Plays of Near & Far

In Short

Six short plays move from the high fantasy of courtly hives and imperial poison to sharp satires of modern greed, monastic piety, literary arrogance, and artistic fame. A hive of humanlike bees flees to a mountain peak in pursuit of a lethal ideal; a king plays a deadly game of chance with an emperor’s envoy; a corporate mogul fabricates a synthetic food; monks panic over an unseasonal halo; clubmen reject a rising country playwright; and a poet discovers that the goddess of fame is a vulgar, lingering houseguest. It has endured for its luminous prose and unflinching irony.

The Story

The volume opens in fantasy and moves toward biting modern satire. In The Compromise of the King of the Golden Isles, King Hamaran receives an ambassador from an all-powerful Emperor who demands absolute submission. To test the King's obedience, the ambassador brings a choice of two identical goblets—one filled with fine wine, the other with a poison so terrible that Lebutharna’s serpents shrink from it. When the King tries to evade the trap by banishing the fugitive he was meant to surrender, the ambassador forces him to choose between two identical cups presented by a giant Nubian. Seeking guidance, the King orders his priests to ask the gods, but after undergoing the dreadful Supreme Question in dark torture chambers, the priests die muttering the same cryptic truth: no one who knew the counsels of the gods would say the King was ill-advised to drink the poisoned cup. Realizing the gods themselves have orchestrated his doom, the King resolves to face a future more terrible than the grave.

In The Flight of the Queen, set in a royal court modeled on the natural cycle of the bees, a court of pampered princes lingers in idleness while worker attendants maintain the realm. When the heels of the princes drum against the benches in an attempt to frighten Queen Zoomzoomarma, the sudden commotion—and the irresistible call of June—intoxicates her. She flees the golden palace, impelled by instinct toward the icy, ethereal peak of Aether Mountain. The princes pursue her, but all fall along the rocky trek save for the Prince of Zoon. On the snowy pinnacle above the clouds, high above the grey, fading dream of Earth, the two share a fleeting moment of transcendent love. Yet when Zoon attempts to touch her hand again, the Queen declares that fate demands no one is worthy of her. True to the fatal law of her nature, she stabs him with her rapier, watching him plunge into the abyss as his cries fade away, before daintily picking up her skirts to descend earthward alone.

Modern commercialism takes center stage in Cheezo, where the ruthless industrialist Sladder schemes to establish a global monopoly by manufacturing a cheap, synthetic cheese substitute called Cheezo. Aided by his sycophantic press agent, Splurge, Sladder creates suggestive advertising campaigns featuring dairymaids and deceptive queries to fool the public. When the idealistic curate Charles Hippanthigh arrives to protest that Sladder's earlier product, Virilo, is making parishioners sick, Sladder discovers the curate wants to marry his daughter, Ermyntrude. Sladder refuses consent unless Hippanthigh resolves his career-ending feud with the bishop by falsely confessing a belief in eternal punishment. Hippanthigh refuses to compromise his conscience, choosing integrity over social advancement.

The remaining short pieces slice into human vanity: A Good Bargain finds monastery brothers terrified of the public scandal caused when Brother Antoninus develops a bright halo three hundred years too soon; If Shakespeare Lived Today depicts the pompous members of the Olympus Club blackballing William Shakespeare as an illiterate country poacher whose vulgar plays only appeal to Americans; and Fame and the Poet features the writer De Reves, who prays to the classical goddess Fame only to find her a coarse, cigarette-smoking intruder who broadcasts his mundane breakfast habits to a cheering mob.

How It Unfolds

The Imperial Ultimatum An ambassador presents King Hamaran with a fatal trial of twin goblets to test his submission to the Emperor.

The Voice of the Gods King Hamaran's priests undergo the Supreme Question, dying with the revelation that the gods themselves ordained the King's poisoned destiny.

Restlessness in the Golden Hive The idle princes of a courtly hive loiter in luxury until a sudden impulse in June drives Queen Zoomzoomarma to look beyond her golden palace.

The Ascent of Aether Mountain Queen Zoomzoomarma flees across the summer fields toward the high peak, leaving exhausted, broken princes behind her until only the Prince of Zoon remains at her side.

Death on the Heavenly Peak On the summit, the Queen slays the Prince of Zoon to satisfy the unyielding law of her nature, leaving him to fall into the abyss while she steps daintily back toward Earth.

Marketing the Synthetic The ruthless magnate Sladder and his publicist plan an aggressive advertising campaign to force a fake cheese called Cheezo upon the English public.

