Palamon and Arcite (Edwardes)

Palamon and Arcite
Written by	Richard Edwardes
Date premiered	1566
Place premiered	Christ Church, Oxford
Original language	English
Subject	Two warriors fall out over a beautiful princess
Genre	Romance
Setting	Ancient Greece

Palamon and Arcite (1566) is a play by Richard Edwardes, which was performed before Elizabeth I at Oxford. It is based on Chaucer's The Knight's Tale. Though the text of the play is lost, there is a detailed record of its structure and plot.

The performance was a highly spectacular affair organised by staff and students of Oxford University. The event was vividly recalled and described by many contemporary witnesses.

The play was created for a visit of the queen to Christ Church, Oxford, part of Oxford University. Edwardes was the courtier whose job it was to organise the Royal entertainments. He is usually credited as its author, but one writer at the time said that it was translated "from the Latin into the English tongue by Master Edwards and some other alumni of the college." However, no Latin original is known, and the source (Chaucer) is English. No other source says this; the writer may be conflating the play with others performed at the same event, a comedy and a tragedy, both in Latin, written by Oxford scholars. The performance was spread over two days, 2 and 4 September 1566.

According to Edwardes's biographer Albert Cook, the play was carefully crafted to appeal to Elizabeth, by emphasising the virginal purity of the heroine Emilia. But it was created at a time when Elizabeth was still young, and it was expected that she would marry at some point, as Emilia does at the end. The final scene was applauded and the queen gave a reward in gold coins (angels) to the actors in the principal female roles, Emilia and Hippolyta. The latter was performed by John Rainolds, who later became a leading Puritan, and recalled his youthful cross-dressing role with embarrassment.

The actors were students and scholars of the university. Their performance was interrupted several times. Near the end, a spectator tried to intervene to stop the actors who he thought were recklessly destroying valuable items in a fire, which was part of the performance. At another point one of the actors, John Dalaper, completely forgot his lines, and apologised clumsily to the queen, who called him a "knave". More seriously, an accident occurred resulting in three deaths. Due to the pressure from the crowd watching from surrounding buildings, a wall and a flight of stairs collapsed. In addition to the three deaths, five people were seriously injured as a result. Despite the tragic accident, the show continued.

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