The Wars of Alexander

In this book is a trilogy of plays for theatre, describing the life of Alexander the Great. They are adapted from two forteenth century manuscripts which form part of one of the earliest dramatic achievements to be found in the English Language. They were written at a time when there was little theatre in English, and were performed by story-tellers who dramatised all the parts which they read. This is an adaptation of these manuscripts for the theatre, using as much of the original as possible, and modernising the language enough to make it understandable to those who can understand Shakespeare. Written two hundred years before Shakespeare ‘The Warres of Alexander‘ had a huge influence on his work. The style of the writing suggests a link to alliterative poems such as ‘Pearl‘ and ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight‘, and they are possibly by the same poet, in which case they cast further light on the work of one of the greatest geniuses of the middle ages.