Reviews

The Island Princess by John Fletcher

gillothen's review against another edition

4.0

Set in the East Indies, unusual for its period, though only a very vague sense of different cultures - and some of that a touch offensive to modern eyes perhaps. A princess is inundated by suitors, but her brother, the King, has been kidnapped by a local dignitary and is suffering in prison. She announces that she will only marry a man who can rescue her brother - and not simply release him, as the villainous Governor who captured him offers to do. Several suitors have ideas, but only one goes ahead, rents a merchant's house next to the prison, then blows it up in order to break the walls and spring the king.

And we are less than half way! It gets a bit bogged down in the Governor's nefarious plots, mostly in disguise, and some issues about changing religion, but in the end the baddy is unveiled and everyone who deserves to be happy is so.

Read as part of the REP King's Men online reading group in the bleak January of 2021.

evie5120's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

hannahlouise_'s review against another edition

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

read for class focusing on critical race studies - a readable play considering it's late Jacobean, very problematic but useful when reading to deconstruct through a postcolonial lens

valuxiea's review against another edition

3.0

I really liked the first half of this book and kind of hated the second. The main conflict is resolved early, and introduces a much more interesting conflict. However, while one single act explores this interesting conflict, it quickly become more about how amazing the West is and there's a new villainous angle which wears thin quickly. Still, all throughout I kept thinking "I would love to see how this would be performed" and I think the first half would stay well. But the theming and messaging are very dated and white savior esque, and even for plays of the era that would no transfer well to the stage today.

ketelenlefkovich's review against another edition

3.0

Read this for my master's.

I enjoyed this one, I found the dialogues more thought through and compelling than some other plays.

claudiasousa06's review against another edition

3.0

I’ve read this play for college, but I will still rate it, so I give it 3.5 stars.

I quite liked this play and I think it’s interesting and very representative of the period that it is set in.

Expansionism and colonialism and those sort of themes. It also is very telling of the stereotypes and religious conflicts that provided tension in the contact between different cultures.

One thing I appreciated was that it had a lot of action and it was fairly dynamic.

spencerbmiller's review against another edition

3.0

Not a genre I'm particularly familiar with. I read this play for school. I liked it compared to some other plays I've read in school.

elizaamber's review

4.0

HORRIFIC exploration of islam. transcends the concept of a tragicomedy to become more of an action play (???). quisara should have the last word. in general fun but what my lecturer describes as ‘twisty’ (which i think is v accurate)