Virgil and Caesar (Oxford Theatre Texts)

Gerrards Cross, UK: Colin Smythe Limited. Fine/Fine. 1993. First Edition. Hard Cover. 8vo 0861403487 Inscribed By Author INSCRIBED ON THE FFEP BY FRANCIS WARNER. Oxford Theatre Texts 11. 95 pages clean and tight. 'In his new play. Virgil and Caesar, the completion of a serial epic entitled AGORA, Francis Warner explores the dramatic tension between worldly rule, the pragmatism of politics, and the vision of the poet as idealist. Staged in the uniquely fitting setting of Oxford University's Convocation House, the production by Tim Prentki and Dominic Shellard exploited the limited space of fan-vaulted beauty to fine advantage. The play, as it explored the relationships between the machinations of worldly power, the wooing of the army, the detecting of subterfuge from the judiciary, the temptation of tyrannical power, the duties of family life, and the seductive disasters of succumbing to lust, unfolded in masterly fashion against the background of the philosophical and other views of the poets. Warner brings to our attention the perennial conflicts that are as timeless as they are timely. The command of English through poetic imagery must rank as the very best. Here we have laid before us the perennial crises of humanity dressed in classical clothes yet intensely of today. How valuable such rare and important plays are, being written in times when not only biological species are under threat around the world, but also cultural continuity itself.' The Stage. Cover portrait of Augustus Caesar from the statue Augustus of Primaporta", photo Vatican Museums. Cover design by Billett Potter. .