HOME
*





John Richards (actor)
John Richards was an English stage actor of the seventeenth century. An early member of the Duke's Company in London, he was lured away to the new Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin by John Ogilby.Roberts p.143 He was back with the Duke's at the Dorset Garden Theatre from the mid-1670s, but while in Ireland he was able to play major roles his English performances were generally supporting parts. Selected roles * Fryar in ''Romeo and Juliet'' by William Shakespeare (1662) * Castruchio in '' The Duchess of Malfi'' by John Webster (1662) * Pyrrhus in '' Mustapha'' by Roger Boyle (1665) * Zarrack in ''Abdelazer'' by Aphra Behn (1676) * Prating Shop Keeper in '' The Wrangling Lovers'' by Edward Ravenscroft (1676) * Laurence in ''Tom Essence'' by Thomas Rawlins (1676) * Flaile in ''Madam Fickle'' by Thomas D'Urfey (1676) * Shift in ''The Cheats of Scapin'' by Thomas Otway (1676) * Dameta in '' Pastor Fido'' by Elkanah Settle (1676) * Stephano in '' The Rover'' by Aphra Behn (1677) * Spa ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Duke's Company
The Duke's Company was a theatre company chartered by King Charles II at the start of the Restoration era, 1660. Sir William Davenant was manager of the company under the patronage of Prince James, Duke of York. During hats period, theatres began to flourish again after they had been closed from the restrictions throughout the English Civil War and the Interregnum. The Duke's Company existed from 1660 to 1682, when it merged with the King's Company to form the United Company. History The Duke's Company was one of the two theatre companies (the other being the King's Company) that were chartered by King Charles II at the start of the English Restoration era, when the London theatres re-opened after their eighteen-year closure (1642–60) during the English Civil War and the Interregnum. The Duke's Company had the patronage of the King's younger brother Prince James, Duke of York and of Albany (later King James II & VII). It was managed by Sir William Davenant. The ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

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, ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Troilus And Cressida (Dryden Play)
''Troilus And Cressida; Or, Truth Found Too Late'' is a 1679 tragedy by the English writer John Dryden. It was first staged by the Duke's Company at the Dorset Garden Theatre in London. It was a reworking of William Shakespeare's 1602 play ''Troilus and Cressida'', set during the Trojan Wars. In acknowledgement of this Dryden has the prologue spoken by Shakespeare's ghost, defending the alterations made to the play. The original cast included Thomas Betterton as Troilus, William Smith as Hector, Thomas Percival as Priam, Joseph Williams as Aeneas, Anthony Leigh as Pandarus, Thomas Gillow as Agamemnon, Henry Harris as Ulysses, George Bright as Ajax, Henry Norris as Nestor, John Crosby as Diomedes, John Bowman as Patroclus, John Richards as Anthenor, Cave Underhill as Thersites, Mary Lee as Cressida and Mary Betterton Mary Saunderson (1637–1712), later known as Mary Saunderson Betterton after her marriage to Thomas Betterton, was an actress and singer in England dur ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Sir Patient Fancy
''Sir Patient Fancy: A Comedy,'' is a comedic play written by Aphra Behn, first performed in 1678. It is Behn's first overtly political play. It was staged by the Duke's Company at the Dorset Garden Theatre in London with a cast that included Nell Gwyn as Lady Knowell, Anthony Leigh as Sir Patient Fancy, John Crosby as Leander Fancy, Thomas Betterton as Wittmore, William Smith as Lodwick Knowell, James Nokes as Sir Credulous Easy, John Richards as Curry, Elizabeth Currer as Lady Fancy, Mary Betterton as Isabella, Emily Price as Lucretia and Anne Shadwell as Maundy. The play is influenced by Moliere's last play, '' Le malade imaginaire''. Plot Sir Patient Fancy, a hypochondriacal old man, has married the young and beautiful Lucia. She had wanted to marry Charles Wittmore, but neither of them had any money of their own. Charles and Lucia have an affair under Sir Patient's nose. At the end of the play, Lucia and Wittmore reveal to her husband that they are lovers and ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


