TY - BOOK AU - MacKaye,Percy AU - Hamilton,Clayton Meeker TI - A Thousand Years Ago: A Romance of the Orient T2 - The Drama League series of plays, v. 2 AV - PS PY - 2019/// CY - Salt Lake City, UT PB - Project Gutenberg KW - American drama -- 20th century KW - China -- Drama N1 - Release date is 2019-07-21; Produced by Richard Tonsing, MFR and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive); Original publication data not identified N2 - "A Thousand Years Ago: A Romance of the Orient" by Percy MacKaye is a dramatic play written in the early 20th century. This original comedy draws inspiration from Persian romance, particularly the themes found in "The Thousand and One Tales," exploring love, identity, and the clash between romance and reality. The opening features a rich tapestry of characters, including the conflicted Princess Turandot, the noble yet disguised Prince Calaf, and the comical group of Italian maskers led by the Capocomico, who adds whimsy and intrigue to the narrative. At the start of the play, the city gate of Pekin is established as a foreboding setting, adorned with severed heads of those who failed to win the heart of Turandot. As the story unfolds, the Capocomico and his fellow maskers arrive, lamenting their status as outcast performers. They encounter Calaf, who mourns the death of his father and harbors a passion for the elusive Turandot. The stakes rise when Calaf decides to confront the princess's deadly riddles for a chance at her love. The dramatic tension centers around Turandot's cold demeanor and the power struggles in a world where love is intertwined with perilous expectations, setting the stage for a tale filled with humor, romance, and psychological depth. (This is an automatically generated summary.) UR - https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/59965 ER -