The Edward’s Boys, a theatre group from King Edward VI school in Stratford Upon Avon, will be performing an anonymous English play from c. 1529 which has been unperformed since the sixteenth century. Ostensibly in praise of Esther, heroine of Jewish history, the play is actually a political satire about the demise of Cardinal Wolsey. The fall of Wolsey, who had been Henry VIII’s right-hand man, was a key moment in the monarch’s reign. Assuerus, King of Persia, stands for Henry, while Aman, the model of the evil counsellor, for Wolsey. Henry’s wife, Katherine of Aragon, is idealised in the figure of Hester, who fills a traditional role for virtuous royal women by interceding with her husband, but boldly argues that queens should exhibit the same virtues as kings and can perfectly well govern kingdoms when their husbands are away fighting wars.
The evening will start with drinks in the Old Library at 5pm, guests will move to the Great Chamber for a brief introduction by Professor Elizabeth Dutton from the University of Fribourg at 6pm. The play will start at 6:10pm with an interval at 7:05pm and will finish at 7:45pm.