John Leanerd
John Leanerd (fl. 1679) was a British playwright, notorious as a plagiarist. Works Leanerd published: * ''The Country Innocence, The Country Innocence; or, the Chambermaid turn'd Quaker'', London, a comedy acted at the London Theatre Royal in Lent, 1677, by the younger members of the company. It was ''The Country Girl'' (1647, sometimes attributed to Antony Brewer, Anthony Brewer) under a new title. * ''The Rambling Justice; or, the Jealous Husbands, with the Humours of Sir John Twiford'', performed at the same theatre; the incidents are mostly borrowed from Thomas Middleton's ''More Dissemblers Besides Women'', 1657. To Leanerd has also been ascribed a comedy ''The Counterfeits'', London, 1679, acted at the Duke's Theatre in 1678. The plot was taken from a translated Spanish novel ''The Trepanner Trepanned''. Colley Cibber as author of ''She Would and She Would Not'' either based his play on the same novel, or else borrowed extensively from the comedy. Notes Attribution
[...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




The Counterfeits
''The Counterfeits'' is a 1678 comedy play by the English writer John Leanerd. It was staged by the Duke's Company at the Dorset Garden Theatre with a cast that included Anthony Leigh as Don Gomez, Thomas Gillow as Don Luis, Thomas Betterton as Vitelli, Henry Harris as Antonio, Matthew Medbourne as Carles, William Smith as Peralta, Thomas Percival as Dormilon, Cave Underhill as Fabio, Joseph Williams as Crispin, John Richards as Tonto, Mary Lee as Elvira, Emily Price as Violante and Anne Shadwell Anne Shadwell was an English stage actor of the seventeenth century. She was one of the first English actresses to appear on stage following the Restoration She was one of six actors recruited in 1660 by William Davenant for the new Duke's Company ... as Flora.Van Lennep p.270 References Bibliography * Canfield, J. Douglas. ''Tricksters and Estates: On the Ideology of Restoration Comedy''. University Press of Kentucky, 2014. * Van Lennep, W. ''The London Stage, 1660-1800: Vo ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


The Counterfeit Bridegroom
''The Counterfeit Bridegroom; Or, The Defeated Widow'' is a 1677 comedy play. The work's authorship is usually credited to Aphra Behn has been alternatively been attributed to Thomas Betterton. It was inspired by Thomas Middleton's Jacobean play '' No Wit, No Help Like a Woman's''. It was originally performed by the Duke's Company at the Dorset Garden Theatre in London. The cast included Anthony Leigh as Sir Oliver Santloe, John Bowman as Peter Santloe, Thomas Gillow as Sanders, John Crosby as Noble, Joseph Williams as Hadland, Thomas Percival as Sir Gregory Lovemuch, Henry Norris as Gazer, John Richards as Sam, Anne Shadwell Anne Shadwell was an English stage actor of the seventeenth century. She was one of the first English actresses to appear on stage following the Restoration She was one of six actors recruited in 1660 by William Davenant for the new Duke's Company ... as Clarina, Margaret Osborne as Widow Laudwell and Elizabeth Currer as Mrs Hadland.Van Lennep ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Thomas Porter (dramatist)
Thomas Porter (1636 – 1680) was an English dramatist and duellist. Life He was the fourth son of Endymion Porter and his wife Olivia Boteler, and brother of George Porter. Porter abducted, on 24 February 1655, Anne Blount, daughter of Mountjoy Blount, 1st Earl of Newport. For this, he was for a short time imprisoned, and the contract of marriage was declared null and void by the quarter sessions of Middlesex on 17 July following. A valid marriage subsequently took place, and they had a son George. On 26 March of the same year, Porter killed a soldier named Thomas Salkeld in Covent Garden, probably in a duel, and was consequently tried for murder. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter, was allowed benefit of clergy, and was sentenced to be burned in the hand. On 28 July 1667, Porter had a duel with his friend, Sir Henry Belasyse, fully documented by Samuel Pepys, who remarked on the "silliness of the quarrel". Belasyse was mortally wounded, and Porter, who was also hurt, had to l ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


