Rejected by its first audience, John Fletcher’s The Faithful Shepherdess transformed pastoral drama through its fusion of tragedy and comedy. Its Arcadian community is threatened by jealousy, deception, violence, and lust, yet preserved through fidelity, healing, repentance, and pardon. Fletcher’s tragicomic vision distinguishes human error from settled malice, imagining how broken relationships—and damaged communities—might ultimately be restored and made whole.
This new edition of Looke About You (1600) brings back into view a neglected early modern comic history play filled with disguise, court intrigue, and dynastic conflict. Featuring an unusual portrayal of Robin Hood as the Earl of Huntingdon, the play offers a fascinating alternative to the better-known outlaw tradition. Edited by Stephen Basdeo, this edition makes the text accessible to modern readers while preserving the character of the original quarto.
Criminal biographers were so committed to historical accuracy that they gave us The Life of the notorious highwayman, Sir John Falstaff.
In 1637 Ben Jonson began work on a Robin Hood play, “The Sad Shepherd; or, a Tale of Robin Hood,” and presented an idealised, pastoral outlaw world.
Robin Hood first became an Earl in the 16th century; two relatively unknown plays had a dramatic effect upon later interpretations of the legend.