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Cyrus The Great (play)
''Cyrus the Great'' is a 1695 tragedy by the British writer John Banks. It was his final work, although his earlier '' The Island Queens'' was staged several years later. Set at the court of the Persian Emperor Cyrus the Great, it was staged by Thomas Betterton's Company having previously been rejected by the United Company. John Downes described it as one of the "principal new plays" of the decade, although it did not enjoy many performances on stage. The original cast included Thomas Smith as Cyaxeres, Edward Kynaston as Hystaspes, John Bowman as Craesus, John Thurmond as Artabasus, Elizabeth Barry as Panthea and Anne Bracegirdle Anne Bracegirdle (possibly 167112 September 1748) was an English actress. Biography Bracegirdle was born to Justinian and Martha (born Furniss) Bracegirdle in Northamptonshire. She was baptised in Northampton on 15 November 1671, although her to ... as Lausaria. The play used the innovation of casting Barry as the romantic object of Cyrus' love, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Banks (playwright)
John Banks (1650–1706) was an English playwright of the Restoration era. His works concentrated on historical dramas, and his plays were twice suppressed because of their implications, or supposed implications, for the contemporaneous political situation. Virtually nothing is known about Banks's early life; his date of birth has been estimated on the basis of his later biography. He studied law at the New Inn, one of the minor Inns of Chancery attached to the Middle Temple. Banks's first play was ''The Rival Kings'' of 1677, written in imitation of Nathaniel Lee's ''The Rival Queens'' of the same year. Banks followed this with '' The Destruction of Troy'', which was staged by the Duke's Company at the Dorset Garden Theatre in November 1678 and printed the following year. '' The Unhappy Favourite, or the Earl of Essex'' (1682), for which John Dryden provided a prologue and epilogue, was his first major success. ''Virtue Betrayed, or Anna Bullen'', published the same year ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Kynaston (actor)
Edward Kynaston (c. 1640 – January 1706) was an English actor, one of the last Restoration "boy players", young male actors who played women's roles. Career Kynaston was good looking and made a convincing woman: Samuel Pepys called him "the loveliest lady that ever I saw in my life" after seeing him in a production of John Fletcher's ''The Loyal Subject'' at the Cockpit-in-Court, "only her voice snot very good". He also played the title role in Ben Jonson's '' Epicoene''. Pepys had dinner with Kynaston after this production on 18 August 1660. Simultaneously, Kynaston played male roles as well. He filled the role of Otto in ''Rollo Duke of Normandy'' on 6 December 1660, having played the female role of Arthiope in the same play in previous weeks. On 7 January 1661, Kynaston played three roles in a performance of Jonson's '' Epicoene'', one female and two male. Part of Kynaston's appeal may have been his ambiguous sexuality. The actor Colley Cibber recalled: "the Ladies of ... [...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] |
1695 Plays
It was also a particularly cold and wet year. Contemporary records claim that wine froze in the glasses in the Palace of Versailles. Events January–March * January 7 (December 28, 1694 O.S.) – The United Kingdom's last joint monarchy, the reign of husband-and-wife King William III and Queen Mary II comes to an end with the death of Queen Mary, at the age of 32. Princess Mary had been installed as the monarch along with her husband and cousin, Willem Hendrik von Oranje, Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, in 1689 after King James II was deposed by Willem during the "Glorious Revolution". * January 14 (January 4 O.S.) – The Royal Navy warship HMS ''Nonsuch'' is captured near England's Isles of Scilly by the 48-gun French privateer ''Le Francois''. ''Nonsuch'' is then sold to the French Navy and renamed ''Le Sans Pareil''. * January 24 – Milan's Court Theater is destroyed in a fire. * January 27 – A flotilla of six Royal Navy warships under the command of Commodo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anne Bracegirdle
Anne Bracegirdle (possibly 167112 September 1748) was an English actress. Biography Bracegirdle was born to Justinian and Martha (born Furniss) Bracegirdle in Northamptonshire. She was baptised in Northampton on 15 November 1671, although her tombstone says that she died at the age of 85 (suggesting that she was born around 1663)."Anne was baptized, probably as an infant, at St Giles, Northampton, on 15 November 1671 and was about seventy-seven when she died in 1748, rather than eighty-five, as recorded on her tombstone in Westminster Abbey." J. Milling, "Bracegirdle, Anne (bap. 1671, d. 1748)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Sept 201accessed 1 June 2012/ref> She was probably raised by actors Thomas and Mary Betterton from an early age,J. Milling, "Bracegirdle, Anne (bap. 1671, d. 1748)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Sept 201accessed 1 June 2012/ref> and it is speculated tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elizabeth Barry
Elizabeth Barry (1658 – 7 November 1713) was an English actress of the Restoration period. Elizabeth Barry's biggest influence on Restoration drama was her presentation of performing as the tragic actress. She worked in large, prestigious London theatre companies throughout her successful career: from 1675 in the Duke's Company, 1682 – 1695 in the monopoly United Company, and from 1695 onwards as a member of the actors' cooperative usually known as Betterton's Company, of which she was one of the original shareholders. Her stage career began 15 years after the first-ever professional actresses had replaced Shakespeare's boy heroines on the London stage. The actor Thomas Betterton said that her acting gave "success to plays that would disgust the most patient reader", and the critic and playwright John Dennis described her as "that incomparable Actress changing like Nature which she represents, from Passion to Passion, from Extream to Extream, with piercing Force and w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Thurmond
