About Shakespeare.
Первые выходят девочки – Miss Books и Sister, Little Spitfire и Lovely. У Miss Books книга. Sister приносит простыню. Девочки рассматривают книгу, играют с простыней и садятся в кружок.
Заходят хулиганы – Heckler и Bully.
Miss Books: Hey, what are you doing here?
Sister: It’s a party only for girls.
Little Spitfire: Get out of here.
Lovely: Get away, please.
Мальчики вначале уходят, но потом потихоньку возвращаются.
Заходят Brother и Security
Brother: Hallo, girls. What’s this?
Little Spitfire: No, what’s this?
Sister: This is my brother. I will tell mommy you disturb us.
Brother: Go ahead. What’s this? (держит вверх ногами и пытается прочитать)
Miss Books: William Shakespeare. Plays.
Security: (Переворачивает книгу) William Shakespeare. Plays.
Brother: My name is George. What’s your name?
Miss Books: My name is Alex. It’s nice to meet you.
Brother: It’s nice to meet you.
Security: May we stay?
Miss Books: You may.
Sister: And what about only-for-girls-party?
Miss Books: For girls, George and...what’s your name?
Security: Kirill.
Miss Books: And Kirill.
Заходят Merry-maker и Chemist.
Merry-maker и Chemist: And Merry-man and Chemist.
Merry-maker: What are you talking about?
Lovely: About Shakespeare.
Merryman: Is it a chocolate?
Chemist: Or pills?
Heckler: Pain pills
Bully: You take.
Miss Books: We will read plays and play them.
Hecklers: Oh, you are an actress.
Little Spitfire: It’s none of your business.
Heckler: And I am an actor.
Sister: Not less than DiCaprio.
Brother: We will read plays and play them. And you. And you.
Sister: But obey the story-teller. (Но слушайтесь рассказчика.)
Security: That’s great.
TAMING OF THE SHREW
Brother: I want to tell a play. About
Danila: taming of the shrew.
Brother: Thank you, Danila. Taming of the Shrew.
Sister: What do you mean? The shrew!
Brother: Nothing. Once there was a girl, named
Danila: Katherine.
Brother: Katherine.
Little Spitfire: She was a complete shrew. See?
Sister: I will not be this Katherine. I will tell daddy you are cheating me. See?
Brother: Without any doubts. You will be the shrew. I am the author.
Sister: I am also the author. You will be the shrew. Your name is…
Danila: Katherine!
Brother: Thank you, Danila. Katherine. Your father is a rich and noble man,
Miss Books: but nobody wants to marry you/
Bully: because you are willful and just nasty.
Brother: (ударяет по плечу) I didn’t understand. Where is Auch!
Together: Yes, where is auch?
Brother: Come down. And you have a younger sister.
Sister: Ok, where is my sister?
Lovely: It’s me!
Merry-man: She is perfect.
Danila: She has a sweet nature.
Sister: Your name is…
Danila: Bianca.
Sister: Thank you, Danila. Your name is Bianca.
Miss Books: Everybody wants to marry her.
Sister: Not you.
Chemist: But their father Baptista forbids Bianca to marry.
Lovely: Why?
Chemist: Until Katherina is wed.
Merry-maker: Let’s find a husband for her, guys.
Miss Books: And who are you?
Together: Yes, who are you?
Merry-maker: Lucentio
Sister: Don’t pay attention. He falls in love with Bianca.
Ищут жениха для Катарины.
Brother (находит решение): In the meantime, Petruchio, accompanied by his servant Grumio, arrives in Padua from Verona. Merry-maker: Hey, guys. Would you like to tame the shrew?
Heckler: With pleasure.
Sister: Who wants to be Petruchio?
Heckler и Bully: Petruchio, is it a name?
Достает с удивлением из книги красное покрывало. Это плащ Петруччо.
Sister: It’s for Petruchio.
Chemist: I want to be Petrucio.
Sister: No, you are Baptista.
Merry-maker: Friends, help us. And present me to her father as a music tutor.
Heckler: No problem. Baptista, he is a music tutor.
Baptista: All right.
Bully: And how should I help you?
Вместе: Marry her!
Bully: Marry her?
Heckler: Break!
Bully: Would you marry me?
Little Spitfire: No.
Bully: What a surprise!
