Though the literary merit of his one surviving play is itself sufficient, the stature of Richard Edwards as an important Tudor dramatist is assured by the sad historical fact that Damon and Pithias is the only extant example of a play unquestionably written by a Master of the Children of the Chapel Royal. Made up of thirty-two gentlemen singers and twelve children, the Chapel Royal was responsible for royal worship services outside Windsor and for providing the Court with other entertainment, including plays presented by the children.

Edwards's appointment to the post of master is evidence of his reputation as both a musician and dramatist. According to Leicester Bradner, it implies that he was "the chief ornament of polite literature in the eyes of his contemporaries." But Edwards's satiric wit in attacking less-polite abuses of the Court suggests also a humanist's awareness of the evils of power and...