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Alfred (play)
''Alfred'' is a 1778 tragedy by the British writer John Home. His final play it was not as well-received as his earlier efforts and he retired from playwriting. The original Covent Garden cast included William Thomas Lewis as Alfred, Thomas Hull as Edwin, John Whitfield as Earl of Surrey, Francis Aickin as Hinguar, Ann Street Barry as Ethelswida. The epilogue was written by David Garrick David Garrick (19 February 1717 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil and friend of Sa ....Hogan p.142 References Bibliography * Nicoll, Allardyce. ''A History of English Drama 1660–1900: Volume III''. Cambridge University Press, 2009. * Hogan, C.B (ed.) ''The London Stage, 1660–1800: Volume V''. Southern Illinois University Press, 1968. 1778 plays Tragedy plays West End plays Plays by John Home {{18thC-play-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Home
Rev John Home FRSE (13 September 1722 – 4 September 1808) was a Scottish minister, soldier and author. His play ''Douglas'' was a standard Scottish school text until the Second World War, but his work is now largely neglected. In 1783 he was one of the joint founders of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Biography He was born on 13 September 1722 at Ancrum in Roxburghshire, but moved to Leith, near Edinburgh, in early childhood when his father, Alexander Home, a distant relation of the earls of Home, became town clerk. His mother was Christian Hay, the daughter of an Edinburgh lawyer. He was christened on 22 September 1722 John was educated at the Leith Grammar School, and at the University of Edinburgh, where he graduated MA in 1742. Though interested in being a soldier, he studied divinity, and was licensed to preach by the presbytery of Edinburgh in 1745. In the same year he joined as a volunteer against Bonnie Prince Charlie, and was taken prisoner at the Battle of Falkir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Covent Garden Theatre
The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. The first theatre on the site, the Theatre Royal (1732), served primarily as a playhouse for the first hundred years of its history. In 1734, the first ballet was presented. A year later, the first season of operas, by George Frideric Handel, began. Many of his operas and oratorios were specifically written for Covent Garden and had their premieres there. The current building is the third theatre on the site, following disastrous fires in 1808 and 1856 to previous buildings. The façade, foyer, and auditorium date from 1858, but almost every other element of the present complex dates from an extensive reconstruction in the 1990s. The main auditorium seats 2,256 people, maki ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major settlement for two millennia. The City of London, its ancient core and financial centre, was founded by the Romans as '' Londinium'' and retains its medieval boundaries.See also: Independent city § National capitals The City of Westminster, to the west of the City of London, has for centuries hosted the national government and parliament. Since the 19th century, the name "London" has also referred to the metropolis around this core, historically split between the counties of Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent, and Hertfordshire, which largely comprises Greater London, governed by the Greater London Authority.The Greater London Authority consists of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. The London Mayor is distinguished fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tragedy
Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsis, or a "pain hatawakens pleasure", for the audience. While many cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, the term ''tragedy'' often refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of Western civilization. That tradition has been multiple and discontinuous, yet the term has often been used to invoke a powerful effect of cultural identity and historical continuity—"the Greeks and the Elizabethans, in one cultural form; Hellenes and Christians, in a common activity," as Raymond Williams puts it. From its origins in the theatre of ancient Greece 2500 years ago, from which there survives only a fra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Thomas Lewis
William Thomas Lewis (1748?–1811), known as "Gentleman" Lewis, due to his refined acting style, was an English actor. He was said to be "the most complete fop on the stage". In later life he went into theatrical management. Early days in Ireland The son of William Lewis, a linendraper on Tower Hill, London, later an actor and manager in Ireland, he was born at Ormskirk, Lancashire, in or about 1748 (there is disagreement about his birth date); he had a Welsh clerical background, and was rumoured to be a great-grandson of Erasmus Lewis. He was brought up in Armagh. A juvenile actor from very young, Lewis first appeared as "Mr. Lewis" in the playbill when he acted Colonel Briton in Susannah Centlivre's comedy ''The Wonder''. Under Willian Dawson, Lewis appeared (1770–71) at the Capel Street Theatre in Dublin. He rapidly became popular in the city. On 19 February 1771 he was Belcour in ''The West Indian'' by Richard Cumberland, a part he made his own. On 4 May 1772, at the C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Hull (actor)
Thomas Hull (1728–1808) was an English actor and dramatist. Early life Born in 1728 in Strand, London, where his father practised as an apothecary, he was educated at Charterhouse School, with a view to a career in the church. He made an unsuccessful attempt to follow his father's profession. Stage career According to ''Biographia Dramatica'', Hull first appeared at the Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin; and then moved on to Bath, Somerset, where he managed the theatre for John Palmer. His first recorded appearance was, however, at Covent Garden Theatre, 5 October 1759, as Elder Wou'dbe in George Farquhar's ''Twin Rivals''. At Covent Garden Hull stayed without a break, apparently, till the end of his career, a period of forty-eight years. He was the original Harpagus in John Hoole's ''Cyrus'' (3 December 1768), Edwin in William Mason's ''Elfrida'' (21 November 1772), Pizarro in Arthur Murphy's ''Alzuma'' (23 February 1773), Mador in Mason's ''Caractacus'' (6 December 1776), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Whitfield (actor)