Sister: Pretend that any harsh things she says or does are actually kind and gentle. See? (Притворись, что все грубые вещи, которые она говорит на самом деле добрые и мягкие)
Little Spitfire: A fool.
Bully: Oh, thank you.
Little Spitfire: A wet blanket.
Bully: You are so kind.
Вместе: Marry him.
Little Spitfire: All right!
Chemist: I declare you a husband and a wife.
Miss Books: After the wedding, Petruchio takes Katherina to his home against her will.
Brother: In Verona, Petruchio begins the "taming" of his new wife. Go ahead.
Bully: Oh, some say my Ket is limping. Oh, evil people! (Некоторые говорят, что мой котик хромает. О злые люди!)
Sister: Oh, I have an idea. Petrucio, you’ll like it. She is refused food and clothing
Brother: because nothing – according to Petruchio – is good enough for her. (потому что ничего – по мнению Петруччо – не достаточно хорошо для нее)
Merry-maker: Lucencio, I have an idea. He claims perfectly cooked meat is overcooked, (он заявляет, что идеально приготовленное мясо недожарено)
Chemist: Lucencio?
Merry-man: What?
Chemist: You are in my black list.
Merry-man: I see, Baptista.
Lovely: I have an idea. A beautiful dress doesn't fit right, (прекрасное платье не подходит по размеру)
Miss Books: and a stylish hat is not fashionable. (а модная шляпка не модная)
Heckler: He also disagrees with everything she says (он также не соглашается со всем, что она говорит), Bully: forcing her to agree with everything he says (заставляя ее соглашаться, со всем, что он говорит), Heckler и Bully вместе: no matter how absurd (неважно на сколько это абсурдно);
Danila: Boys, you are boys.
Bully: My dear lady, this is the moon shine at us.
Little Spitfire: What? This is…
Sister: She agrees with Petruchio that the sun is the moon.
Little Spitfire: As you wish. This sun is not a sun actually.
Bully: And what is this?
Little Spitfire: It goes without saying, this is the moon.
Bully: You yourself are the moon. The sun is shining. Brightly.
Little Spitfire: Oh, if you please to call it a candle, it shall be so for me" (ой, если тебе захочется назвать его свечкой, это будет так и для меня)
Bully: Oh, look at the old lady. Let’s help her. (пойдем в зал)
Little Spitfire: Of coarse, let’s help. How do you do, my lady?
Bully: Are you mad? This is a man.
Little Spitfire: Oh, I am sorry. Of coarse, a man. No doubts.
Merry-maker: Lucentio marries Bianca.
Brother: All right. Are you successful in tamining the shrew?
Bully: Let’s see. My dear wife, come to me.
Little Spitfire: I don’t come to…Oh, I have other business to do. Without running to and fro.
Sister: Ah, what did you say?
Bully: Oh, evil people say that my Ket is limping…
Little Spitfire: All right.
Miss Books: how successfully Petruchio has tamed the shrew.
HAMLET
Little Spitfire: Now, I will tell a play. About…
Danila: Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.
Brother: Hamlet, the Prince of DenMerry-man.
Little Spitfire: Yes, Hamlet. Prince of Denmark.
Miss Books: Oh, I know the story. On a dark winter night
Merry-man: Aaaaaaaaaaa
Chemist: Lucencio. Enough.
Lovely: A ghost!
Merry-man: Me?
Bully: appeared in Elsinore Castle in Denmark.
Miss Books: The ghost resembles the recently deceased King,
Little Spitfire: Whose brother Claudius
Heckler: Brother!
Little Spitfire: Has inherited the throne
Heckler: Indeed?
Little Spitfire: Indeed.
Heckler: Get away.
Little Spitfire: And married the king’s widow, Queen Gertrude.
Miss Books: Then the ghost declares to Prince Hamlet.
Lovely: Prince Hamlet? Where is Prince Hamlet? Are you Prince Hamlet?
Merry-man: Bianca, I am Lucencio.
Lovely: Are you Prince Hamlet?
Security: No, no, I am the evil wind.
Lovely: I love him.
Merry-man: I was murdered by none other than Claudius.
Da-da-da-dam
Brother: I suspected that.
Heckler: It was not me!
Sister: Are you sure?
Heckler: Of course.
Merry-man: Revenge, my son.
Brother: Sure, Daddy.
