Sources: Blood on the Stage, 480 B.C. to 1600 A.D.: Milestone Plays of Murder, Mystery, and Mayhem: An Annotated Repertoire

Blood on the Stage, 480 B.C. to 1600 A.D.: Milestone Plays of Murder, Mystery, and Mayhem: An Annotated Repertoire. By Amnon Kabatchnik. Lanham, MD: Rowan & Littlefield, 2014. 382 p. Alkaline $125 (ISBN 978-1-4422-3547-2). E-book (978-1-4422-3548-9) available, $199.99.

Blood on the Stage: 480 B.C. to 1600 A.D. by Amnon Kabatchnik is the fourth book in a series about murders and mysteries in the theater world. This volume is a prequel and covers a much earlier time period than the other books by Kabatchnik. Previous books in the series cover the entire twentieth century; however, all are about crime, murder, and mystery in the world of stage productions.

There have been an untold number of volumes written in the field of theater history. Blood on the Stage stands out for its emphasis on some of the earliest recorded plays in written history. Unlike many other works that cover theater history broadly, this book is a collection of entries describing forty-eight different plays. Kabatchnik has pulled out selections that are “the most important theatrical works of mayhem and murder performed between 480 BC (Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus) and 1600 AD (Hamlet by William Shakespeare)” (xix). Most of these selections are well known plays; however, Kabatchnik has also included works that are more obscure in order to present a wider collection.

This book covers a unique portion of theater history. With its focus on murders and mysteries specifically, this volume stands out among theater history books. Blood on the Stage’s final entry is for William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Compared to the entry in David Wiles and Christine Dymkowski’s The Cambridge Companion to Theatre History (Cambridge University Press, 2013), which gives the general history of Hamlet, Kabatchnik writes additional information such as how it has been adapted, major productions for both stage and television, and actors involved. For this entry and others in Kabatchnik’s book there are also the additional details on the detective work, including how characters were murdered, the mystery behind who did the deed, and how it was solved. It fills a gap in the research about theater’s long history.

Blood on the Stage would be an excellent addition to a library that supports a theater department, whether that is an academic library or a public one. This book would also pair well with research about the history of detective literature. Although these plays are often bloody and full of violence, the historic nature and specific subject of this volume will create a distinguished collection.—Amy Wainwright, Outreach and Student Engagement Librarian, Grasselli Library and Breen Learning Center, John Carroll University, University Heights, Ohio