George Peele -The Battle of Alcazar from [The dramatic and poetical works of Robert Greene & George Peele}

“To split the ears of the groundlings, who for the most part are capable of nothing but inexplicable dumb shows and noise.”
Shakespeare, Hamlet.

Shakespeare was probably referring to George Peele’s play The Battle of Alcazar or a very similar production. Shakespeare had a point because The Battle of Alcazar proved popular with the Elizabethan theatre going public and it is certainly very noisy as the whole play is concerned with the build up to and the Battle fought between two Moorish (muslim) kings, the kIng of Portugal and an English expeditionary force led by Captain Thomas Stukely. Two of the kings are killed along with Stuckley, but as we are told this is going to happen in the first scene of the play then I am not giving anything away. Shakespeare may have been a bit jealous of the play’s popularity because it went onto a good number of performances and was revived at least twice during the early years of the theatre. Significantly however there have been no modern productions.

Shakespeare might not have liked the dumb shows, but Peele uses them well and they were still a feature of many plays at that time. Peele has a Presenter who informs the audience about what has happened and who the major players will be, while a dumb show is going on behind him. The audience will see the Moor’s uncle and his two young brothers being smothered in bed to display the Moor’s (Muly Mahamet) cruelty, tyranny, and ambition. Peele has a lot of information to share at the start of the first act and it serves to get the play underway and fills in the background while also leading the audience to wonder about what is going to happen next.

“Sit you and see this true and tragic war
A modern matter full of blood and ruth
Where three bold kings, confounded in their height
fell to the earth. contending for a crown;
And call this war The battle of Alcazar”

Abdelemec or Muly Molocco is considered the rightful king of Barbary and in the first act he defeats Muly Mahamet and sends him into exile. The rest of the play details the efforts of the tyrant Muly Mahamet to win back his crown. He seeks an allegiance with the catholic Sebastian king of Portugal and also with an English adventurer Captain Thomas Stukeley. They all come together in the final act which describes in some detail the course of the battle. In my opinion Peele’s main reason for writing the play was to tell the story of this battle in a way that would be entertaining and exciting. It was also fairly contemporary, not something from Britain’s long lost past; the events happened just 10 years before the plays first performance. King Sebastian was killed at the battle and King Philip II of Spain (who refused an alliance in the play) was still alive, so the appeal; would have been of a story within living memory. Sir Thomas Stukeley, the notorious English courtier, pirate, adventurer and soldier also died at the Battle of Alcazar in Morocco in 1578, while serving in the army of King Sebastian of Portugal which again emphasises the contemporary nature of the action. It was one of the first plays to deal with Muslim Kings and their names and the descriptions of them as negro-moors would have made them sound exotic. Peele seems to have little interest in making any racial comparisons. If there is a theme then it is the depiction of the rightful heir to the throne, the rule of kings and their progeny. Muly Muhamet is a usurper and must be dethroned. The king of Portugal and Thomas Stukeley both ally themselves with the usurper and so they too must die. The noble Muly Molocco also dies but his army are victorious and his son takes the crown. The stage directions point to an all action play: Muly Mahamet makes his entrance in scene ii Act 1 on a chariot, there is the sight of a blazing star, diplomats prove their loyalty by making a fire and thrusting their hands in it, dead men’s heads are displayed on dishes, there are numerous skirmishes some described as long skirmished and a number of killing scenes. Stukeley’s slaying is perhaps the most dramatic:

Stukeley: Strike on, strike down this body to the earth
Whose mounting mind stoops t no feeble stroke
Jonas: Why suffer we this Englishman to live?-
(they stab Stukeley)
Villain, bleed on: thy blood in channels run
And meet with those whom thou to death has done.

This does not stop Stukeley giving a lengthy speech before he dies.

The powerful blood soaked language does not let up throughout the play and this is my main criticism because it makes it all too one dimensional. There is no subtlety, no emotions just the heavy thump of a language marching to the beat of a drum. There is time however for a panegyric to Queen Elizabeth, delivered by Stukeley who wants to be king of Ireland but realises this is impossible when Elizabeth I is “sacred, imperial and holy in her seat”. It has to be said that Peele’s blank verse is impressive and there is no let up in the action, but compared to The Spanish Tragedy it remains one dimensional and so although worth reading I rate it at three stars