Miss Books: Prince Hamlet makes up his mind to revenge.
Brother: An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
Little Spitfire: But he becomes a bit mad.
Brother: What did you say, my sweetest?
Little Spitfire: It is not me! It is Shakespeare! He even orders Ophelia. Ophelia, come here.
Lovely: His bride.
Little Spitfire: Yes, his bride. He says her to enter a nunnery and declares that he wants to ban marriages.
Hamlet: Enter a nunnery.
Little Spitfire: And ban marriages.
Brother: And ban marriages.
Chemist: Who cares for him? Oh, come on, my dear daughter, let’s find a better guy. This one!
Lovely: This is my brother!
Chemist: Hallo, son.
Bully: Hallo, Daddy.
Miss Books: And he kills her brother.
Bully: What did he do?
Hamlet: Take it easy, man.
Bully: Bye, Daddy.
Chemist: Bye, Son.
Chemist: I said he is not for you.
Hamlet: Dead!
Hamlet: I can't get to sleep
I think about the implications
Lovely: Of diving in too deep
Chemist: And possibly the complications
Hamlet: Especially at night
I worry over situations
Sister: You know you'll be alright
Heckler: Perhaps it's just imagination
Hamlet: Day after day it reappears
Heckler: Night after night my heartbeat shows the fear
Merry-man and Security: Ghosts appear and fade away
Everybody: Come back another day.
Little Spitfire: Ophelia goes mad with grief and drowns in the river.
Miss Books: Then Claudius kills Hamlet.
Little Spitfire: But before that Hamlet kills Claudius.
Miss Books: But before that Queen Gertrude is poisoned by Claudius.
Little Spitfire: The wind quiets down. What are we going to do?
Miss Books: Oh, may I ask you...
Chemist: No problem.
NIGHT
Merry-man: I am tired усталый of the tragedies. Let’s read a comedy.
Chemist: Lucencio,
Merry-man: What?
Chemist: sounds great. (Люсенсио отбирает книгу у Устины, начинает ее листать, искать комедию) Any of them. Oh, the 12th night.
Merry-man: Ok. We need the main characters. Baptista. Нам нужны главные персонажи.
Chemist: What?
Merry-man: You choose.
Chemist: Oh, thank you, Lucencio. You and you.
Merry-man: Not this one. Get away, Claudius.
Chemist: All right. You.
Все с удивлением осматривают брата и сестру. Они очень похожи.
Merry-man: Can you see that? Вы это видите?
Everybody: Like two peas.
Merry-man: Are you relatives? Вы что, родственники?
Brother and Sister: Yes.
Chemist: Two sisters.
Security and Sister: A brother and a sister.
Merry-man: Your name is Patricio?
Chemist: And who is the brother?
Security: I am the brother.
Merry-man: Take it easy, man. Не воспринимай серьезно.
Bully: We need the intrigue!
Chemist: The tempest? Everybody: The tempest!
Brother: Are you sure it is a comedy? А вы уверены, что это комедия?
Chemist: Don’t worry. Well, the sea takes Sebastian away.
Sister: Goodbye.
Brother: I am Sebastian.
Sister: Goodbye, Sebastian.
Security: Viola is heartbroken.
Bully: Baby girl.
Little Spitfire: You are in Illiria, my lady.
Brother: Probably in Verona?
Little Spitfire: No, in Illiria.
Sister: Thank you.
Little Spitfire: Welcome.
Sister: What should I do in Illiria? My brother is in Elisium. Who governs here? Кто здесь правит?
Heckler: Who governs here? Who governs here? The handsome man.
Merry-man: I am the handsome man.
Sister: So, it is you, isn’t it?
Люченцио пишет в книге, что в 12 ночи, он самый привлекательный, а не Слава.
Lovely: A noble duke, my lady.
Sister: Thank you.
Lovely: You are welcome.
Sister: What is his name?
Heckler: Orsino.
Sister: Orsino. I have never heard this name!
Lovely: He is a bachelor, my lady.
Sister: Thank you.
Lovely: You are welcome.
Miss Books: But he loves me.
Sister: What’s she?
Merry-man: Olivia.
Little Spitfire: The daughter of a count, my lady.
Sister: Thank you.
Little Spitfire: Welcome.
Sister: Oh, I will serve this lady.
