Diminutive dramas: Play Guide and Free Edition
Diminutive dramas: author and translator credits, catalogue synopsis, subjects and links to the Gutenberg reading formats.
Diminutive dramas is catalogued by Project Gutenberg with author credits for Baring, Maurice (1874–1945).
Catalogue synopsis
Project Gutenberg supplies this automated synopsis of the opening text:
"Diminutive dramas" by Maurice Baring is a collection of short comic plays written in the early 20th century. Sprightly, parodic, and urbane, the pieces recast history, myth, literature, and everyday manners into brisk one-act dialogues with ironic twists. Expect quibbling monarchs, punctured heroics, and theatrical in-jokes as classical figures and modern types collide in miniature stage scenes. The opening of the collection presents a rapid suite of sketches: Henry VIII and Catherine Parr bicker over boiled eggs and the color of Bucephalus until a death sentence is issued and un-issued; a Kensington romance founders when a suitor’s “drawback” (his father is the hangman) is eclipsed by the heroine’s pique over his former crushes; Dido confronts Æneas as he blames destiny for abandoning her; and a mock-Elizabethan tragedy narrates Alexander’s death in high-flown pastiche. Next, a dying sculptor refuses a predatory dealer and smashes his own “Greek” masterpiece; the French royal family’s card game devolves into squabbling that tips the king into madness; a shambolic Globe rehearsal of Macbeth shows actors browbeating the playwright; and a misty, Maeterlinck-like pantomime sees Harlequin spirit Columbine away while a befogged constable nabs the wrong man. These first pieces set the tone: swift setups, sharp dialogue, and comic reversals that lampoon vanity, pedantry, and theatrical pretensions.
Book and edition facts
- Title: Diminutive dramas
- Author credits: Baring, Maurice (1874–1945)
- Catalogue language: English
Catalogue subjects
- English drama -- 20th century
Read this edition
View the complete Gutenberg catalogue record. Project Gutenberg identifies this edition as public domain in the United States; that designation does not establish its copyright status in every country.
Source notes
Catalogue metadata is public domain and is supplied through Gutendex, which imports Gutenberg's machine-readable catalogue. The automated synopsis is source-supplied, not an independently verified review. Author dates above describe the credited people; no ebook release date is presented as the book's original publication date.
Sources
More in Stage & Theatre
Keep reading
