The Plays of Aphra Marlowe: A Taste of Evermead

 

A Taste of Evermead 

Very much a departure from Marlowe’s usual work, this bittersweet, semi-autobiographical drama explores the challenges of growing up between two worlds, elven and human. It’s a theme that many other artists have tackled in the past, but rarely from as personal a perspective as this. Marlowe’s willingness to let her own heartache bleed into the script gives her always-sharp dialogue a depth and a resonance never seen in her romantic comedies or political thrillers.  Its success was probably doomed by the choice of a theater in the rough-and-tumble northeast of Baldur's Gate as its first venue. Without the slapstick and bawdiness that audiences in that neighborhood demanded from their entertainment, A Taste of Evermead died slowly, after a week and a half, under a barrage of rotten fruit and catcalls. There remains hope, however, that a new production might be mounted in more suitable climes, for the play's obvious personal significance might well help it survive its author's notoriously short attention span. 

The Plays of Aphra Marlowe: Purple Reign

 

Purple Reign: A Patriotic Spectacle

This foray into the revue genre showcases Marlowe’s signature witty dialogue and clever songwriting—exceedingly clever, as it turns out, for the city magistrates of Suzail suppressed Purple Reign after only two performances. Though Marlowe had been careful not to promote the show as satire, word of its subtle barbs at the Cormyrean government spread quickly to the wrong ears. A timely warning allowed the playwright to flee the capital just ahead of the Purple Dragons, and the ministerial wrath burned out almost as quickly as it had ignited. 

The Plays of Aphra Marlowe: Szassy!

 

 

Szassy! A Musical of Thay

In a career marked by startling lapses of judgement, the attempt to stage a musical satire of one of Faerun’s most reviled despots in the capital of its most-threatened neighbor nonetheless stands out. If one ignores the context, Szassy! has a lot to offer: catchy, clever songs; perceptive caricatures of the politically significant; and enough well-crafted jokes to burst a Bag of Holding. All of which, one hastens to say, are wasted in making light of atrocity. If the Aglarondan authorities did not act to suppress the production, it is only because the citizens of the capital beat them to it. Loud protests and an attempt to burn down the theater dropped the curtain on Szassy! right after its premiere.

The Plays of Aphra Marlowe: Too Sune?

 

 

Too Sune? A Comedy of Mourning ... and Evenings

Elturgard is one of the last places anyone would think to produce a sex comedy, and so of course Elturel’s Skylight Theater was the opening venue Marlowe chose for her merry-widow farce Too Sune? The heroine’s attempts to juggle her lovers and her bereaved in-laws as she arranges her husband’s funeral reveal Marlowe as a master of double entendre and perfectly timed entrances, and it is a great pity that the paladins of Torm not only shut down the production but burned the script in the public square.