Miss Books: No, I don’t need you.
Sister: Probably I will serve this Duke.
Heckler: I don’t need girls.
Merry-man: Quite! An interesting idea. How? Тихо! Интересная идея! Как?
Sister: That’s a question.
Chemist: Don’t worry. Guys…
Everybody: What?
Chemist: Turn around.
Everybody: No.
Chemist: Guys…
Everybody: What?
Chemist: The Moon!
Everybody: Wow.
Переодевают Виолу.
Chemist: Take the skirt off.
Sister: Baptista…you become bit mad.
Merry-man: No, he is right.
Brother: Hey, what about me? (забирает себе вторую юбку)
Chemist: Guys!
Everybody: What?
Chemist: The sun is shining. Солнце светит.
Everybody: AAAAAAAA
Chemist: Guys…
Everybody: What?
Chemist&Merry-man: A boy!
Все смотрят с подозрением, Орсино ходит и рассматривает. Chemist, Merry-maker и Виола боятся, что их обман раскроют.
Heckler: A pretty boy. (выдыхают) Looks like a girl. (снова напрягаются) What is your name?
Sister: My name is Viola.
Chemist: His name is Cezario.
Heckler: A good guy. Come with me.
Merry-man: Then Orsino sends Cezario to tell Olivia about his passionate love. Затем Орсино посылает Цезарио рассказать Оливии о его страстной любви.
Heckler: Go to that woman, my dearest, and tell her about my passionate love.
Sister: He loves you.
Miss Books: I know.
Chemist: And Viola loves Duke Orsino.
Sister: This one?
Merry-man: Olivia, however, falls in love with 'Cesario'. Оливия, однако, влюбляется в Цезарио.
Security, Little Spitfire: Olivia's uncle, Sir Toby Belch and Mary, Olivia’s servant, are mocking at her. Насмехаются над ней.
Security, Little Spitfire: Oh inner city streets
Where you sleep
Heckler: I watched her take this romance
Home to me
Oh
Sister: I believe in something more
Merry-man ana Chemist: I watched her heart
Through bathroom doors
Sister: It's true
Everybody: Eyes that are older than you
Miss Books: Oh echoes in the heart
When we meet
Sister: I chose to take this moment
To tell you I'm leaving
Oh
Miss Books: I believe in something more
Everybody: I watched her heart
Through bathroom doors
It's true
Eyes that are older than you
Chemist: Guys…
Everybody: What?
Chemist: Turn around.
Everybody: No.
Chemist: Guys…
Everybody: What?
Chemist: The Sun!
Everybody: Wow.
Merry-man: Meanwhile, Sebastian. He is…В это время, Себастьян, он…Lovely просыпается и говорит: He is in depression!
Merry-man: He is alife
Chemist: Hey, you. The sun!
Lovely: Wow!
Merry-man: Arrives to Illyria. Приьывает в Иллирию.
Brother: Probably to Verona?
Merry-man: No, to Illyria.
Merry-man and Chemist: Gotta make a move to a
Town that's right for me
Brother: Town to keep me movin'
Keep me groovin' with some energy
Lovely: Well, I talk about it
Talk about it
Talk about it
Talk about it
Little Spitfire: Talk about, Talk about
Talk about movin
Heckler: Gotta move on
Gotta move on
Brother: Gotta move on
Miss Books: Won't you take me to
Funkytown
Won't you take me to
Funkytown
Everybody: Won't you take me to
Funkytown
Won't you take me to
Funkytown
Miss Books: Marry me?
Brother: Of course.
Miss Books: and they are secretly married in a church.
Brother: Probably in Verona?
Merry-man: No, in a church.
Miss Books: All right, in Verona.
Chemist: I declare you a husband and a wife!
Brother: I’m the husband.
Chemist: Take it easy, man. I declare you a husband and a wife!
Heckler: My dear lady…Oh, I see. I am not a fool. You and you.
Miss Books: Yes, me and him.
Heckler: I will kill you.
Miss Books: No, that’s my husband. Cezario.
Brother: My name is Sebastian.
Heckler: Your husband?!
Sister: No, my lord. She became a bit mad.
Heckler: You’re gonna go far, kid.
Little Spitfire: Oh, my God. I become a bit mad. There are two of them.
Sister: Aaa, that is just my brother.
