Customer Reviews

Royal Hunt of the Sun a Play Concerning the Concerning the Con Est of Peru (Acting Edition)

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Royal Hunt Of The Sun contains three tragedies: One of destruction of the great Inca empire; the tragedy of Pizarro, who destroys something for which he has been searching all his life, and the tragedy of Martin Ruiz, whose youthful idealism is destroyed by his experience in Peru. The main theme of this play which concerns the search for religion. All through the play Shaffer contrasts the beauty and high values of the Incas and the greed and ugliness of the Spanish.

A great play about the slaughter of the Incas, idealism lost, compromise and corruption. Excellent characterizations. Interesting subtext covers the pitfalls of imperialism. both Incan and Spanish.

Caveat: Longman Literature version (Editor: Graham-Adriani and Series Editor Blatchford, ISBN 0-582-06014-1) should be avoided. Vital and if not merely enriching stage directions are not included in this publication/edition.

I have found this play very exciting to read, but the getting in was a little bit difficult. But I admire the variety of the vocabulary that Shaffer made use of. He handled a couple of topics, which are very interesting: I.e. the existence of god, different cultures and their organisation, religion and a motive that goes through the whole story: The word. Shaffer encourages the reader to make his own opinion about questions like: «Is it justified to break the word if you act in consciousness and for the good of your crew?»

Pizarro's problem as an illegitimate son and his existential questions are not discussed. Something that makes this play very special is the fact that Old Martin occurs time after time and tells about his experiences and the happenings, when he had been in Peru.

In short: + Interesting play with a demanding vocabulary - Hard to get in