Sorrows of Frederick

THE STORY: Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, aged 73, rises in his tent on the morning of a battle. He is bent, snarling, formidable and sardonically funny. He addresses his army and rouses it to savage fury, then, receiving a message, commands its retreat. He will leave the battlefield to go home and bury his dog. To his General's astonishment, he does, and riding home, we go back with him through his life. We see Frederick the artistic young prince, locked in unequal combat with a brutal, adored father. We see him a young king, forsaking music and poetry and philosophy for naked aggression. We see him a mature monarch, exchanging friendship and fury with Voltaire, and demolishing the Holy Roman Empire with dazzling military genius. Finally, his journey ends. Over the body of a pet greyhound, he reveals how completely he has been the victim of his life and what the Village Voice called the inescapable legacies of fathers. The play is a tour de force for actors, while its performance-its contrapuntal tragedy and humor-relates it to the profoundest sympathies of an enthralled audience.Linney, Romulus is the author of 'Sorrows of Frederick ' with ISBN 9780822210580 and ISBN 0822210584.