Belle's Stratagem
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Belle's Stratagem
''The Belle's Stratagem'' is a romantic comedy of manners, the most successful work of its playwright, Hannah Cowley. It received its premiere on 22 February 1780,Winter, William. Preface to "Two Old Comedies: The Belle's Stratagem and The Wonder. Reduced and Re-arranged by Augustin Daly." pp. 11-14. Privately printed from the prompt books at Daly's Theatre, 1893. Accessed at https://books.google.com/books?id=e2CKdMWUb9wC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false presented by David Garrick, filling the 2,000-seat Drury Lane theatre.Swale, Jessica. "The Belle of London: Hannah Cowley." Program notes, Southwark Playhouse's 2011 production of "The Belle's Stratagem." The play became a major hit of the season, with Queen Charlotte enjoying it so much that she decreed it be performed for the royal family once a season for several years.Winter Its title comes from George Farquhar's play ''The Beaux' Stratagem''. Synopsis The play's double plotline concerns ...
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Comedy Of Manners
In English literature, the term comedy of manners (also anti-sentimental comedy) describes a genre of realistic, satirical comedy of the Restoration period (1660–1710) that questions and comments upon the manners and social conventions of a greatly sophisticated, artificial society. The satire of fashion, manners, and outlook on life of the social classes, is realised with stock characters, such as the braggart soldier of Ancient Greek comedy, and the fop and the rake of English Restoration comedy.George Henry Nettleton, Arthu''British dramatists from Dryden to Sheridan''p.149 The clever plot of a comedy of manners (usually a scandal) is secondary to the social commentary thematically presented through the witty dialogue of the characters, e.g. ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' (1895), by Oscar Wilde, which satirises the sexual hypocrisies of Victorian morality. The comedy-of-manners genre originated in the New Comedy period (325–260 BC) of Classical Greece (510–323 BC ...
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Hector Berlioz
In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense of Troy, killing countless Greek warriors. He was ultimately killed in single combat by Achilles, who later dragged his dead body around the city of Troy behind his chariot. Etymology In Greek, is a derivative of the verb ἔχειν ''ékhein'', archaic form * grc, ἕχειν, hékhein, label=none ('to have' or 'to hold'), from Proto-Indo-European *'' seɡ́ʰ-'' ('to hold'). , or as found in Aeolic poetry, is also an epithet of Zeus in his capacity as 'he who holds verything together. Hector's name could thus be taken to mean 'holding fast'. Description Hector was described by the chronicler Malalas in his account of the ''Chronography'' as "dark-skinned, tall, very stoutly built, strong, good nose, wooly-haired, good beard, sq ...
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English Plays
English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national identity, an identity and common culture ** English language in England, a variant of the English language spoken in England * English languages (other) * English studies, the study of English language and literature * ''English'', an Amish term for non-Amish, regardless of ethnicity Individuals * English (surname), a list of notable people with the surname ''English'' * People with the given name ** English McConnell (1882–1928), Irish footballer ** English Fisher (1928–2011), American boxing coach ** English Gardner (b. 1992), American track and field sprinter Places United States * English, Indiana, a town * English, Kentucky, an unincorporated community * English, Brazoria County, Texas, an unincorporated community * Engli ...
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Jessica Swale
Jessica Swale is a British playwright, theatre director and screenwriter. Her first play, ''Blue Stockings,'' premiered at Shakespeare's Globe in 2013. It is widely performed by UK amateur companies and is also studied on the Drama GCSE syllabus. In 2016 her play ''Nell Gwynn'' won the Olivier Award for Best New Comedy, after it transferred from the Globe to the West End, starring Gemma Arterton as the eponymous heroine. Early life and education Born in Reading, Berkshire, Swale completed her secondary education at Kendrick School, Reading, before studying drama at the University of Exeter. She completed her training at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (MA Advanced Theatre Practice), where she trained as a director. Career After drama school, she worked as Max Stafford-Clark's associate director at Out of Joint, on productions including ''The Overwhelming'' at the National Theatre and Andersen's ''English'' at Hampstead. In 2006 she set up Red Handed Theatre Compa ...
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Southwark Playhouse
Southwark Playhouse is a theatre in London, located between Borough and Elephant and Castle tube stations. History The Southwark Playhouse Theatre Company was founded in 1993 by Juliet Alderdice and Tom Wilson. They identified the need for a high quality accessible theatre which would also act as a major resource for the community. They leased a disused workshop in a then comparatively neglected part of Southwark and turned it into a flexible theatre space. The theatre quickly put down strong roots in Southwark, developing an innovative, free-at-source education programme. It has worked closely with teachers, Southwark Borough Council, businesses and government agencies to improve educational achievement and raise aspirations. This programme is in great demand and attracts substantial funding each year. Over the next fifteen years the theatre established itself as one of London's leading studio theatres, presenting high quality work by new and emerging theatre practitioners. ...
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Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan (30 October 17517 July 1816) was an Irish satirist, a politician, a playwright, poet, and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. He is known for his plays such as ''The Rivals'', ''The School for Scandal'', ''The Duenna'' and ''A Trip to Scarborough''. He was also a Whig MP for 32 years in the British House of Commons for Stafford (1780–1806), Westminster (1806–1807), and Ilchester (1807–1812). He is buried at Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey. His plays remain a central part of the canon and are regularly performed worldwide. Early life Sheridan was born in 1751 in Dublin, Ireland, where his family had a house on then fashionable Dorset Street. His mother, Frances Sheridan, was a playwright and novelist. She had two plays produced in London in the early 1760s, though she is best known for her novel ''The Memoirs of Miss Sidney Biddulph'' (1761). His father, Thomas Sheridan, was for a while an actor-manager at ...
