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Agamemnon (Thomson Play)
''Agamemnon'' is a 1738 tragedy by the British writer James Thomson.Nicoll p.360 It is based on the story of Agamemnon from Greek Mythology. The original Drury Lane cast included James Quin as Agamemnon, William Milward as Egistus, Theophilus Cibber as Melisander, William Havard as Talthybius, Mary Porter as Clytemnestra, Sussanah Arne as Cassandra, Anne Brett as Electra and Thomas Wright as Arcas. The prologue A prologue or prolog (from Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "word") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier story that ... was written by Thomson's friend David Mallet, with Thomson returning the favour by adding a prologue to Mallet's '' Mustapha'' the following year. References Bibliography * Baines, Paul & Ferarro, Julian & Rogers, Pat. ''The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Eighteenth-Century Writers and Writing, 1660-1789''. Wiley-B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Thomson (poet, Born 1700)
James Thomson (c. 11 September 1700 – 27 August 1748) was a Scottish poet and playwright, known for his poems '' The Seasons'' and ''The Castle of Indolence'', and for the lyrics of "Rule, Britannia!" Scotland, 1700–1725 James Thomson was born in Ednam in Roxburghshire around 11 September 1700 and baptised on 15 September. He was the fourth of nine children of Thomas Thomson and Beatrix Thomson (née Trotter). Beatrix Thomson was born in Fogo, Berwickshire and was a distant relation of the house of Hume. Thomas Thomson was the Presbyterian minister of Ednam until eight weeks after Thomson's birth, when he was admitted as minister of Southdean, where Thomson spent most of his early years. Thomson may have attended the parish school of Southdean before going to the grammar school in Jedburgh in 1712. He failed to distinguish himself there. Shiels, his earliest biographer, writes: 'far from appearing to possess a sprightly genius, homsonwas considered by his schoolmaster ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Susannah Maria Cibber
Susannah Maria Cibber (née Arne; February 1714 – 30 January 1766) was a celebrated English singer and actress. She was the sister of the composer Thomas Arne. Although she began her career as a soprano, her voice lowered in the early part of her career to that of a true contralto. She was universally admired for her ability to move her audiences emotionally both as an actress and vocalist. Possessing a sweet, expressive, and agile singing voice with a wide vocal range, Cibber was an immensely popular singer, even if at times her voice was criticized for a lack of polished technique. Charles Burney wrote of her singing that "by a natural pathos, and perfect conception of the words, she often penetrated the heart, when others, with infinitely greater voice and skill, could only reach the ear." Cibber was particularly admired by Handel, who wrote numerous parts especially for her including the contralto arias in his 1741 oratorio ''Messiah'', the role of Micah in ''Samson'', the r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
West End Plays
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance languages (''ouest'' in French, ''oest'' in Catalan, ''ovest'' in Italian, ''oeste'' in Spanish and Portuguese). As in other languages, the word formation stems from the fact that west is the direction of the setting sun in the evening: 'west' derives from the Indo-European root ''*wes'' reduced from ''*wes-pero'' 'evening, night', cognate with Ancient Greek ἕσπερος hesperos 'evening; evening star; western' and Latin vesper 'evening; west'. Examples of the same formation in other languages include Latin occidens 'west' from occidō 'to go down, to set' and Hebrew מַעֲרָב maarav 'west' from עֶרֶב erev 'evening'. Navigation To go west using a compass for navigation (in a place where magnetic north is the same dire ... [...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] |
1738 Plays
Events January–March * January 1 – At least 664 African slaves drown, when the Dutch West Indies Company slave ship ''Leusden'' capsizes and sinks in the Maroni River, during its arrival in Surinam. The Dutch crew escapes, and leaves the slaves locked below decks to die. * January 3 – George Frideric Handel's opera ''Faramondo'' is given its first performance. * January 7 – After the Maratha Empire of India wins the Battle of Bhopal over the Jaipur State, Jaipur cedes the Malwa territory to the Maratha in a treaty signed at Doraha. * February 4 – Court Jew Joseph Süß Oppenheimer is executed in Württemberg. * February 11 – Jacques de Vaucanson stages the first demonstration of an early automaton, ''The Flute Player'' at the Hotel de Longueville in Paris, and continues to display it until March 30. * February 20 – Swedish Levant Company founded. * March 28 – Mariner Robert Jenkins presents a pickled ear, which he clai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mustapha (play)
''Mustapha'' is a 1739 tragedy by the British writer David Mallet.Nicoll p.343 It is based on Mustafa, the son of Ottoman ruler Suleiman the Magnificent. The original cast included James Quin as Solyman, William Milward as Mustapha, Thomas Wright as Zanger, William Mills as Rustan, Richard Winstone as Mufti, William Havard as Achmet, Elizabeth Barry as Roxalana and Anna Marcella Giffard as Emira. The prologue was written by Mallet's friend James Thomson. The play was dedicated to Frederick, Prince of Wales who had become a popular symbol of the Patriot Whigs The Patriot Whigs, later the Patriot Party, were a group within the Whig Party in Great Britain from 1725 to 1803. The group was formed in opposition to the government of Robert Walpole in the House of Commons in 1725, when William Pulteney (l ... including Mallet and Thomson. References Bibliography * Baines, Paul & Ferarro, Julian & Rogers, Pat. ''The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Eighteenth-Century Writers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Mallet (writer)
