Search results for ""Author John Lyly""

Devised as an entertainment for a Tudor monarch, Galatea might be seen, paradoxically, as a parable for our time. Inhabiting a world engaged in a process of change, the characters find themselves locked in a series of transgressive situations that speak directly to contemporary experience and twenty-first-century critical concerns. Same-sex relationships, shifts of authority, and the destabilization of meaning all lend the play a surprising modernity, making it at once the most accessible of Lyly’s plays and the one most frequently performed today. Designed for the student reader, Leah Scragg’s edition offers a range of perspectives on the work. An extensive introduction locates the play in the context of the Elizabethan court, opening a window onto a kind of drama very different from that of more familiar sixteenth-century writers, such as Marlowe and Shakespeare. The latter’s indebtedness to the play is fully documented, while detailed critical and performance histories allow an insight into the work’s susceptibility to reinterpretation.

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Was anyone undone by fire, or turned to ashes through desire? Two young trans people find love whilst escaping oppression; a shipwrecked migrant searches for his family; goddesses clash; parents fret; an alchemist brews magic and a teenage Cupid sets hearts on fire — causing chaos and near disaster. And all the while, time is running out! Galatea is an unapologetically queer tale of love, magic, and the importance of welcoming outsiders. Galatea was originally written in the 1580s by John Lyly, William Shakespeare’s best-selling but now long-forgotten contemporary, inspiring Shakespeare’s comedies from As You Like It to A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Performed in front of Queen Elizabeth I over four hundred years ago, this tale of love, joy and the importance of welcoming outsiders is an incredibly resonant story for modern times. Galatea was originally commissioned by Brighton Festival, and adapted by Emma Frankland and Subira Joy, and edited by Andy Kesson. This text features set and costume design sketches by Mydd Pharo, BSL translation support from Duffy, and notes from each contributor on the creation of the piece. This edition was published to coincide with the world premiere at Brighton Festival, in May 2023.

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