Ten Plagues' and 'The Coronation of Poppea'

Mark Ravenhill

• Publisher: Methuen Drama
• Year: 2011
• ISBN:
  9781408160534
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literatura
• Subtopic: Arte dramático

In London
Came the plague in sixteen sixty five
One hundred thousand dead
But I alive. London is infected. The dead fall in the streets. As the plague pits fill, the people of London struggle to maintain a society in the face of overwhelming mortality. Based on eye-witness accounts from 1665 and drawing poetic parallels with modern epidemics, Ten Plagues relates one man's journey through a city in crisis. Told entirely through a series of songs, Ten Plagues explores humanity's struggle with sickness and death and celebrates our capacity for survival. This volume also contains The Coronation of Poppea, a new version of Monteverdi's opera depicting the triumphant adultery between Poppea and Roman Emperor Nero. Tackling this tale of epic lives, Ravenhill updates Tacitus' scathing portrayal of decadence and imperial degeneracy with language which is contemporary, spare and brutally powerful. Taking opera librettos as a foundation, this volume presents two texts for modern music theatre by the seminally controversial playwright Mark Ravenhill. Mark Ravenhill's introduction to the volume explains the inspiration and writing process behind the two pieces.

The Coronation of Poppea

freely adapted from the libretto by Giovanni Francesco Busenello for L’incoronazione di Poppea by Claudio Monteverdi

This version of The Coronation of Poppea opened at the King’s Head Theatre, Islington, on 28 April 2011 with the following cast:

Liberto/Arnalta	Adam Kowalczyk
Nero	Jessica Walker
Poppea	Zoe Bonner
Ottavia	Rebecca Caine
Otto	David Sheppard
Drusilla	Jassy Husk
Seneca	Martin Nelson
Double Bass	Jonny Gee
Piano	Alex Silverman
Soprano saxophone	Chez Taylor

Directed by Mark Ravenhill

Musical direction/orchestration by Alex Silverman

Intervention aria composed by Michael Nyman

Designed by Katie Bellman

Lighting designed by William Reynolds

Characters

Liberto/Arnalta

Nero

Poppea

Ottavia

Otto

Drusilla

Seneca

Note: This libretto benefitted greatly from the suggestions of Alex Silverman and the cast of the first production. Michael Nyman suggested an additional scene (Scene Twenty-Two). To all of them I am hugely grateful.

Scene One

Liberto	What the fuck? What the fuck?
	OK easy OK easy
	No more no more dreams for Liberto
	Get back to guarding Nero
	Curse curse him him bloody Nero
	Curse bloody Nero
	Poppea
	Fuck her and fuck Rome and...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Contents
• Introduction
• Cast List
• Songs
• The Coronation of Poppea
• About the Author
• Imprint