditions. The dominant leitmotif of these translations is the ingenuity and audacity with which writers subvert convention while questioning the sociopolitical order. -- Regina Llamas, translator of Top Graduate Zhang Xie: The Earliest Extant Chinese Southern PlayZaju plays of the Ming and Qing dynasties have long been a neglected area both in China and elsewhere. For that reason, this anthology is a timely translation. It provides new materials not only for general readers interested in premodern Chinese zaju plays but also for students and scholars to engage in further studies of the genre. -- Hongchu Fu, author of Chinese DramaTable of ContentsIntroductionTable of Dynasties1. Cracking a Dumb Chan Riddle2. The Mad Drummer: Thrice-Played Yuyang3. Chan Master Yu Has a Dream of Cuixiang4. Real Puppets5. Sublime Jokes from the Back of Beyond6. Pinning Flowers in His Coiffure7. A Song for a Laugh8. Ramblings with Magicians in Lyrics and Songs9. Black and White Donkeys10. Zaju from the Studio of Singing on the Wind11. Song of Dragon Well TeaAppendix: A List of Short Plays from the Period 1400 to 1850 Already Available in English TranslationContributorsReferences
£32.30
Liverpool University Press Aristophanes Acharnians Aris Phillips Classical
Book SynopsisThe earliest surviving comic drama, Acharnians is a highly committed play. Its message is that Athens war with the Peloponnesians can and should be ended, and that peace will mean the restoration of normal life. First published in 1980, this edition has been updated, and presents the Greek text with facing-page translation, commentary and notes.Trade Review‘For an overall series of the entire corpus, including critical text, commentary, translation, and full introduction, all subsumed to one man’s intelligent analysis and wide-ranging scholarship, Sommerstein stands triumphantly alone. […] Aristophanes is lucky to have so devoted, erudite, and witty a modern celebrant.’ ScholiaTable of ContentsPrefaceAbbreviationsGENERAL INTRODUCTIONI. AristophanesII. Aristophanic ComedyIII. ProductionIV. Transmission Notes to General IntroductionACHARNIANSIntroductory NoteNote on the TextSiglaText and TranslationSELECT BIBLIOGRAPHYADDENDA
£32.54
Liverpool University Press Aristophanes Knights
Book SynopsisIn the first play he produced on his own behalf, Aristophanes launched a violent attack on Cleon, the leading politician of the day, on the whole style of leadership that he represented and on a system which seemed to guarantee that a bad leader could be displaced by a worse. Text with facing translation, commentary and notes.Trade Review‘For an overall series of the entire corpus, including critical text, commentary, translation, and full introduction, all subsumed to one man’s intelligent analysis and wide-ranging scholarship, Sommerstein stands triumphantly alone. […] Aristophanes is lucky to have so devoted, erudite, and witty a modern celebrant.’ Scholia'Sommerstein has exercised throughout the refreshing independence of judgement, backed by learning.’ JACT‘This work is a fine and unpretentious introduction to Aristophanic comedy.’Journal of Hellenic StudiesTable of ContentsPrefaceReferences and AbbreviationsKNIGHTS Introductory Note Note on the Text Sigla Text and Translation Notes
£32.54
Liverpool University Press Alcestis Classical Texts Aris Phillips Classical
Book SynopsisAlcestis is the only tragedy known to have been produced in the position usually allotted (at the Athenian tragic festivals) to the semi-comic satyr-play. Although it has a happy ending, opinions differ widely on the meaning of this beautifully constructed little masterpiece. Greek text with facing translation, introduction and commentary.Trade Review‘The introduction is informative, sensible and perceptive… commentary is up to date, learned, informative and often perceptive.’JACTTable of ContentsGeneral Editor’s ForewordAcknowledgementsUpdated General BibliographyBibliography to Alcestis Introduction to Alcestis I. Ancient information II. The myth and its adaptation Bibliography to Alcestis III. The play and its problems: i. Genre and tone ii. Themes and structure iii. The treatment of Admetus iv. Some other views v. Visual aspects IV. The TextNotes to Introduction to AlcestisText and TranslationCommentaryIndex
£32.54
Liverpool University Press Aristophanes Birds
