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John Leigh (18th-century Actor)
John Leigh (1689–1726) was an Irish actor and dramatist. Stage career Leigh appeared as Demetrius in Thomas Shadwell's adaptation of ''Timon of Athens'', produced at Dublin's Smock Alley Theatre in 1714. Recruited by John Rich for London's newly erected theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields, he played there on the opening night, 18 December 1714, as Captain Plume in ''The Recruiting Officer'' by George Farquhar. Leigh remained at Lincoln's Inn until his death, and played some original parts.Among those were Charles Heartfree in Benjamin Griffin's '' Whig and Tory'', 26 January 1720; Osmin in '' The Fair Captive'' by Robert Hurst, adapted by Eliza Haywood, 4 March 1721; High Priest in Elijah Fenton's ''Mariamne'', 22 February 1723, and a Christian Hermit in Hurst's ''Roman Maid''. The last part to which Leigh's name appears is Phorbas in ''Œdipus'', 14 April 1726. On 26 November 1719 Leigh acted Lord George Belmour in his own comedy ''The Pretenders'' (published 1720), original tit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Shadwell
Thomas Shadwell ( – 19 November 1692) was an English poet and playwright who was appointed Poet Laureate in 1689. Life Shadwell was born at either Bromehill Farm, Weeting-with-Broomhill or Santon House, Lynford, Norfolk, and educated at Bury St Edmunds School, and at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, which he entered in 1656. He left the university without a degree, and joined the Middle Temple. At the Whig triumph in 1688, he superseded John Dryden as poet laureate and historiographer royal. He died at Chelsea on 19 November 1692.Thomas Shadwell He was buried in , but his tomb was destroyed by wartime bombing. A memorial to him with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Dryden
'' John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden. Romanticist writer Sir Walter Scott called him "Glorious John". Early life Dryden was born in the village rectory of Aldwincle near Thrapston in Northamptonshire, where his maternal grandfather was the rector of All Saints. He was the eldest of fourteen children born to Erasmus Dryden and wife Mary Pickering, paternal grandson of Sir Erasmus Dryden, 1st Barone t (1553–1632), and wife Frances Wilkes, Puritan landowning gentry who supported the Puritan cause and Parliament. He was a second cousin once removed of Jonathan Swift. As a boy, Dryden lived in the nearby village of Titchmarsh, where it is likely that he received his first education. In 1644 he was sent to Westminst ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nat Lee
Nathaniel Lee (c. 1653 – 6 May 1692) was an English dramatist. He was the son of Dr Richard Lee, a Presbyterian clergyman who was rector of Hatfield and held many preferments under the Commonwealth; Dr Lee was chaplain to George Monck, afterwards Duke of Albemarle, but after the Restoration he conformed to the Church of England, and withdrew his approval for Charles I's execution. Lee was educated at Westminster School (though some sources say Charterhouse School), and at Trinity College, Cambridge, taking his B.A. degree in 1668. Coming to London, perhaps under the patronage of George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, he tried to earn his living as an actor, but acute stage fright made this impossible. His earliest play, ''Nero, Emperor of Rome'', was acted in 1675 at Drury Lane. Two tragedies written in rhymed heroic couplets, in imitation of John Dryden, followed in 1676: '' Sophonisba, or Hannibal's Overthrow'' and '' Gloriana, or the Court of Augustus Caesar''. Both are ex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Love's Last Shift
''Love's Last Shift, or The Fool in Fashion'' is an English Restoration comedy by Colley Cibber from 1696. The play is regarded as an early herald of a shift in audience tastes away from the intellectualism and sexual frankness of Restoration comedy and towards the conservative certainties and gender role backlash of sentimental comedy. It is often described as "opportunistic" (Hume), containing as it does something for everybody: daring Restoration comedy sex scenes, sentimental reconciliations, and broad farce. Character list Men:Cibber, Colley. Love's last shift: or, the fool in fashion. A comedy, as it is acted at the Theatre Royal in Drury-Lane, by Their Majesties servants. Written by C. Cibber. London, 1735. Eighteenth Century Collections Online. Gale. 27 Sept. 2009 . * Sir William Wisewoud, a rich old gentleman who fancies himself a great master of his passion, which he only is in trivial matters * Loveless, of a debauched life, grew weary of his wife in six months; l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Fletcher (playwright)
John Fletcher (1579–1625) was a Jacobean playwright. Following William Shakespeare as house playwright for the King's Men, he was among the most prolific and influential dramatists of his day; during his lifetime and in the early Restoration, his fame rivalled Shakespeare's. He collaborated on writing plays with Francis Beaumont, and also with Shakespeare on three plays. Though his reputation has declined since, Fletcher remains an important transitional figure between the Elizabethan popular tradition and the popular drama of the Restoration. Biography Early life Fletcher was born in December 1579 (baptised 20 December) in Rye, Sussex, and died of the plague in August 1625 (buried 29 August in St. Saviour's, Southwark). His father Richard Fletcher was an ambitious and successful cleric who was in turn Dean of Peterborough, Bishop of Bristol, Bishop of Worcester and Bishop of London (shortly before his death), as well as chaplain to Queen Elizabeth. As Dean of Pete ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
First Part Of King Henry IV
''Henry IV, Part 1'' (often written as ''1 Henry IV'') is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written no later than 1597. The play dramatises part of the reign of King Henry IV of England, beginning with the battle at Homildon Hill late in 1402, and ending with King Henry's victory in the Battle of Shrewsbury in mid-1403. In parallel to the political conflict between King Henry and a rebellious faction of nobles, the play depicts the escapades of King Henry's son, Prince Hal (the future King Henry V), and his eventual return to court and favour. ''Henry IV, Part 1'' is the first of Shakespeare's two plays which deal with the reign of Henry IV (the other being '' Henry IV, Part 2''), and the second play in the Henriad, a modern designation for the tetralogy of plays that deal with the successive reigns of Richard II, Henry IV, and Henry V. From its first performance on, it has been an extremely popular work both with the public and critics. Characters ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Titus Andronicus
