Two-Part Plays

jacobsnchz14 Profile Photo
jacobsnchz14
#1Two-Part Plays
Posted: 4/21/19 at 1:54pm

Thinking about Angels/America, Cursed Child, Inheritance, etc. and was wondering if there were any other plays to consider that were multi-part. Not in the Dolls House and Part 2 vein, but you know.

JBroadway Profile Photo
JBroadway
#2Two-Part Plays
Posted: 4/21/19 at 4:25pm

Wolf Hall
The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby
Coast of Utopia (three parts)

Going back to Shakespeare:

Henry IV
Henry VI (three parts)

And going back EVEN further:

The Oresteia

mikey2573
#3Two-Part Plays
Posted: 4/21/19 at 4:53pm

I think Horton Foote's "Orphans Home Cycle" was in three parts. 

HeyMrMusic Profile Photo
HeyMrMusic
#4Two-Part Plays
Posted: 4/21/19 at 5:32pm

Does The Norman Conquests count?

darquegk Profile Photo
darquegk
#5Two-Part Plays
Posted: 4/21/19 at 7:56pm

The official nonmusical Lord of the Rings is a three-play cycle. It rarely gets done because of licensing issues.

Alex Kulak2
#6Two-Part Plays
Posted: 4/21/19 at 11:37pm

The Kentucky Cycle is nine one-acts that are performed over the course of two days.

Mourning Becomes Electra is a three-play cycle.

Strange Interlude is often performed in two parts.

Taylor Mac said Hir and Gary are two parts of a four part cycle that will one day be performed in an all day marathon, like the Festival of Dionysus

GavestonPS Profile Photo
GavestonPS
#7Two-Part Plays
Posted: 4/21/19 at 11:51pm

JBroadway said: "...The Oresteia"

J, do we know whether THE ORESTEIA was originally performed as all-three-plays in one festival? (As opposed to Sophocles' Theban cycle--OEDIPUS, ANTIGONE, OEDIPUS AT COLONUS--where we know each play was written and performed separately (and out of order, ANTIGONE appearing first) over a period of decades.)

I honestly can't recall. My guess is not, since most of the Dionysian festivals seemed to have grouped three tragedies and one satyr play that shared a common theme or character rather than a continuous plot.

JBroadway Profile Photo
JBroadway
#8Two-Part Plays
Posted: 4/22/19 at 12:02am

@Geveston: According to my Greek-obsessed Theatre Lit professor, they were in fact performed all in one day. 

GavestonPS Profile Photo
GavestonPS
#9Two-Part Plays
Posted: 4/22/19 at 12:25am

JBroadway said: "@Geveston: According to my Greek-obsessed Theatre Lit professor, they were in fact performed all in one day."

Thanks, J. I trust your professor's word. Moreover, here is Wiki on the subject:

"The only extant example of an ancient Greek theatre trilogy, the Oresteia won first prize at the Dionysia festival in 458 BC. The principal themes of the trilogy include the contrast between revenge and justice, as well as the transition from personal vendetta to organized litigationOresteia originally included a satyr playProteus, following the tragic trilogy, but all except a single line of Proteus has been lost."

I'm embarrassed I didn't remember this. I taught the ORESTEIA for years. Aside from OEDIPUS and ANTIGONE, they are my favorite Greek plays.

Updated On: 4/22/19 at 12:25 AM

imeldasturn Profile Photo
imeldasturn
#10Two-Part Plays
Posted: 4/22/19 at 1:27am

Mike Poulton's adaptation of Robert Harris's Cicero trilogy for the RSC is in two parts.

Marlowe's Tamburlaine the Great