THE TRAGEDY OF KING ROBERT THE FIRST
by Kenneth Robbins
Robert Devereaux, the Earl of Essex, returns from Ireland with his army in tow and with the sole purpose in mind of deposing Queen Elizabeth I, but finds that he needs help in achieving his coup. He turns to Will Shakespeare and requests a special one-and-done performance of RICHARD II, thinking that the play, with its subject being the overthrow of a sitting monarch, will serve him well. Of course, nothing serves poor Robert, not even his unflagging ego. After all, he is fond of saying: “Boasting is what I do best!”
- Cast Size: 3M 1W 6GN
- Running Time: Under an Hour
- Royalty Rate: $40 per performance
Order Digital Download (Will NOT download to phones, cannot be printed)
About the Playwright
Kenneth Robbins is the author of six published novels, thirty-five published plays, numerous essays, stories, and memoirs on-line and in peer-reviewed journals, and a collection of short stories. His fiction has received the Toni Morrison Prize and the Associated Writing Programs Novel Award. His plays have been recognized by receiving the Charles Getchell Award, the Festival of Southern Theatre Award, and the Gabrielle Society Humanitarian Award. His radio plays have been aired over National Public Radio and the BBC Radio 3. He holds a PhD from Southern Illinois University and a MFA from the University of Georgia. He lives in Ruston, Louisiana, where he teaches within the Honors Program at Louisiana Tech University as Professor Emeritus Theatre within the College of Liberal Arts.
In this clever, witty, charming one-act, Kenneth Robbins takes on and off the stage from metatheatre to farce with The Tragedy of King Robert the First. A journey through time and back again, battling with Irish rebels to bribing the Bard, the pompous, superficial Robert learns a very big lesson in the end. And we, too, understand the price one must play for their own tragic flaw.
In Kenneth Robbins’s new comedy, “The Tragedy of King Robert the First,” Shakespeare meets, well….Shakespeare, hired by the indefatigable boaster extraordinaire, Robert Devereaux, Earl of Essex, to help him finally get what he deserves. A hilarious, boisterous romp featuring a mostly-willing Chorus, a lusty monarch, stretch rhymes, and treachery—this brilliant, non-stop laugh-fest is what audiences crave!
Review The Tragedy of King Robert the First.