Book SynopsisBirds differs from other surviving plays of Aristophanes in having no obvious connection with a topical question. Instead, satire is kept firmly subordinate to fantasy; and as fantasy Birds has no rival in what we possess of Greek literature, until we reach Lucian nearly six centuries later. Greek text with facing translation and commentary.Trade Review‘For an overall series of the entire corpus, including critical text, commentary, translation, and full introduction, all subsumed to one man’s intelligent analysis and wide-ranging scholarship, Sommerstein stands triumphantly alone. […] Aristophanes is lucky to have so devoted, erudite, and witty a modern celebrant.’ ScholiaTable of ContentsPrefaceReferences and AbbreviationsBIRDS Introductory Note Select Bibliography Note on the Text Sigla Text and Translation Notes
£36.61
Liverpool University Press Aristophanes Thesmophoriazusae
Book SynopsisThesmophoriazusae is perhaps the funniest of all Aristophanes’ comedies, in which gender inversion and transvestism run riot as the tragic dramatist Euripides is made to take part in a hilarious spoof on some of his own favourite plot lines. This edition, updated in 2013, presents the Greek text with facing-page translation, commentary and notes.Trade Review‘For an overall series of the entire corpus, including critical text, commentary, translation, and full introduction, all subsumed to one man’s intelligent analysis and wide-ranging scholarship, Sommerstein stands triumphantly alone. […] Aristophanes is lucky to have so devoted, erudite, and witty a modern celebrant.’ ScholiaTable of ContentsPREFACE References and Abbreviations a. Collections of Fragments b. Abbreviations: Ancient Authors and Works c. Abbreviations: Modern Authors and Publications d. Metrical Symbols INTRODUCTORY NOTE Select Bibliography Note on the Text Sigla Dramatis Personae THESMOPHORIAZUSAE Text and Translation CRITICAL APPARATUS COMMENTARY BIBLIOGRAPHY ADDENDA
£34.88
Liverpool University Press Aristophanes Frogs
Book SynopsisProduced in 405 BC, Frogs contains the earliest sustained piece of literary criticism in the Western tradition - the contest for the throne of tragedy between Euripides and Aeschylus. This edition is the first to combine a reliable English translation of Frogs with a full explanatory commentary; it also includes a freshly constituted Greek text.Trade Review‘For an overall series of the entire corpus, including critical text, commentary, translation, and full introduction, all subsumed to one man’s intelligent analysis and wide-ranging scholarship, Sommerstein stands triumphantly alone. […] Aristophanes is lucky to have so devoted, erudite, and witty a modern celebrant.’ScholiaTable of ContentsPrefaceReferences and AbbreviationsIntroductionSelect Bibliography Aristophanes FrogsNote on the TextSiglaFROGS:Dramatis PersonaeText and TranslationCommentary
£36.87
Liverpool University Press Aristophanes Ecclesiazusae
Book SynopsisEcclesiazusae is a typically Aristophanic fantasy of gender inversion, obscenity and farce, and the earliest surviving work in the western Utopian tradition. This edition, with facing translation and commentary, sets the play in its political context, and defines the details of staging as precisely as the text will allow.Trade Review‘All in all, this book is a great source of knowledge and will be very helpful for anyone who studies Ecclesiazusae.’Classical Review‘For an overall series of the entire corpus, including critical text, commentary, translation, and full introduction, all subsumed to one man’s intelligent analysis and wide-ranging scholarship, Sommerstein stands triumphantly alone. […] Aristophanes is lucky to have so devoted, erudite, and witty a modern celebrant.’ScholiaTable of ContentsAddenda 2007Updated General BibliographyPrefaceReferences and AbbreviationsIntroduction Bibliography to Ecclesiazusae Note on the Text SiglaText and TranslationCommentary
£32.54
Liverpool University Press Aristophanes Peace 05 Aris Phillips Classical
Book SynopsisIn Peace, produced in 421 B.C., Aristophanes celebrates in anticipation the conclusion, after ten years, of the great war between Athens and Sparta. This volume presents the Greek text with facing-page translation, commentary and notes. The second edition has been substantially updated with extensive addenda to the Notes and Bibliography.Trade Review'College and university libraries should own a copy for students and faculty looking for a current, comprehensive bibliography to the play.'Martha Habash, Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 2007‘For an overall series of the entire corpus, including critical text, commentary, translation, and full introduction, all subsumed to one man’s intelligent analysis and wide-ranging scholarship, Sommerstein stands triumphantly alone. […] Aristophanes is lucky to have so devoted, erudite, and witty a modern celebrant.’ ScholiaTable of ContentsPrefaceReferences and AbbreviationsPEACE Introductory Note Note on the Text Sigla Text and Translation Notes Addenda including Bibliography
£32.54