The French Conjuror
''The French Conjuror'' is a comedy play by the English writer Thomas Porter. It was first staged by the Duke's Company at the Dorset Garden Theatre in London in June 1677. The original cast included Thomas Jevon as Avarito, John Crosby as Claudio, Thomas Gillow as Dorido, Henry Norris as Horatio, Thomas Percival as Truro, Anthony Leigh as Monsieur, John Richards as Audacio, Elizabeth Barry as Clorinia, Margaret Hughes as Leonora and Elinor Leigh Elinor Leigh was a British stage actor of the seventeenth century. Born Elinor Dixon, she was billed as Mrs Leigh or Mrs Lee after she married the actor Anthony Leigh in 1671. This has led to some difficulty distinguishing on playbills between he ... as Scintilla.Van Lennep p.257-58 References Bibliography * Van Lennep, W. ''The London Stage, 1660-1800: Volume One, 1660-1700''. Southern Illinois University Press, 1960. 1677 plays West End plays Plays by Thomas Porter Restoration comedy {{17thC-play-stub ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


A Fond Husband
''A Fond Husband; Or, The Plotting Sisters'' also known as ''The Fond Husband'' is a 1677 comedy play by the English writer Thomas D'Urfey. It was first staged by the Duke's Company at London's Dorset Garden Theatre with a cast that included William Smith as Rashley, Henry Harris as Ranger, James Nokes as Peregrine Bubble, Anthony Leigh as Old Fumble, Samuel Sandford as Sir Roger Petulant, Thomas Jevon as Sneak, John Richards as Spatterdash, Thomas Percival as Apothecary, Elizabeth Barry as Emillia, Rebecca Marshall as Maria and Margaret Hughes Margaret Hughes (29 May 1630 – 1 October 1719), also Peg Hughes or Margaret Hewes, was an English actress who is often credited as the first professional actress on the English stage, as a result of her appearance on 8 December 1660. Hughes ... as Cordelia.Van Lennep p.257 The published version was dedicated to the Irish statesman James Butler, Duke of Ormonde. It was a popular work and was revived on a number of occasions. ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

The Rover (play)
''The Rover or The Banish'd Cavaliers'' is a play in two parts that is written by the English author Aphra Behn. It is a revision of Thomas Killigrew's play '' Thomaso, or The Wanderer'' (1664), and features multiple plot lines, dealing with the amorous adventures of a group of Englishmen and women in Naples at Carnival time. According to Restoration poet John Dryden, it "lacks the manly vitality of Killigrew's play, but shows greater refinement of expression." The play stood for three centuries as "Behn's most popular and most respected play." Characters Women * FLORINDA, Sister to Don Pedro, and Hellena. A very determined woman, Florinda refuses suitors due to her devoted love to Colonel Belville. * HELLENA, a young Woman design’d for a Nun, and Sister to Florinda. A confident, and brave woman like her sister, she questions religion and convinces Willmore to marry her. * VALERIA, a Kinswoman to Florinda who helps Florinda scheme and hide from Pedro. * ANGELLICA BIANCA, a ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Elkanah Settle
Elkanah Settle (1 February 1648 – 12 February 1724) was an English poet and playwright. Biography He was born at Dunstable, and entered Trinity College, Oxford, in 1666, but left without taking a degree. His first tragedy, '' Cambyses, King of Persia'', was produced at Lincoln's Inn Fields in 1667. The success of this play led the Earl of Rochester to encourage the new writer as a rival to John Dryden. Through his influence, Settle's ''The Empress of Morocco'' (1673) was twice performed at Whitehall, and proved a great success. It is said by John Dennis to have been "the first play that was ever sold in England for two shillings, and the first play that was ever printed with cuts." These illustrations represent scenes in the theatre, and make the book very valuable. The play was printed with a preface to the Earl of Norwich, in which Settle described with scorn the effusive dedications of other dramatic poets. Dryden was obviously aimed at, and he co-operated with John Cr ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]