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gillothen's review against another edition
3.0
Not this edition.
This is absolutely Peak Ben Jonson. The fronticepiece describes it as "never acted, but most negligently play'd" at the Blackfriars Theatre, and in his prefatory material he blames the actors (bar two) and the audience. The play was a flop, but not his fault! When he published it, two years after performance (which, because of illness, he never actually saw) he added a bitter poem about how he was giving up writing for the theatre as it was beneath him.
The play is OK, though t has two scenes of inordinately long speeches about the nature and power of Love and a bunch of subplots which didn't make a lot of sense. Almost everyone seems to be in disguise at some point and the happily-ever-after is ridiculously engineered.
Read as part of the REP King's Men repertoire marathon on Zoom in the windy, wet and chill near-lockdown May of 2021.
This is absolutely Peak Ben Jonson. The fronticepiece describes it as "never acted, but most negligently play'd" at the Blackfriars Theatre, and in his prefatory material he blames the actors (bar two) and the audience. The play was a flop, but not his fault! When he published it, two years after performance (which, because of illness, he never actually saw) he added a bitter poem about how he was giving up writing for the theatre as it was beneath him.
The play is OK, though t has two scenes of inordinately long speeches about the nature and power of Love and a bunch of subplots which didn't make a lot of sense. Almost everyone seems to be in disguise at some point and the happily-ever-after is ridiculously engineered.
Read as part of the REP King's Men repertoire marathon on Zoom in the windy, wet and chill near-lockdown May of 2021.
late_stranger's review against another edition
3.0
For early modern drama, it was quick, fun, and easy to read. Would never have picked it up if not for class, and not rushing out for more of Jonson's plays, but was pleasantly surprised that I liked it
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