Brother: Go to Mum, and tell about something I did.
Chemist and Merry-man: Hhhhhhh
Sister: My dear brother! Sebastian!
Brother: My sweetest sister! Viola!
Heckler: Marry me.
Sister: With pleasure.
Chemist: Viola reveals her disguise and marries Duke Orsino. I declare you a husband and a wife! I declare you a husband and a wife! I declare you a husband and a wife!
Merry-man: This is the happy end.
MACBETH
Heckler: Is there any interesting story here? Now I am the author.
Heckler и Bully: And we also have a story.
Bully: Macbeth.
Heckler: Our play opens with thunder and lightning.
Bully: Oh, the Three Witches one, two, three says to Macbeth that he will be a king.
Merry-maker: I am the king.
Heckler: No, I am the king.
Little Spitfire: But he becomes a bit mad.
Miss Books: And began to kill everybody.
Heckler: King Dunkan, his guards, his friend Banquo, everybody!
Sister: And what about his wife. Lady Macbeth.
Heckler: By yourself, dear. No one born of a woman shall be able to harm me. Hey, who are you?
Brother: Macduff. I am not born by a woman.
Heckler: What?
Chemist: Caesarean section.
Brother: Goodbye, Macbeth.
Miss Books: Take the book from them. Shame on you.
Everybody’s changing.
ROMEO&JULIET
Security: You are so callous.
Lovely: And hard-hearted.
Security: Let’s read something about love.
Everybody: Uhhhh
Lovely: Oh, this one is about love.
Security: Romeo&Juliet. Начинает играть любовная музыка.
Brother: Have a heart!
Merry-man: You must be joking.
Danila: Ok, перещелкивает музыку на более веселую.
Together: Oh! Better!
Security: The play, set in Verona, Italy, begins with
Heckler: a street brawl between Montague and Capulet. Who is with me?
Bully: Me.
Brother: Who is with me?
На сторону брата идут мисс букс, злючка и мери-мен и химик.
Heckler: Hey, who else is with me?
Переходит на сторону хулигана сестра и химик.
Lovely: They are sworn enemies.
Merry-man: This is Sparta.
Brother: No, this is Verona.
Merry-man: Ok. This is Verona.
Security: Stop that. And both families have children. Juliet. Ok, you will be Juliet.
Lovely: And Romeo. You will be Romeo.
Heckler: Ha-ha-ha, he is Romeo…
Bully: Romeo? Me? Are you serious?
Lovely: Without any doubts.
Bully: So I am Montague.
Together: Romeo Montague.
Bully: Romeo Montague. Let’s return to the brawl.
Merry-man: This is Verona.
Security: But Montague's son Romeo is not involved into quarrels.
Lovely: He is in depression. Because a girl named Rosaline does not love him.
Sister: Sorry, man, I don’t love you.
Security: But suddenly he meets Juliet. And they fall in love with each other.
Little Spitfire: Fall in love with him?
Bully: To fall in love with this witch?
Security: Oh, yes, and agree to be married.
Heckler: Agree to be married. I am sorry, man. Ha-ha-ha.
Bully: Crazy but I believe this time
Little Spitfire: Begging for sweet relief
Bully: A blessing in disguise
Security: Dying behind these tired eyes
Lovely: You've been losing sleep
Security: Please come to him tonight
Security: Hands on a miracle
Bully: I've got my Security: hands on a miracle
Little Spitfire: Believe it or not, Bully: hands on a miracle
And there ain't no way
That you'd take it away
Chemist: I declare you a husband and a wife.
Lovely: Oh, thank you, Friar Laurence.
Together: Friar Laurence. (в тоне Баптиста)
Chemist: I hope to reconcile the two families through their children's union.
Merry-man: Too much pink here. Make the story better.
Security: Ok. Перещелкивает музыку. Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, challenges Romeo to a duel.
Bully: No, I refuse to fight.
Lovely: Probably Mercucio, his friend, is offended by Tybalt.
Heckler: No.
Security: Go, do something.
Merry-man: Mercucio is a wet-blanket.
Heckler: Tybalt, I am offended.
Bully: Oh, come on. He is my kinsman now.
Heckler: Quite.
Security: Mercutio is fatally wounded.
Heckler: What? A plague on both your houses.
Lovely: Then Romeo confronts and slays Tybalt.
