“The play is the thing that will catch the conscience of the king!” As a fan of Star Trek, I grew up with that dramatic line from Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” without its greater context.
Stage dramas add richness to our lives in ways that no movie or television show can, especially in today’s world where viewing at home or using a smartphone, tablet computer, or related internet-connected device to stream our entertainment becomes increasingly normal. To see a play is to go in person and experience the story and any music dedicated to it in a live setting, surrounded by other people. Seeing plays is like no other experience, something no artificial intelligence can manufacture or simulate.
The following books are stage dramas written by Laurel A. Rockefeller. If you or your group is interested in performing a production of any of these please email peersofbeinan at gmail dot com to discuss this with Ms. Rockefeller. Select scenes from these plays are posted to this blog and are free to educators to use in classroom settings.
The Arban and the Saman: A Play in Four Acts
Music. Martial Arts. Mysticism.
Journey back to the beginning of the Mongol Conquests in this beautiful stage drama seeped in the languages, cultures, and spirituality of the Mongols, Jurchens, and Chinese. Perform medieval Chinese music on the liu qin. Dazzle audiences with martial arts. Meet dragons. There’s something for everyone in this historical romance based on the same titled novel by historian Laurel A. Rockefeller.
Perfect for community theatre and Chinese holiday celebrations.
Available at Amazon, Apple, Smashwords, Barnes/Noble, and at a retailer near you.
Boudicca: A Play in Three Acts
As the western world fell to Rome’s mighty legions, one woman dared fight for English liberty. Adapted from the narrative biography “Boudicca: Britain’s Queen of the Iceni,” Boudicca tells the story of Celtic Britain’s greatest and most legendary ruler in a format accessible to readers of all ages and productions of all budgets.
Available at Amazon, Apple, Smashwords, Barnes/Noble, and at a retailer near you.
Catherine de Valois: A Play in Three Acts
War made her queen of England. Her love for a Welshman made her immortal.
Adapted from the narrative biography of the same name, Catherine de Valois tells the story of one of the 15th century’s most fascinating queens, taking audiences beyond Henry V and Agincourt to discover the real woman you thought you knew from Shakespeare’s “Henry V.”
Available at Amazon, Apple, Smashwords, Barnes/Noble, and at a retailer near you.
Cleopatra VII: A Play in Five Acts
Cleopatra’s life comes alive in this epic period drama.
Nothing in Cleopatra Thea Philopator’s life was quiet or small. A woman struggling to keep her kingdom free of foreign control in a man’s world, Cleopatra needed every bit of her wit, charm, and advanced education just to stay alive. Plots to end her life dominated her youth. The love of her life was murdered on the Ides of March. And then there was Marc Antony, the Roman general who dreamed of greatness and needed Cleopatra’s wealth to accomplish it.
Give your audiences the time of their lives when you stage Cleopatra VII: a Play in Five Acts.
Available at Amazon, Apple, Smashwords, Barnes/Noble, and at a retailer near you.
Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Play in Four Acts
Aliénor was the most sought after bride in all of Christendom – and not simply because she was beautiful. The eldest daughter of Duke William X of Aquitaine, she inherited his vast duchy at the age of just 15 and was crowned queen of the Franks that same year.
But love was not to be for the beautiful duchess, despite two marriages and giving birth to a total of ten children. Troubadours sang her praises and composed the first romantic love songs. Tales of King Arthur and his round table were first told in her honor. She transformed two emerging empires and made Aquitaine the most faithful continental ally to England. She was a legend in her time and ours.
In this four act edition for the stage we meet Eleanor in all her glory as she becomes first duchess of Aquitaine, then queen of the Franks, queen of England, and finally queen mother of England.
Ensemble casting. Perfect for community theatre and educational settings.
Available at Amazon, Apple, Smashwords, Barnes/Noble, and at a retailer near you.
Empress Matilda of England: A Play in Five Acts
The exciting true story of the first heiress to the throne of England!
Born in 1102 to King Henry of England and Queen Matilda of Scotland, Matilda’s uniquely royal Norman, Saxon, and Scottish heritage was meant to unify an England still divided by her grandfather’s conquest in 1066. When the 1120 White Ship Disaster made her the only surviving child of her parents, Matilda suddenly became heiress to the English throne in a time when the old Saxon Witan, not the king’s Will, still decided the succession.
Adapted from the narrative biography of the same name, this five act drama takes audiences across medieval Christendom to explore the fascinating life of the Angevin dynasty’s forgotten princess royal.
Available at Amazon, Apple, Smashwords, Barnes/Noble, and at a retailer near you.
Empress Wu Zetian: A Play in Three Acts
Empress Wu’s fascinating true story comes alive in this stage version based on the narrative biography “Empress Wu Zetian.”
Born Wu Zhao and given the reign title “Zetian” just weeks before her death in 705 CE, Empress Wu was the unwanted daughter of Chancellor Wu Shihuo — too bright, too educated, and too politically focused to make a good wife according to contemporary interpretations of the Analects of Confucius.
Married off at age 14 as a low-ranking concubine to Emperor Taizong, Wu’s intelligence, beauty, and charm won her a place as his secretary and protégé, political experience that would empower her to transform the lives of countless billions.
Discover one of the most influential women in all of world history with this beautiful stage drama certain to delight audiences of all ages.
Available at Amazon, Apple, Smashwords, Barnes/Noble, and at a retailer near you.
Good-bye A672E92 Quintus: A Play in Two Acts
What would you do if you knew your world was about to end? Would you put aside your quarrels? Find love? Perhaps avoid someone who frightens you? Imagination reaches warp speed in this social science fiction drama about a dying planet and two legends who must make some tough choices. Perfect for backyard theater, schools, and community theater. Based on the Peers of Beinan novella. Run time: 30-60 minutes.
