The Captain

It’s peace time, and the soldiers of Venice are at a loose end. A young gentlewoman, Frank, finds herself attracted to Captain Jacomo, despite his misogynist nature, but the interventions of her brother’s friends prevent the course of true love from running smoothly. Meanwhile, Leila, a promiscuous widow, struggles to line up her next match.

The Captain starred Richard Burbage. This reading takes place in the church where he was buried in 1619. It is one of several events this year marking the 400th anniversary of his death.

This summer, Read Not Dead celebrates the greatest outlaw hero in English history.

Robin Hood appears in six plays in the early modern period: Edward I by George Peele, two plays by Anthony Munday which include Maid Marian and a lecherous King John, Robert Greene’s George A Greene, first performed at the Rose Playhouse in 1593 and Look About You, in which Henry II appears. Ben Jonson’s unfinished, experimental and last play, The Sad Shepherd, or, A Tale of Robin Hood, set in Sherwood Forest, features Maid Marian, Friar Tuck and Will Scarlet.

Instinctive, adrenalin-filled and inventive, the Read Not Dead ground rules are simple. Actors rehearse the play on a Sunday morning and present it, script-in-hand, to an audience later that afternoon. The Read Not Dead series is dedicated to reviving plays from the early modern period.