Stuff That Happens

STUFF THAT HAPPENS BEFORE THE PLAY

• Through his business dealings, Thomas Arden has come into possession of a large amount of land (and, in the process, angered many of the land’s former tenants).

STUFF THAT HAPPENS DURING THE PLAY

• Arden suspects that his wife, Alice, is cheating on him with the steward Mosby. She is able to convince Arden that she isn’t.
• Arden’s friend Franklin urges Arden to join him in London.
• Alice is in fact cheating on Arden with Mosby, and, moreover, the pair are conspiring to murder him.
• Alice and Mosby enlist the efforts of the servant Michael and a painter named Clarke to help with the murder. They promise the hand of Mosby’s sister, Susan, to both men in exchange for their services.
• After a failed attempt to poison Arden (the first of many such attempts), Arden departs for London with Franklin.
• Greene, a former tenant who is furious with Arden, meets with Alice and is convinced to murder Arden.
• Greene hires two assassins, Black Will and Shakebag, who promptly set off to London to perform the deed.
• Mosby worries that too many people are in on the plan and is afraid of being discovered.
• After several failed attempts at his life, Arden returns to Faversham. Alice and Mosby make a new plan.
• Calls for justice, love triangles, and more murder attempts ensue.