A Matter of Conscience Curate Hippanthigh confronts Sladder over bad food products, then refuses to lie about his religious beliefs even though it costs him Ermyntrude's hand.

Scandal in the Cloister Two monks fret over the awkward embarrassment caused when Brother Antoninus prematurely sprouts a glowing, unseasonal halo.

Blackballed at the Olympus Ignorant clubmen dismiss William Shakespeare as an uncultivated Warwickshire deer poacher unfit for their respectable establishment.

The Arrival of the Goddess A poet's romantic prayer brings Fame into his room, but she turns out to be a tacky, smoking boor interested only in his breakfast and golf clubs.

The People

• King Hamaran: A ruler who attempts to steer a middle path between obedience and defiance toward an aggressive Emperor. He seeks to outsmart imperial traps through diplomacy and holy omens, only to discover that the gods have engineered his ruin.
• Queen Zoomzoomarma: A regal figure driven by ancient, non-rational instincts rather than human reason. She leaves behind her palace to ascend Aether Mountain, seeking an ethereal height where she destroys her sole surviving lover out of obedience to her fatal nature.
• The Prince of Zoon: An idle courtier who hums songs of love and follows the Queen up the perilous rocks of Aether Mountain. He believes love transcends Earth, but his willingness to die for a touch of her hand brings about his swift execution.
• Sladder: A callous, energetic entrepreneur who treats human health, public trust, and social life as mere leverage for commercial monopoly. He measures all men by whether they succeed or fail on the economic ladder.
• The Rev. Charles Hippanthigh: An earnest curate who stands up to corporate power and refuses to abandon his theological principles, sacrificing his chance at love and promotion rather than utter a profitable lie.
• De Reves: A lofty, traditional poet who has spent a decade worshipping Fame as an ideal Greek deity, only to be horrified when she physically invades his quarters as a loud, intrusive celebrity reporter.

In Its Own Voice

"The future is more terrible than the grave, that has its one secret only."

King Hamaran reflects on the agonizing uncertainty left by the gods after learning that his destiny is bound to a poisoned cup.

"They do not come from reason... They come from Fate."

The Prince of Zoon explains to his fellow courtiers that the Queen's mysterious impulses are guided by forces higher than logic.

"I will have it everywhere. I'll rub their noses in it. And then, Splurge, they'll ask for Cheezo when they want cheese..."

Sladder boasts to his publicity agent about using overwhelming, aggressive advertising to capture a total market monopoly.

"I find I am not worthy.... It cannot possibly be. Others deserve you more."

The poet De Reves desperately backtracks when he realizes that the goddess Fame is a vulgar nuisance who intends to move into his room forever.

What It's Really About

Underneath their fantastical premises and sharp comedic dialogue, these plays examine the fragility of human autonomy when pitted against absolute forces. Whether facing imperial tyranny, divine decree, or blind biological instinct, Dunsany’s characters frequently discover that their cherished reason and free will are illusions. The Flight of the Queen treats the biological compulsion of nature as an unyielding, tragic decree that elevates and destroys without regard for individual happiness. In the modern satires, the author targets the absurdity of institutional vanity and commercial deceit. The plays dissect how society degrades art into publicity, trades genuine morality for corporate compliance, and rejects true genius because it fails to fit the comfortable, snobbish standards of the establishment.

Why Read It Today

This collection appeals to readers who delight in elegant fantasy, sharp satire, and literary craft that bridges the Victorian era and modern absurdism. Lord Dunsany writes with an understated, rhythmic simplicity that gives his mythical realms the weight of ancient folklore while keeping his contemporary satires remarkably fast-paced and lean. The theatrical dialogue flows naturally, sparkling with a sly, ironic wit that never relies on cheap sentiment or hollow theatrical gimmicks.

Readers should note the volume’s theatrical variety: it moves abruptly from atmospheric, high-stakes drama to lighthearted, observational comedy. The historical and satirical pieces lean heavily on period settings—such as Edwardian clubland etiquette and early twentieth-century corporate bluster—which reflect the specific social anxieties of their time. Yet the core observations remain strikingly fresh. The sight of Sladder manufacturing public demand out of aggressive ad campaigns or the Olympus Club snubbing a master poet feel entirely contemporary. It is a slim, deeply imaginative gathering of plays that leaves the reader chuckling at human folly while remaining mindful of the quiet, inescapable forces governing our lives.