The Example

The Example is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy written by James Shirley, first published in 1637. The play has repeatedly been acclaimed both as one of Shirley's best comedies and one of the best works of its generation. And it provides one of the clearest demonstrations in Shirley's canon of the influence of the works of Ben Jonson on the younger dramatist's output.

The play was licensed for performance by Sir Henry Herbert, the Master of the Revels, on 24 June 1634. Like the majority of Shirley's plays, The Example was acted by Queen Henrietta's Men at the Cockpit Theatre. The 1637 quarto was printed by John Norton for the booksellers Andrew Crooke and William Cooke, the stationers who issued five plays by Shirley in that year alone. The quarto shows signs of having been printed from the author's working drafts or "foul papers," making it highly unusual among the early printed editions of Shirley's plays.

Synopsis

The drama portrays a profligate lord named Fitzavarice, and his involvement with Sir Walter Peregrine and his wife. Pressed by massive debts, especially to Lord Fitzavarice, Sir Walter takes up soldiering and becomes a captain. While Captain Peregrine is absent on his military service, Fitzavarice attempts to seduce Mistress Peregrine, offering to discharge her husband's debts if she submits to him. She resists his importunities, and faints when he tries to force her. Guilt and embarrassment work a reformation on him: Fitzavarice presents her with the mortgage, and adds a precious jewel in admiration of her steadfastness.

The Example (comics)

The Example is a graphic novel from Gestalt Publishing written by Tom Taylor and illustrated by Colin Wilson based on the award-winning play of the same name by Tom Taylor.

"The Example, a story about a man, a woman and their reactions to an abandoned briefcase on a railway platform, was first performed at Melbourne's Short and Sweet play competition in 2005, where it won first prize. It has since been performed across Australia, in the US, Singapore and Britain, including at the Edinburgh Festival. The play, with its humorous meditation on terrorism, paranoia and personal responsibility, also has been taught in schools and universities.

The action never leaves the confines of the platform and the characters don't do anything dramatic, yet the work is full of suspense. The image of the briefcase sits at the centre of the nine-frame grid, growing slightly larger with each turning page. -The Australian"

Publication history

The play of The Example won the 'Best Dramatic Writing' Award and others in the 2005 Short and Sweet competition. Tom Taylor and Colin Wilson began adapting the play into comic book form in 2007. Gestalt Publishing published The Example in 2009. It was optioned by Bravada Films in 2010.