Stephen Bevington

One of a series of play texts by Elizabethan and Jacobean dramatists other than Shakespeare, this volume discusses the plays "Campaspe" and "Sappho and Phao" by John Lyly. The series aims to throw light on the plays and to offer views of the plays that have been neglected in the past.

This edition contains in distilled form the insight and learning found iun the fuller Revels critical edition, but with less of the learned apparatus that is appropriate to a critical edition. The introduction and commentary are compact and up to date. The price and format are designed to be competitive with any paperback teaching edition of this play.

The "revenge" play became the most durable and commercially successful type of drama on the Elizabethan stage. This example by Thomas Kyd, who was one of the originators of the genre, brings to life the intrigues of the Spanish court, dramatically juxtaposing romantic passion with sudden violent death and clandestine politics. The ghost of Dan Andrea and his guide Revenge observe the dark and bloody action throughout, provoking questions about the nature of the human condition.

This volume in the "Revel Plays" series, offers reading editions, with modern spelling, of the 1604 and 1616 editions of Marlowe's play, arguing that the two cannot be conflated into one. Included are sources and commentary, literary criticism, style and staging/performance assessments.