Daily entries from the 17th century London diary
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Emilio on Mon 29 Mar 2004
The Bloody Brother; or, The Tragedy of Rollo
L&M footnote: “The bloody brother, or Rollo, Duke of Normandy, a tragedy by John Fletcher and several others, written c. 1617; published 1639. Now at the [Theatre Royal], Vere St. The cast listed by Downes (pp. 5-6) includes Hart as Rollo, Kynaston as Otto, Mrs Corey as the Duchess and Mrs Marshall as Edith.”
And this from Bartleby ( http://www.bartleby.com/216/0513.html ):
“The date of The Bloody Brother, or Rollo, Duke of Normandy is uncertain; but it was probably produced about the year 1616. It is an effective drama, and was reckoned by Rymer with Philaster, The Maides Tragedy and A King and no King, as among the most celebrated tragedies of its age. Four authors seem to have been concerned in this play, and it is probable that the remarkable political reflections in the first scene of the fourth act are to be ascribed to Jonson. A small part only is by Fletcher, to whom, however, are due the striking scenes between Rollo and Edith in the third and fifth acts. Of the former of these scenes, Coleridge remarks that it exhibits ‘probably the grandest working of passion in all Beaumont and Fletcher’s dramas’; the latter he criticises severely because of the momentary weakening of Edith’s resolve, comparing her with lady Anne in Richard III.”