David Mallet (or Malloch) ( 1705–1765) was a Scottish poet and dramatist. He was educated at the University of Edinburgh, and went to London in 1723 to work as a private tutor. There he became friendly with Alexander Pope, James Thomson, and other literary figures including Henry St John, Viscount Bolingbroke. His best-known work was written in the same year: '' William and Margaret'', adapted from a traditional ballad. In 1740, he collaborated with Thomson on a masque, ''Alfred'', which was the vehicle for "Rule, Britannia!". His other plays and poetry (e.g. ''Amyntor and Theodora''), popular at the time, are largely forgotten, but Bolingbroke's writings were edited and published by Mallet in 1754. Life Mallet was probably the second son of James Malloch of Dunruchan, a well-to-do tenant farmer on Lord Drummond's Perthshire estate, a Roman Catholic, and a member of the outlawed Clan MacGregor. The household suffered during the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715. Mallet gave his age ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prologue
A prologue or prolog (from Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "word") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier story that ties into the main one, and other miscellaneous information. The Ancient Greek ''prólogos'' included the modern meaning of ''prologue'', but was of wider significance, more like the meaning of preface. The importance, therefore, of the prologue in Greek drama was very great; it sometimes almost took the place of a romance, to which, or to an episode in which, the play itself succeeded. Latin On the Latin stage the prologue was often more elaborate than it was in Athens, and in the careful composition of the poems which Plautus prefixes to his plays we see what importance he gave to this portion of the entertainment; sometimes, as in the preface to the ''Rudens'', Plautus rises to the height of his genius in his adroit and romantic prolo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anne Brett (actress)
Anne Brett or Anne Mason; Anne Gerard, Countess of Macclesfield (1667/8 – 11 October 1753) was a Kingdom of Great Britain courtier. She had a scandalous divorce. References Brett was born in Shropshire in 1667 or 1668. Her parents were Anna and Sir Richard Mason and she had a sister, Dorothy. She first married Charles Gerard, Viscount Brandon when she was fifteen. The marriage was not a success but divorce was difficult. She had two children with Richard Savage, 4th Earl Rivers before her marriage was ended in 1698. Whilst she waited for their divorce her husband became the Earl of Macclesfield so she was a countess when they parted. She was a rich countess as over £12,000 was returned to her from before her marriage. Her children, Anne and Richard Savage had been kept a secret. She said that they died young, but years later the poet Richard Savage claimed to be her son. Countess Macclesfield was appointed as a Lady in Waiting to Princess Anne. Her second husband was Henry ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mary Porter (actress)
Mary Porter (died 24 February 1765) was an English actress. Life She was brought to the attention of Betterton by Elizabeth Barry, who had seen her play the Fairy Queen at Bartholomew Fair. In his company she made her first appearance in 1699, in tragedy, in which she was at her best, although she also played a long list of comedy parts. When her friends, Mrs Barry, Mrs Bracegirdle and Mrs Oldfield, had retired from the stage, she was left its undisputed queen. In 1713 she appeared in John Gay's comedy '' The Wife of Bath'' at Drury Lane. In 1724 she featured in his tragedy '' The Captives'' as Astarbe, Queen of Media. Selected roles * Mirabel in ''The Rival Fools'' by Colley Cibber (1709) * Alicia in ''Jane Shore'' by Nicholas Rowe (1714) * Lady Woodvill in '' The Non-Juror'' by Colley Cibber (1717) * Eudocia in ''The Siege of Damascus'' by John Hughes (1720) * Astarbe in '' The Captives'' by John Gay John Gay (30 June 1685 – 4 December 1732) was an English poet and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Drury Lane. The building is the most recent in a line of four theatres which were built at the same location, the earliest of which dated back to 1663, making it the oldest theatre site in London still in use. According to the author Peter Thomson, for its first two centuries, Drury Lane could "reasonably have claimed to be London's leading theatre". For most of that time, it was one of a handful of patent theatres, granted monopoly rights to the production of "legitimate" drama in London (meaning spoken plays, rather than opera, dance, concerts, or plays with music). The first theatre on the site was built at the behest of Thomas Killigrew in the early 1660s, when theatres were allowed to reopen during the English Restoration. Initially ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Havard (actor)
William Havard (1710?–1778), was a British actor and dramatist. Havard appeared at Goodman's Fields Theatre, 1730–1737, and then at the Drury Lane Theatre until retirement in 1769. He generally played secondary parts; depreciated in Rosciad. He also appeared in his own plays, '' King Charles I'' at Lincoln's Inn Fields, 1737; ''Regulus'' Drury Lane, 1744; and ''The Elopement'' Drury Lane, 1763. Selected roles * Montesini in '' The Parricide'' (1736) * Rosebrand in ''The Independent Patriot'' (1737) * Talthybius in ''Agamemnon'' (1738) * Hartly in '' The Coffee House'' (1738) * Achmet in '' Mustapha'' (1739) * Young Freeman in '' Love the Cause and Cure of Grief'' (1743) * Decius in ''Regulus'' (1744) * Young Whimsey in '' The Astrologer'' (1744) * Rodolpho in '' Tancred and Sigismunda'' (1745) * Bellamy in ''The Suspicious Husband'' (1747) * Colonel Raymond in '' The Foundling'' (1748) * Abdalla, An Officer in '' Irene'' (1749) * Arnold in ''Edward the Black Prince'' (1750 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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