Sir Thomas Stukeley, the notorious English courtier, pirate, adventurer and soldier, died at the Battle of Alcazar in Morocco in 1578, while serving in the army of King Sebastian of Portugal. This volume comprises the first modern-spelling, annotated edition of two plays in which he is a major character: George Peele's 'The Battle of Alcazar' (c.1588), and the anonymous 'Famous History of the Life and Death of Captain Thomas Stukeley' (c.1596).

In his extensive introduction and commentary, Charles Edelman discusses the plays' authorship, their many textual problems, and what they reveal about Elizabethan performance practices. He also challenges most of the traditional assumptions about them. This edition shows that both works, long held to be unperformable, are instead fascinating and worthwhile representatives of the most exciting age in the history of the theatre.

Reviews

With its detailed introduction and extensive notes, Edelman's editorial work provides an outstanding basis for further study of these previously neglected dramas.

General editors' preface
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations and references
Introduction
Sir Thomas Stukeley
'The Battle of the Three Kings'
'The Battle of Alcazar'
Authorship and date
Text
The plot
The play in performance
The date of the play
Sources
The play
'Mislike me not for my complexion'
'The Famous History of the Life and Death of Captain Thomas Stukeley
Authorship
Versification
The play
The African sequence and the order of the final scenes
Conclusion
Notes to the introduction
'The Battle of Alcazar'
Editions and textual conventions
List of characters
The play
'The Famous History of the Life and Death of Captain Thomas Stukeley
Editions, textual conventions
List of characters
The play
Appendix I: 'The Battle of Alcazar': Pisano, Jonas and Hercules
Appendix II: 'The Battle of Alcazar': The Irish Bishop
Appendix III: 'Captain Thomas Stukeley': Alternate scene 7