I'd never read or seen this play before, so I did the former in preparation for the latter. The language is more complex than most of his other plays, and it's not just the words and conventions over the centuries but the grammar and syntax as well. That plus the vignette-like treatment of the plot made me wonder if this late play of his was really a piece of juvenilia that he refashioned in later life. The structure of the play did kind of remind me of Marlowe's plays.

I have to say that I enjoyed the play a lot more because I'd read it. It gave me insights into things I would never have known otherwise: How and where the director made her cuts or consolidated roles; whose role was played truly and whose role was re-shaped for humor or some other touch; and what some things meant because the actors brought the language I couldn't parse to life.

So 3 stars for the play, and 5 stars for reading the play!