CARDENIO, Shakespeare's Lost Play: A Comedy in One Act

CARDENIO, A Comedy in One Act, by Gavin Bantock

This is a modern play in one-act for five actors about the discovery of an old book thought to be one of the lost plays of William Shakespeare, and the various shenanigans that occur in the struggle for its possession.

Edward Hathaway, an aspiring young actor, finds the book in an old trunk, and shows it to his grandmother, who has solicited help from a professor of literature and a retired actress to dissuade Edward from going onto the stage. An over-zealous cosmetic saleswoman who happens to appear gets tangled in the net of manoeuvring and deceit which follow.

Although labelled as a comedy, the play does contain some dramatic elements of a more serious nature - about Shakespeare, the theatre and the art of acting.

Published by FIRST SERVANT BOOKS