John Thurmond (died 1727) was a British stage actor. To distinguish him from his son, also an actor named John, he is sometimes called John Thurmond the Elder. His earliest known stage performance was in 1695, when he played in '' Cyrus the Great'' with Thomas Betterton's troupe at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre. Around 1699 he joined the Smock Alley Theatre where he acted alongside his wife Winifred. By 1708 he was back in London with the Drury Lane Theatre. He died on 7 September 1727 the same night he had been due to appear in '' Othello''. He was buried in St Paul's, Covent Garden, alongside his wife Winifred who died in 1736.Highfill, Burnim & Langhans p.431 Selected roles *Artabasus in '' Cyrus the Great'' by John Banks (1695) * Frederick in '' The She-Gallants'' by George Granville (1695) * Freindly ''The City Bride'' by Joseph Harris (1696) * Rodrigo in ''The Italian Husband'' by Edward Ravenscroft (1697) * Bellgard in '' Fatal Friendship'' by Catharine Trotter Co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Bowman (actor)
John Bowman (1651–1739) was a British stage actor.''The Routledge Anthology of Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Drama'' p.XXXVIII He began his career in the Duke's Company at the Dorset Garden Theatre. In 1692 he married Elizabeth Watson, who acted under the name Elizabeth Bowman. He later switched to act at the Drury Lane Theatre. He is also referred to as John Boman. Selected roles * Peter Santloe in ''The Counterfeit Bridegroom'' by Aphra Behn (1677) * Saunter in '' Friendship in Fashion'' by Thomas Otway (1678) * Patroclus in '' The Destruction of Troy'' by John Banks (1678) * Pisander in '' The Loyal General'' by Nahum Tate (1679) * Crotchett '' The Virtuous Wife'' by Thomas D'Urfey (1679) * Patroclus in ''Troilus and Cressida'' by John Dryden (1679) * Mr Shatter in '' The Revenge'' by Aphra Behn (1680) * Duke of Clarence in ''The Misery of Civil War'' by John Crowne (1680) * Atticus in ''Theodosius'' by Nathaniel Lee (1680) * Dreswell in ''The City Heiress'' by Aphra Be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Smith (actor)
Thomas Smith (died 1766) was a British stage actor of the eighteenth century. He first joined the Drury Lane company in the late seventeenth century. He spent time at the Queen's Theatre in Haymarket and in 1715 joined John Rich's company at Lincoln's Inn Fields. He remained with the company, although acting elsewhere such as Dublin's Smock Alley Theatre, until 1728. There another Smith, named Charles, at the company in his latter years and their roles are sometimes confused. After leaving Lincoln's Inn, Thomas Smith moved to the Haymarket Theatre and then to Goodman's Fields where he acted in Henry Giffard's company until 1733. His daughter, was also an actress, making her debut at Lincoln's Inn Fields in 1716.Highfill, Burnim & Langhans p.162 Selected roles * Cyaxeres in '' Cyrus the Great'' by John Banks (1695) * Peter in '' Imposture Defeated'' by George Powell (1697) * Brisson in ''The Unhappy Penitent'' by Catherine Trotter (1701) * Phorbas in ''The Virgin Prophetess' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre
Lisle's Tennis Court was a building off Portugal Street in Lincoln's Inn Fields in London. Originally built as a real tennis court, it was used as a playhouse during two periods, 1661–1674 and 1695–1705. During the early period, the theatre was called Lincoln's Inn Fields Playhouse, also known as The Duke's Playhouse, The New Theatre or The Opera. The building was demolished and replaced by a purpose-built theatre for a third period, 1714–1728. The tennis court theatre was the first public playhouse in London to feature the moveable scenery that would become a standard feature of Restoration theatres. Historical background The period beginning in England in 1642 and lasting until 1660 is known as the Interregnum, meaning "between kings." At this time, there was no monarch on the throne, and theatre was against the law. Spanning from 1642 to 1649, the English Civil War occurred. This war was an uprising against the current King of England, King Charles ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Downes (prompter)
John Downes (died c. 1712) worked as a prompter at the Duke's Company, and later the United Company, for most of the Restoration period 1660–1700. His "historical review of the stage", ''Roscius Anglicanus'' (1708), is an invaluable source for historians both of Restoration and of Stuart theater. Downes first enters the theatrical record in 1664, when he was registered by the Lord Chamberlain as a member of William Davenant's troupe under the patronage of the Duke of York. By his own admission, stage fright kept him from an acting career, although he is known to have played Haly in ''The Siege of Rhodes''. Later in the 1660s, he is recorded as a member of Thomas Betterton's King's Company; his main work seems to have been as prompter. He continued in this function when the two companies united in 1682; when the companies split in 1694, he remained with Betterton until the middle of the next decade. He is the subject of a number of the ''Tatler''; in this letter from Downes (pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Company
The United Company was a London theatre company formed in 1682 with the merger of the King's Company and the Duke's Company. Both the Duke's and King's Companies suffered poor attendance during the turmoil of the Popish Plot period, 1678–81. When the King's Company fell into difficulties due to mismanagement, the Duke's Company joined with them to form the United Company in 1682, managed by the Duke's Company leaders. The United Company began performances in November 1682. The King's Company theatre, the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane, was used mainly for plays, while the Duke's Dorset Garden Theatre was devoted to operas and spectaculars. The company began performing in November 1682 at Drury Lane. In February 1685 the theatre was closed by the death of Charles II, and reopened in January 1688 under the patronage of James II. The succession of William III and Mary II in 1689 brought no Royal patronage and a decline in interest in theatre.''The Cambridge History of Briti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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