2001 Season - Genesius Guild

Fry: "A Phoenix Too Frequent"

A one-act Play, written by Christopher Fry and first produced in 1946. According to Fry, "The story was got from Jeremy Taylor who had it from Petronius." The play is a romantic comedy in verse.

There are three characters:

Dynamene, the recently-widowed wife of Virilius; still mourning
for her hsuband. She has resolved to stay in the tomb with her husband's body until she dies of starvation.

Doto, her servant, staying with her mistress, but not liking it.

Tegeus, a handsome, young soldier assigned to guard some bodies which are hanging from a gibbet near Virilius' tomb.

The action occurs at night in Virilius' underground tomb. There are steps leading up to the surface. Virilius' bier is illuminated by a single oil lamp. At the beginning of the play, Dynamene is asleep by her
husband's bier; Doto is trying to put more oil in the lamp. Tegeus is
out of sight, guarding his bodies above ground.

You can guess how the story develops.