Synopsis:

• An Englishman, Rudolf Rassendyll, on holiday in the mountain kingdom of Ruritania, is enlisted to impersonate the true, but drunkenly incapacitated, heir to the throne, Prince Rudolf, the Red Elphberg, at his coronation.
  

• Meanwhile, Elphberg's cousin, the Duke Black Michael, has his own designs on the throne and the prize that comes with it, the lovely Princess Flavia.
  

  Background of the Play:
  

  • The Prisoner of Zenda: A Play in a Prologue and Four Acts is based on Anthony Hope's 1894 best-selling novel The Prisoner of Zenda: Being the History of Three Months in the Life of an English Gentleman.
    

  • The novel is considered to be the first true English-language bestselling novel. It came out at a time when public education had first taken root in western civilization, a greater portion of the population was reading for pleasure, and England's golden age of conquest had not quite ended. It sold almost a million copies in the United States, alone, in the first year of its publication, and its author was treated much in the manner of a modern-day rock star during his speaking tour of the U.S. the following year.
    

  • The Prisoner of Zenda, Edward E. Rose's adaptation of this wonderful novel of adventure and romance, opened in London and New York in 1895 to great critical and box-office acclaim.
    

  • Rose's daughter, Ruth Rose, wrote the classic monster film KING KONG in 1933, which was directed by her husband, Ernest B. Schoedsack
    

  • The Prisoner of Zenda has been made into at least eight motion pictures, the first two of which were silent, and the finest of which is, unquestionably, the 1937 black and white version starring Ronald Colman. (The movie DAVE, starring Kevin Kline, probably owes a great debt to Zenda, as well.)
    

  • The Prisoner of Zenda has also been made into at least two musicals.
    

  • Honor plays as important a role in this tale as in perhaps any story ever written. You will undoubtedly notice that, while many of the conceits and characterizations in this play are still being exploited by romance and adventure writers and directors today, very few contemporary fictional heroes display the determined sense of honor and duty of Rudolf Rassendyll and his fair Princess Flavia.
    
    Please read the review section of our website.

    Crowded Kitchen Players
    

    Reservations and Information: (610) 395-7176 or E-mail