The Indian Queen

The Indian Queen is a play by Sir Robert Howard, written in collaboration with John Dryden, his sister's husband. It was first performed in 1664 with incidental music by John Banister the elder (1630-1679). In 1695, the play was expanded with additional music to create a new semi-opera of the same name by the composer Henry Purcell. The plot is situated at the courts of Peru and Mexico right before the Spanish invasion – and difficult to follow t... more

The Indian Queen is a play by Sir Robert Howard, written in collaboration with John Dryden, his sister's husband. It was first performed in 1664 with incidental music by John Banister the elder (1630-1679). In 1695, the play was expanded with additional music to create a new semi-opera of the same name by the composer Henry Purcell. The plot is situated at the courts of Peru and Mexico right before the Spanish invasion – and difficult to follow thanks to an information gap which is filled only in the last scenes and thanks to changes of the location which the reader (here the spectator will have an advantage) is likely to miss. The play’s protagonists can be divided into the groups of two countries and their respective royal families: Minor characters are Ismeron, a Mexican prophet and conjuror and the God of Dreams whom Ismeron manages to evoke on Zempoalla’s request The play begins at Ynca’s court. The old king honours his young general Montezuma who has just defeated the Mexicans... less