Performance
The masque was performed before King Charles I at Somerset House in London on 9 January 1633 (new style). Montagu's drama (it has been called a "fantasy," a "marathon," and an "extravanganza," among other things) is not a brief work; the original performance lasted seven or eight hours. It required four months of rehearsal by its aristocratic cast. Inigo Jones designed nine sets and eight changes of scene for the mammoth-scale production, which also saw an early use of the proscenium arch in English theatre. (Jones's stage designs for the piece, including some striking forest scenes, still exist.)
The work may have had a second performance of 2 February the same year; some of its costumes were later re-used for a revival of John Fletcher's The Faithful Shepherdess. Henrietta Maria then presented the sumptuous masque costumes to the King's Men, who had acted Fletcher's play.
Read more about this topic: The Shepherd's Paradise
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