Merry-man: What?
Lovely: Then Romeo confronts and slays Tybalt.
Merry-man: I will remember that.
Brother: Get away from Verona, and never return.
Juliet is heartbroken.
Security: Juliet, here you are.
Sofa: What’s this?
Chemist: It will put you in a deathlike coma for forty hours. I will send a message to Romeo, and you will be together.
Bully: Guys, what happened here? Juliette? Ha-ha-ha
Security: Romeo is heartbroken.
Bully: Oh, yes.
Chemist: Drink some poison. (тут все говорят ему выпить яд)
Sister: that is awful.
Sofa: Guys, what happened?
Chemist: Juliet, drink some poison…
Security: No, no, Juliet stabs herself with his dagger.
Security: You were alone before we met
Lovely: No more forlorn than one could get
Bully & Little Spitfire: How could we know we had found treasure
Security & Lovely: How sinister and how correct
Heckler and Merry-man: And it was
A leap of faith I could not take
A promise that I could not make
Security: A leap of faith you could not take
Lovely: A promise that you could not make
Everybody: Mi cenicero, mi cenicero
My ashtray heart
Mi corazón és cenicero
Little Spitfire: I tore the muscle from my chest
And used it to stub out cigarettes
I listened to your screams, it’s pleasure
Security & Lovely: And I watched the bed sheets turn blood red
Sister: "For never was a story of more woe Miss Books: Than this of Juliet and her Romeo."
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
Heckler: Tell me why this story is better than Macbeth.
Miss Books: Well, it is about love.
Bully: I know the play about love.
Merry-man: Without Lucencio’s body on the stage?
Bully: Sure.
Sister: Are you sure?
Miss Books: Give them a chance.
Heckler: Oberon,
Brother: I am Sebastian.
Heckler: king of the fairies, and Titania, his queen, have come to the forest outside Athens.
Bully: And they have a quarrel.
Miss Books: That’s easy.
Brother: Because Titania is not an obedient wife.
Miss Books: And Oberon is not honest with Titania.
Brother: Puck!
Security: Here, my Lord.
Brother: How to punish this woman?
Heckler: The fairy queen.
Brother: The fairy queen.
Sister: I am the queen.
Lovely: No, you are Rosaline.
Chemist: Oberon, here you are.
Brother: What’s this?
Chemist: Magical juice.
Security: Drink some magical juice.
Chemist: No. Apply magical juice to the eyelids of a sleeping person. And this person, upon waking, falls in love with the first living thing he meets.
Brother: Thank you.
Ждут.
Sister: And when is she going to fall asleep?
Little Spitfire: Titania, would you like to fall asleep?
Miss Books: I can’t get to sleep.
Little Spitfire: Ay, you think about the implications?
Miss Books: Of diving in too deep…
Heckler: Sleep now!
Brother: The first one?
Security: This one? Brother: No. Chemist Д: This one? Brother: Oh, yes, this one. Take him.
Heckler: Titania, awake!
Miss Books: Oh, I love you baby, and if it’s quite all right,
I need you, baby,
To warm the lonely nights, I love you, baby, trust in me when I say.
Все вместе: Oh, pretty baby, don’t let me down, I pray,
Oh pretty baby, now that I’ve found you stay
And let me love you, baby, let me love you.
Sister: Most wonderful!
Merry-maker: That’s a good teasing!
Bully: Excellent!
Chemist: Sleep now!
Все засыпают, всем мажут веки.
Danila: Everybody, awake!
Все бегут в зал. Привод себе тех, в кого они влюблены.
Chemist: Take some drugs. It will cure you.
Miss Books: This is my viewer. I love him a lot.
Chemist: Viewers should sit in auditorium.
Brother: A good story.
Heckler: And a good book.
Merry-maker: William Shakespeare.
Chemist: Plays.
Miss Books: Don’t you know? We played Shakespeare.
Bully: I have guessed.
Sister: And do you know who is Shakespeare?
Little Spitfire: Who was
Sister: Who is
Security: An English poet,
Lovely: playwright
Chemist: and an actor,
Miss Books: widely regarded as both the greatest writer in the English language, and the world's pre-eminent dramatist.
Sister: His plays have been translated into every major living language
Merry-maker: and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.
Miss Books: How do you know?
Merry-maker: I have read it on the cover of the book.