Category:Duplicate plays

Duplicate plays are plays that share narratives and (probably) genre. Examples among existing plays include The Famous Victories of Henry V (author unknown) and the trilogy on Prince Hal/King Henry V by Shakespeare (1H4, 2H4, H5). It used to be that lost plays on the same subject as extant plays were routinely considered the same play; that is, they were lumped together as identical or variant texts; for example, the Oldcastle performed by the Chamberlain's men in 1600 was lumped with Shakespeare's 1H4 because the character of Falstaff was believed to have been well known as "Oldcastle." Similarly, theater historians lumped "Longshanks" with Edward I, "Mahomet" and "Muly Molocco" with The Battle of Alcazar, "Dido and Aeneas" with Dido Queen of Carthage, and "The Wise Man of West Chester" with John a Kent and John a Cumber. It is the policy of the Lost Plays Database to split lost plays from apparently duplicate extant plays unless compelling evidence requires that they be lumped together as the same (or variant versions of the same) play.