On this day in 1611 The Maid's Tragedy, by Francis Beaumont (left) and John Fletcher, was entered for printing in the Stationers' Register. Beaumont and Fletcher wrote over fifty plays -- together, or with a handful of other collaborators, or each on their own -- and they dominated English theatre throughout the 17th century. Their plays were produced and praised at four or five times the rate of Shakespeare's plays. Contemporaries placed John Fletcher in a "triumvirate of wit" with Shakespeare and Ben Jonson, and often talked of him as in a class by himself; when Shakespeare retired, Fletcher took over from him as resident playwright for The King's Men ... FULL STORY »