''Titus Andronicus'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written between 1588 and 1593, probably in collaboration with George Peele. It is thought to be Shakespeare's first tragedy and is often seen as his attempt to emulate the violent and bloody revenge plays of his contemporaries, which were extremely popular with audiences throughout the 16th century. Titus Andronicus (character), Titus, a Legatus, general in the Roman army, presents Tamora, Queen of the Goths, as a slave to the new Roman emperor, Saturninus. Saturninus takes her as his wife. From this position, Tamora vows revenge against Titus for killing her son. Titus and his family retaliate. ''Titus Andronicus'' was initially very popular, but by the later 17th century it was not well esteemed. The Victorian era disapproved of it, largely because of its graphic violence. Its reputation began to improve around the middle of the 20th century,Massai (2001: xxi) but it is stil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Troilus And Cressida
''Troilus and Cressida'' ( or ) is a play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1602. At Troy during the Trojan War, Troilus and Cressida begin a love affair. Cressida is forced to leave Troy to join her father in the Greek camp. Meanwhile, the Greeks endeavour to lessen the pride of Achilles. The tone alternates between bawdy comedy and tragic gloom. Readers and theatre-goers have frequently found it difficult to understand how they are meant to respond to the characters. Frederick S. Boas has labelled it one of Shakespeare's problem plays. In recent years it has "stimulated exceptionally lively critical debate". Characters The Trojans * Priam, King of Troy * Priam's children: Cassandra (a prophetess), Hector, Troilus, Paris, Deiphobus, Helenus, and Margarelon (bastard) * Andromache, Hector's wife * Aeneas, a commander and leader * Antenor, another commander * Calchas, a Trojan priest who is taking part with the Greeks * Cressida, Calchas's daughter * Alexander, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas D'Urfey
Thomas d'Urfey (a.k.a. Tom Durfey; 165326 February 1723) was an English writer and wit. He wrote plays, songs, jokes, and poems. He was an important innovator and contributor in the evolution of the ballad opera. Life D'Urfey was born in Devonshire and began his professional life as a scrivener, but quickly turned to the theatre. In personality, he was considered so affable and amusing that he could make friends with nearly everyone, including such disparate characters as Charles II of England and his brother James II, and in all layers of society. D'Urfey lived in an age of self-conscious elitism and anti-egalitarianism, a reaction against the "leveling" tendencies of the previous Puritan reign during the Interregnum. D'Urfey participated in the Restoration's dominant atmosphere of social climbing: he claimed to be of French Huguenot descent, though he might not have been; and he added an apostrophe to the plain English name Durfey when he was in his 30s. He wrote 500 songs, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Double Dealer
''The Double Dealer'' is a comic play written by English playwright William Congreve, first produced in 1693. Henry Purcell set it to music. Characters and plot This comedy sees character Mellefont, nephew and prospective heir of Lord Touchwood, about to marry Cynthia, daughter of Sir Paul Plyant. Lady Touchwood, a violent and dissolute woman, is in love with Mellefont, but as he rejects her advances, determines to prevent the match and ruin him in Lord Touchwood's esteem. In this design she finds a confederate in Maskwell, the Double Dealer, who has been her lover, pretends to be Mellefont's friend, and aspires to cheat him of Cynthia and get her for himself. To this end he leads Plyant to suspect an intrigue between Mellefont and Lady Plyant, and Touchwood an intrigue between Mellefont and Lady Touchwood; and contrives that Touchwood shall find Mellefont in the latter's chamber. Mellefont is disinherited and Cynthia is to be made over to Maskwell. The latter's plot, however ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cato, A Tragedy
''Cato, a Tragedy'' is a play written by Joseph Addison in 1712 and first performed on 14 April 1713. It is based on the events of the last days of Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis (better known as Cato the Younger) (95–46 BC), a Stoic whose deeds, rhetoric and resistance to the tyranny of Julius Caesar made him an icon of republicanism, virtue, and liberty. Addison's play deals with many themes such as individual liberty versus government tyranny, republicanism versus monarchism, logic versus emotion, and Cato's personal struggle to hold to his beliefs in the face of death. The play has a prologue written by Alexander Pope and an epilogue by Samuel Garth. Premiering at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane the original cast featured Barton Booth as Cato, Theophilus Keene as Lucius, John Mills as Sempronius, Robert Wilks as Juba, Colley Cibber as Syphax, George Powell as Portius, Lacy Ryan as Marcus, John Bowman as Decius, Anne Oldfield as Marcia and Mary Porter as Lucia. The play was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christopher Bullock (actor)
Christopher Bullock (1690–1722) was a British stage actor and dramatist. Bullock was the son of the actor William Bullock, and during his early years on the stage was often billed as Young Bullock to distinguish him from his father. He likely made his stage debut in a performance of ''The Recruiting Officer'' at the Queen's Theatre in Haymarket, London in 1707. Over the following decade and a half he also appeared frequently at Drury Lane and the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre, and was considered a potential natural successor to Colley Cibber in fop roles. In 1717 he and Theophilus Keene took over the management of Lincoln's Inn from John Rich for a period. Bullock married the actress Jane Rogers in 1717, with whom he had three children. Between 1715 and 1718 he also authored severals plays, mainly farces, beginning with an afterpiece '' The Slip''. His sole attempt at a tragedy was '' The Traitor''.Highfill, Burnim & Langhans p.400 In 1720 he relinquished his management role ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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