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Theatre Royal Jersey 6 January 1830
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music, and dance. Elements of art, such as painted scenery and stagecraft such as lighting are used to enhance the physicality, presence and immediacy of the experience. The specific place of the performance is also named by the word "theatre" as derived from the Ancient Greek θέατρον (théatron, "a place for viewing"), itself from θεάομαι (theáomai, "to see", "to watch", "to observe"). Modern Western theatre comes, in large measure, from the theatre of ancient Greece, from which it borrows technical terminology, classification into genres, and many of its themes, stock characters, and plot elements. Theatre artist Patrice Pavi ...
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The Book Collector
''The Book Collector'' is a London based journal that deals with all aspects of the book. It is published quarterly and exists in both paper and digital form. It prints independent opinions on subjects ranging from typography to national heritage policy, from medieval libraries to modern first editions. It has run series on Unfamiliar Libraries, Literary and Scientific Autographs, Author Societies, Bookbinding, Contemporary Collectors, Bibliophiles, and many other subjects. History An earlier series that preceded the ''Book Collector'' was the ''Book Handbook''. ''The Book Collector'' was launched by the novelist Ian Fleming in the same year, 1952, that he wrote the first James Bond novel, '' Casino Royale''. This has been discussed at the TLS. The journal has had only four editors since it was founded. After the death in 1965 of John Davy Hayward, the friend and muse of T.S. Eliot, it was edited for fifty years by Nicolas Barker, sometime publisher and first head of conservatio ...
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Tiverton, Devon
Tiverton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Devon, England, and the commercial and administrative centre of the Mid Devon district. The population in 2019 was 20,587. History Early history The town's name is conjectured to derive from "Twy-ford-ton" or "Twyverton", meaning "the town on two fords", and was historically referred to as "Twyford". The town stands at the confluence of the rivers Exe and Lowman. Human occupation in the area dates back to the Stone Age, with many flint tools found in the area. An Iron Age hill fort, Cranmore Castle, stands at the top of Exeter Hill above the town, and a Roman fort or marching camp was discovered on the hillside below Knightshayes Court near Bolham, just to the north of the town. Tiverton formed part of the inheritance of Aethelweard, youngest son of King Alfred. Countess Gytha of Wessex controlled the town in 1066 and the Domesday Book indicates that William the Conqueror was its tenant-in-chief in 1086. Tiverton was also the se ...
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Ellen Terry
Dame Alice Ellen Terry, (27 February 184721 July 1928), was a leading English actress of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born into a family of actors, Terry began performing as a child, acting in Shakespeare plays in London, and toured throughout the British provinces in her teens. At 16, she married the 46-year-old artist George Frederic Watts, but they separated within a year. She soon returned to the stage but began a relationship with the architect Edward William Godwin and retired from the stage for six years. She resumed acting in 1874 and was immediately acclaimed for her portrayal of roles in Shakespeare and other classics. In 1878 she joined Henry Irving's company as his leading lady, and for more than the next two decades she was considered the leading Shakespearean and comic actress in Britain. Two of her most famous roles were Portia in ''The Merchant of Venice'' and Beatrice in ''Much Ado About Nothing''. She and Irving also toured with great success in ...
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Harriet Smithson
Harriet Constance Smithson (18 March 1800 – 3 March 1854), most commonly known as Harriet Smithson, who also went by Henrietta Constance Smithson,, Murphy, Groghegan, 2015 p.196. Harriet Smithson Berlioz, and Miss H.C. Smithson, was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish Shakespearean actress of the 19th century, best known as the first wife and muse of Hector Berlioz. Early life Harriet Smithson was born on 18 March 1800, at Ennis, County Clare, Ireland. Her father, William Joseph Smithson, was an actor and theatrical manager from Gloucestershire, England, and her mother was an actress whose full name is unknown. She also had a brother, Joseph Smithson, and a sister, name also unknown. In October 1801, Harriet was left in the care of Reverend James Barrett, a priest of the Church of Ireland, parish of Drumcliffe. Barrett became her guardian and brought her up as though she were his own daughter. He instructed her "in the precepts of religion," and kept everything connected with t ...
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Hannah Cowley (writer)
Hannah Cowley (14 March 1743 – 11 March 1809) was an English playwright and poet. Although Cowley's plays and poetry did not enjoy wide popularity after the 19th century, critic Melinda Finberg rates her as "one of the foremost playwrights of the late eighteenth century" whose "skill in writing fluid, sparkling dialogue and creating sprightly, memorable comic characters compares favourably with her better-known contemporaries, Goldsmith and Sheridan." Cowley's plays were produced frequently in her lifetime. The major themes of her plays – including her first, ''The Runaway'' (1776), and her major success, which is being revived, ''The Belle's Stratagem'' (1780) – revolve around marriage and how women strive to overcome the injustices imposed by family life and social custom. Early success Born Hannah Parkhouse, she was the daughter of Hannah (née Richards) and Philip Parkhouse, a bookseller in Tiverton, Devon. Sources disagree about some details of her married life, cit ...
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