Count Basil

June 5 - June 29, 2003

Count Basil, by Joanna Baille, was written in 1798, but was never professionally produced before. A woman of letters born in Scotland, Joanna Baille spent most of her life in London. She was a literary colleague of Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, and Walter Scott, and knew all of the leading theatre people of her day as well. Count Basil is a fascinating study of the struggle between obsessive love and duty. Sensual desire and passion intertwine with political strategy in a way that brings this "period" verse tragedy right up to today's headlines.

Count Basil was also performed on August 3, 2003 at Lincoln Center in New York , as part of the 2003 North American Society for the Study of Romanticism (NASSR) Conference.

The Count Basil video is now available. Educators can purchase a videotape or DVD of the production of Count Basil performed at the 2003 NASSR Conference at Fordham University . Contact Caren Anton at cmanton@horizonstheatre.org or (703) 578-1100 for further information.

copyright 2005