A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 1

This volume assembles a handful of rarely‑seen English plays from the early modern period, gathered by a diligent editor who rescued works that have long lingered in obscurity. Alongside a stark tragedy, the collection also offers a mythic transformation piece, a martyr’s tale, and a noble soldier’s drama, giving listeners a taste of the era’s theatrical range. The introductions highlight the historical importance of these texts and set the stage for a deeper appreciation of the period’s literary craft.

The centerpiece, a forgotten Tragedy of Nero, showcases vigorous blank verse and sharply drawn characters such as the sardonic Petronius and the incisive Poppaea. Their exchanges crackle with wit and irony, while the play’s language remains “full and heightened,” delivering the same dramatic tension that once fascinated Elizabethan audiences. Even in its opening scenes, the work hints at the political intrigue and moral decay that defined the notorious emperor’s reign.

Listeners will find in these restored scripts a vivid portal to the stagecraft, rhetoric, and imagination of a time when drama was a primary means of exploring power, virtue, and human folly.