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Colombine

Chapter 1: COLOMBINE
By Reginald Arkell
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About This Book

Set on a windswept hill that hides ancient Roman traces and fairy rings, the fantasy play blends rustic vernacular and commedia dell'arte figures to stage scenes of memory, folklore, and romantic rivalry. A fairylike maid meets two country labourers, recounts the site's layered past, and foretells a comic, ritualized duel between Harlequin and Pierrot for her affection. Interwoven prologue poems and stage tableaux alternate lyrical reflections on time and place with light comedy, costume spectacle, and debates about love, fate, and the endurance of ritual. The piece balances pastoral atmosphere, nostalgia, and theatricality in brief, episodic scenes voiced in verse and colloquial dialogue.

COLOMBINE

A FANTASY

AND OTHER VERSES

LONDON
BENN AND CRONIN, LTD.
CRAVEN HOUSE, KINGSWAY, W.C.
1911

Copyright: Entered at Stationers’ Hall, December 1911.
Acting Rights strictly Reserved.

COLOMBINE.

COLOMBINE
A FANTASY
BY REGINALD ARKELL
WITH SOME DRAWINGS
BY FREDERICK CARTER.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

“Colombine” was first performed at Clavier Hall, Hanover Square, W., on Thursday, 7th December 1911, with the following cast:

Dan’l (an old man) Mr. B. Butler.
Nathan’l (a boy) Mr. A. E. Filmer.
(By permission of Miss Lillah McCarthy)
Harlequin Mr. Reginald Bach.
Pierrot Mr. Mark Hannam.
(By permission of Miss Lillah McCarthy)
Colombine Miss Ethel Evans.
The play was produced by Mr. A. E. Filmer.

SCENE

A Roman Camp on the summit of Cissbury Beacon in the South Downs. A fairy ring occupies the foreground. All round are beech trees. The time is evening.