Time Begets a Wonder: The History of Cardenio at IUPUI

Abstract

Sometimes in early modern drama a small phrase, made up of simple short words, will hang in the ear and accrete meaning. It’s certainly a characteristic of Shakespeare, especially when Time is in question, and it’s also a characteristic feature of Gary Taylor’s reconstruction of the lost Fletcher/Shakespeare tragicomedy The History of Cardenio. “Time may beget a wonder,” says Violenta (Alys Dickerson), in shepherd boy disguise, before starting the next stage of her flight into the mountains—a Fletcherian line that comes out of Double Falsehood (3.3.128) into this script.¹ On top of its resonance in the play, the line is also an emblem of the story of the script’s making and realization: the twenty-years-and-counting of Taylor’s work,² and its first full staging with (some) professional actors, directed by Terri Bourus.³