In 1816, two celebrated poets and their lovers met on a beach in Switzerland and over the course of the next six years, each of
these people were forced to overcome physical and mental challenges. By the end of it all, one of them would continue their
fame, one would be a well-known author, one would be lost and another would be dead. Bloody Poetry presents the true life story
of the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, and the journey with his mistress, later wife, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, author of
Frankenstein, and Mary’s step-sister, Claire Clairemont to the shores of Lake Geneva to meet another of England’s greatest
Romantic poets, George, The Lord Byron. But their adventure only begins here. This quartet continually challenges each other’s
ideas of language, love and religion. And, during all of this, a number of serious questions are raised, not the least of which is why
fervent radicals seem so often to be done in by their reprehensible characters.
these people were forced to overcome physical and mental challenges. By the end of it all, one of them would continue their
fame, one would be a well-known author, one would be lost and another would be dead. Bloody Poetry presents the true life story
of the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, and the journey with his mistress, later wife, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, author of
Frankenstein, and Mary’s step-sister, Claire Clairemont to the shores of Lake Geneva to meet another of England’s greatest
Romantic poets, George, The Lord Byron. But their adventure only begins here. This quartet continually challenges each other’s
ideas of language, love and religion. And, during all of this, a number of serious questions are raised, not the least of which is why
fervent radicals seem so often to be done in by their reprehensible characters.
| Bloody Poetry by Howard Brenton was presented by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc. in New York. Sections of the synopsis provided by Samuel French. |
