Name: Arden of Faversham
Start: 2019-03-08T19:30:00
End: 2019-04-12T19:30:00
Location: Blackfriars Playhouse

By UNKNOWN AUTHOR

March 8, 2019 – April 12, 2019

I had a fearful dream that troubled me, And in my slumber thought I was beset With murderer thieves that came to rifle me.

On February 14, 1551, Thomas Arden was brutally murdered in his own home. Arden of Faversham follows the scheming wife, lover, and hired henchman who carried out the notorious murder that rocked Elizabethan England. One of the earliest domestic tragedies to focus on ordinary, lower-class citizens, this play proves that a grisly, true-crime tale always captivates audiences.

Special Events

Dr. Ralph Lecture | April 12, 5:00 pm

Inside Plays Workshop | March 31, 11:00 am

Post Show Talkbacks | March 14 & 28

ASC welcomes children age 7+

Runs approximately 2 hours and 5 minutes

Get Tickets

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.