Shakespeare wrote at least 36 plays over a period of about twenty years, beginning about 1591 with the histories of Henry VI and Richard III. Cymbeline, a historical fantasy about early Britons facing Roman legions, was among his last works. There's a mention of it in an account dated 1610, five years before Shakespeare's death, but it was not published until the 1623 Folio edition of collected plays.
You won't get the chance to see it very often. Or in most university courses to read it, either, unless your professor is a fanatic for completion. So the fans of Shakespeare at Winedale have another reason to appreciate the choices and the productions of that rigorous program.
Shakespeare presents a happy mishmash of history and fantasy, combining a chastity intrigue involving the daughter of the mythic king of the southern tribes of Britain with a time-shifted account of the Roman battle to conquer the isle. He probably wrote this entertainment not too long after producing his series of Roman plays, and it could be viewed as a nationalist continuation of events from Antony and Cleopatra.
Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .
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