Available at Amazon, Apple, Smashwords, Barnes/Noble, and at a retailer near you.
Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd: A Play in Three Acts
The inspiring true story of Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd, princess royal of the northern Welsh kingdom of Gwynedd and princess regnant of the southern Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth comes to life in this beautiful stage drama based on “Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd, the Warrior Princess of Deheubarth.” Includes new historical material not included in the regular biography.
Available at Amazon, Apple, Smashwords, Barnes/Noble, and at a retailer near you.
Hildegard: A Play in Three Acts
With the power of her pen she changed Christendom forever.
In this stage drama we discover the quiet yet inspirational life of medieval Germany’s most influential abbess and most prolific writer, Hildegard von Bingen. Using a combination of music therapy, gemstones, prayer, and cutting edge herbal therapies, Hildegard transformed medieval medicine, theology, and music in ways unmatched by any man. All the while standing up to Roman Catholic authorities to secure places for women of all backgrounds to serve God, not just the daughters of the wealthy elite.
Explore Hildegard’s life in this beautiful drama featuring her letters and music.
Ensemble casting. Ideal for community theatre, educational settings, and individual class lessons.
Available at Amazon, Apple, Smashwords, Barnes/Noble, and at a retailer near you.
Hypatia of Alexandria: A Play in Four Acts
Alexandria Burns!
Born in 355 CE in the aftermath of Constantine’s reign, Hypatia of Alexandria lived in a collapsing Roman Empire, a world where obedience to religious authorities trumped science, where reason and logic threatened the new world order. It was a world on the edge of the Dark Ages, a world deciding the question of science verses religion, freedom verses orthodoxy, tolerance verses hate.
For over 40 years Hypatia stood between the dark ages and the light of classical philosophy, arts, and sciences. Though none of her books survived the aggressive book burnings of religious zealots, her legacy remains that of one of the greatest scientists of all time. This is her fascinating true story.
Features Hanukkah prayers in Hebrew, challenging special effects, and ensemble casting. Perfect for educational settings and community theater.
Available at Amazon, Apple, Smashwords, Barnes/Noble, and at a retailer near you.
Katharina von Bora: A Play in Three Acts
The legendary life of Katharina von Bora Luther comes alive for the stage!
Narrated by Anne Rochefeuille from “His Red Eminence,” Katharina von Bora tells the true story of the woman behind Martin Luther’s Protestant Reformation in Germany.
Born in 1499, Katharina started her education at first the convent at Brehna, then continued it in Kloster Nimbschen where she took vows as a nun at the age of sixteen and expected to live the whole of her life.
God, however, had other plans. On Easter Eve 1523 she escaped with eleven other nuns to Wittenberg, a move meant to be temporary until a more permanent home could be found for her. What happened next changed the world in this family story filled with Luther’s music in the original German.
Ensemble casting. Ideal for community theatre, educational settings, and individual class lessons.
Available at Amazon, Apple, Smashwords, Barnes/Noble, and at a retailer near you.
Margaret of Wessex: A Play in Four Acts
The 11th century was a dangerous time to be of the line unbroken of King Æthelred II Unread and his first queen, Æfgifu of York. Born in Hungary after King Canute III’s failed attempt to murder her father, Edward the Exile, Margaret found her life turned upside down by King Edward the Confessor’s discovery of her father’s survival — and the resulting recall of her and her family to England.
In this stage version of “Margaret of Wessex: Mother, Saint, and Queen of Scots” we meet Margaret up close and personal – with a little help from her granddaughter, Empress Matilda of England. From exiled princess to political hostage to three successive kings of England to her marriage to the Ceann Mhor of Alba, Margaret lived one of the most extraordinary lives in medieval Europe and in the process became one of Scotland’s most beloved Saints and queens.
Production notes includes detailed timeline and bibliography from the original book, plus information about units of time in the middle ages.
Available at Amazon, Apple, Smashwords, Barnes/Noble, and at a retailer near you.
Mary Queen of the Scots: A Play in Three Acts
The tragic story of Queen Mary Stuart comes to the stage in this compelling period drama focusing on her life, loves, and reign. Perfect for community theatre and educational settings. Includes timeline and bibliography. Run time: 60-80 minutes.
Available at Amazon, Apple, Smashwords, Barnes/Noble, and at a retailer near you.
The Poisoned Ground and the Healer Consort: A Play in Three Acts
Lady Abbess Cara finds herself caught up in a royal conspiracy when she journeys to the southern city of Nan-li to investigate a mysterious outbreak of cancers plaguing the city. As the tyrannical King Gareth uses his power to stop her from finding the truth, Cara finds herself caught between love and her loyalties in this thrilling stage adaptation of the Peers of Beinan novella. Perfect for backyard theater, schools, and community theater. Run time: 60-80 minutes.
Available at Amazon, Apple, Smashwords, Barnes/Noble, and at a retailer near you.
Queen Elizabeth Tudor: A Play in Three Acts
Queen Elizabeth is perhaps the most legendary and celebrated ruler in English history. Yet do you really know her as well as you think you do?
In this exciting and romantic stage drama you explore Elizabeth’s path from “Lady Elizabeth” to “Gloriana” through the lens of her relationship with Robert Dudley, a relationship far more contentious than most people believe. Politics and religion collide, provoking Elizabeth to console herself with her music, and a hard decision lays before her as plots against her life threatens her throne.
Production notes include detailed timeline and bibliography from the original biography.
Available at Amazon, Apple, Smashwords, Barnes/Noble, and at a retailer near you.
See also The Legendary Women of World History series.
Laurel A. Rockefeller 