This selection brings together for the first time in one volume five of Christopher Fry's most popular plays.
The Boy with a Cart, a retelling of the story of Cuthman, Saint of Sussex, and A Sleep of Prisoners can be categorized as Religious. They may or may not be more religious than the comedies, but they were written to be performed in, or near, a church. The Lady's Not For Burning is perhaps the best known of Pry's plays, and probably the most frequently performed. A Phoenix Too Frequent is set on a summer's night in Ephesus, when a widow determined to die in her husband's tomb is diverted from her death-wish by a life-breathing young soldier. Curtmantle, Fry's first historical play, set during the reign of Henry II in the twelfth century, explores the character of the King and the theme of the Law as seen in his conflict with Thomas Becket and his relationship with Eleanor of Aquitaine.
The plays appear in the order in which they were first performed, and they display all the variety and richness of verse drama at its best.