John Whitfield (1752–1814) was a British stage actor. He was part of the Covent Garden and Drury Lane companies, playing over two hundred roles. He often appeared alongside his wife Mary Whitfield.Cox & Gamer p.426 Selected roles * Agenor in '' Cleonice, Princess of Bithynia'' by John Hoole (1775) * Edric in ''Percy'' by Hannah More (1777) * Sir Henry Lovewit in Known Your Own Mind by Arthur Murphy (1777) * Earl of Surrey in ''Alfred'' by John Home (1778) * Don Garcia in '' A Bold Stroke for a Husband'' by Hannah Cowley (1783) * Camillo in ''Julia'' by Robert Jephson (1787) * Nicrates in '' The Fate of Sparta'' by Hannah Cowley (1788) * De Courcy in '' The Haunted Tower'' by James Cobb (1789) * Lupercio in ''Marcella'' by William Hayley (1789) * Wortimerus in ''Vortigern and Rowena'' by William Henry Ireland (1796) * Earling in '' False Impressions'' by Richard Cumberland (1797) * Sir Henry Netterville in ''The Eccentric Lover'' by Richard Cumberland Richard Cumberland ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Francis Aickin
Francis Aickin (died 1805), was an Irish actor, who worked at the Edinburgh Theatre in Scotland, and the between 1765 and 1792 in theatres in the West End of London. Francis Aickin first appeared in London in 1765 as Dick Amlet in John Vanbrugh's ''The Confederacy'' at Drury Lane. He acted there, and at Covent Garden, until 1792. His repertory consisted of over eighty characters, and among his best parts were the Ghost in ''Hamlet'' and Jaques in ''As You Like It''. His success in impassioned declamatory roles obtained for him the nickname of "Tyrant". Biography Francis Aickin was born in Dublin and brought up to the trade of his father, a weaver in that city; but, following the example of his younger brother, James Aickin, he became a strolling player. Having appeared as George Barnwell and sustained other characters in various country towns, he joined the manager of the Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin. Aickin the shared the management of the Edinburgh Theatre in Scotland's ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ann Street Barry
Ann Street Barry aka Ann Dancer later Ann Crawford (1734 – 29 November 1801), was a British singer, dancer and stage actress. Life Barry was born in Bath, England, to an apothecary named James Street. Her brother, William Street, later became the Mayor of Bath in 1784 and died in office. She began her acting career with her first husband, William Dancer, with her first known performance in 1758 as Cordelia in King Lear. Lear was played by Spranger Barry in the same play and the two began an affair. Barry's then-husband William Dancer died in 1759, allowing the couple to continue their relationship and later marry in 1768. In 1759 she appeared in Dublin, where she played a number of leading roles to limited success. At some point during the following nine years, she moved to London with Spranger Barry and performed at Drury Lane. Her performances at Drury Lane were well received and raised her reputation as an actress. Barry left Drury Lane for Covent Garden, where she continu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Garrick
David Garrick (19 February 1717 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil and friend of Samuel Johnson. He appeared in a number of amateur theatricals, and with his appearance in the title role of Shakespeare's '' Richard III'', audiences and managers began to take notice. Impressed by his portrayals of Richard III and a number of other roles, Charles Fleetwood engaged Garrick for a season at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in the West End. He remained with the Drury Lane company for the next five years and purchased a share of the theatre with James Lacy. This purchase inaugurated 29 years of Garrick's management of the Drury Lane, during which time it rose to prominence as one of the leading theatres in Europe. At his death, three years after his retirement from Drury Lane and the stage, he was given a lavish public funeral ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1778 Plays
Events January–March * January 18 – Third voyage of James Cook: Captain James Cook, with ships HMS ''Resolution'' and HMS ''Discovery'', first views Oahu then Kauai in the Hawaiian Islands of the Pacific Ocean, which he names the ''Sandwich Islands''. * February 5 – **South Carolina becomes the first state to ratify the Articles of Confederation. ** **General John Cadwalader shoots and seriously wounds Major General Thomas Conway in a duel after a dispute between the two officers over Conway's continued criticism of General George Washington's leadership of the Continental Army.''Harper's Encyclopaedia of United States History from 458 A. D. to 1909'', ed. by Benson John Lossing and, Woodrow Wilson (Harper & Brothers, 1910) p166 * February 6 – American Revolutionary War – In Paris, the Treaty of Alliance and the Treaty of Amity and Commerce are signed by the United States and France, signaling official French recognition of the new rep ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tragedy Plays
Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsis, or a "pain hatawakens pleasure", for the audience. While many cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, the term ''tragedy'' often refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of Western civilization. That tradition has been multiple and discontinuous, yet the term has often been used to invoke a powerful effect of cultural identity and historical continuity—"the Greeks and the Elizabethans, in one cultural form; Hellenes and Christians, in a common activity," as Raymond Williams puts it. From its origins in the theatre of ancient Greece 2500 years ago, from which there survives only a fraction ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
