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Sophonisba (Thomson Play)
''Sophonisba'' is a 1730 tragedy by the British writer James Thomson. It is based on the story of the Carthaginian noblewoman Sophonisba who committed suicide rather than be paraded in a Roman triumph at the end of the Second Punic War.Gerrard p.145 The story has been made into a number of plays including Nathaniel Lee's restoration tragedy ''Sophonisba'' and Voltaire's later '' Sophonisbe''. The original Drury Lane cast included Robert Wilks as Masinissa, John Mills as Syphax, Charles Williams as Scipio, John Roberts as Narva, Roger Bridgewater as Laelius and Anne Oldfield Anne Oldfield (168323 October 1730) was an English actress and one of the highest paid actresses of her time. Early life and discovery She was born in London in 1683. Her father was a soldier, James Oldfield. Her mother was either Anne or Eliz ... as Sophonisba. References Bibliography * Baines, Paul & Ferarro, Julian & Rogers, Pat. ''The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Eighteenth-Century Writers and ... [...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] |
Robert Wilks
Robert Wilks (''c.'' 1665 – 27 September 1732) was a British actor and theatrical manager who was one of the leading managers of Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in its heyday of the 1710s. He was, with Colley Cibber and Thomas Doggett, one of the "triumvirate" of actor-managers that was denounced by Alexander Pope and caricatured by William Hogarth as leaders of the decline in theatrical standards and degradation of the stage's literary tradition. The family was based for many generations in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire. His great-uncle, Judge Wilks, had served Charles I of England during the English Civil War, for whom he raised a troop at his own expense. After Oliver Cromwell won the civil war, Wilks' father moved to Dublin, where Robert Wilks was born. He was a clerk to Robert Southwell until he joined the Williamite army. As soon as he was discharged from the army, he worked in the Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin from 1691 to 1693. According to Wilks's version of the story ... [...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] |
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] |
British Plays
British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, the English language as spoken and written in the United Kingdom or, more broadly, throughout the British Isles * Celtic Britons, an ancient ethno-linguistic group * Brittonic languages, a branch of the Insular Celtic language family (formerly called British) ** Common Brittonic, an ancient language Other uses *''Brit(ish)'', a 2018 memoir by Afua Hirsch *People or things associated with: ** Great Britain, an island ** United Kingdom, a sovereign state ** Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1800) ** United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801–1922) See also * Terminology of the British Isles * Alternative names for the British * English (other) * Britannic (other) * British Isles * Brit (other) * Briton (d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1730 Plays
Year 173 ( CLXXIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Pompeianus (or, less frequently, year 926 '' Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 173 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * Gnaeus Claudius Severus and Tiberius Claudius Pompeianus become Roman Consuls. * Given control of the Eastern Empire, Avidius Cassius, the governor of Syria, crushes an insurrection of shepherds known as the Boukoloi. Births * Maximinus Thrax ("the Thracian"), Roman emperor (d. 238) * Mi Heng, Chinese writer and musician (d. 198) Deaths * Donatus of Muenstereifel, Roman soldier and martyr (b. AD 140 Year 140 ( CXL) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anne Oldfield
Anne Oldfield (168323 October 1730) was an English actress and one of the highest paid actresses of her time. Early life and discovery She was born in London in 1683. Her father was a soldier, James Oldfield. Her mother was either Anne or Elizabeth Blanchard. Her grandfather owned a tavern and left her father several properties, he however mortgaged these which resulted in Anne and her mother being placed in financial difficulty when he died young. It appears that Oldfield received some education because her biographers state that she read widely in her youth. Oldfield and her mother went to live with her aunt, Mrs Voss, in the Mitre tavern, St James. In 1699, she attracted George Farquhar's attention when he overheard her reciting lines from Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher's play ''The Scornful Lady'' (1616) in a back room of her tavern. Soon after, she was hired by Christopher Rich to join the cast of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Career A year later she was cast in he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roger Bridgewater
Roger Bridgewater (died 1754) was a British stage actor of the eighteenth century.''The Routledge Anthology of Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Drama'' p.XXXIX He worked as party of the Drury Lane company for many years, specialising in dramatic roles, before switching to Covent Garden in 1734. In later years he frequently played Falstaff. Selected roles * Earl of Northumberland in ''Sir Thomas Overbury'' by Richard Savage (1723) * Captain Gaylove in '' A Wife to be Let'' by Eliza Haywood (1723) * Orbasius in '' The Captives'' by John Gay (1724) * Ulysses in ''Hecuba'' by Richard West (1726) * Count Basset in ''The Provoked Husband'' by Colley Cibber (1728) * Malvil in '' Love in Several Masques'' by Henry Fielding (1728) * Timophanes in ''Timoleon'' by Benjamin Martyn (1730) * Lord Briton in '' Bayes's Opera'' by Gabriel Odingsells (1730) * Shamwell in '' The Humours of Oxford'' by James Miller (1730) * Laelius in ''Sophonisba'' by James Thomson (1730) * Athelwold in ''A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Roberts (stage Actor)
John Roberts was a British stage actor of the eighteenth century. During the early 1720s he was a member of the Drury Lane company. He then left the company for a number of years before returning in 1728. He remained in the Dury Lane company until 1734, but also made appearances at the Haymarket Theatre and in summer performances at Bartholomew Fair. From 1734 he primarily appeared at the Covent Garden Theatre. His career was generally overshadowed by that of his wife, billed as Mrs Roberts during their marriage.Highfill, Burnim & Langhans p.10 Selected roles * Messenger in '' The Briton'' by Ambrose Philips (1722) * Roberto in ''Love in a Forest'' by Charles Johnson (1723) * First Centurion in ''Caesar in Egypt'' by Colley Cibber (1724) * Talthybius in ''Hecuba'' by Richard West (1726) * Old Apeall in ''The Humours of Oxford'' by Charles Johnson (1730) * Aeschylus in ''Timoleon'' by Benjamin Martyn (1730) * Narva in ''Sophonisba'' by James Thomson (1730) * Trapwell in ''Pasqui ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Williams (stage Actor)
Charles Williams (1693–1731) was a British stage actor. Williams joined the company at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in 1718 and remained with it to his death in the year of his 38th birthday.Brean p.173 Selected roles * Lorenzo in '' Love in a Veil'' by Richard Savage (1718) * Herbis in ''The Siege of Damascus'' by John Hughes (1720) * Alan in '' The Briton'' by Ambrose Philips (1722) * Earl of Warwick in ''Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester'' by Ambrose Philips (1723) * Ammon in '' The Fatal Constancy'' by Hildebrand Jacob (1723) * Duke Frederick in '' Love in a Forest'' by Charles Johnson (1723) * Araxes in '' The Captives'' by John Gay (1724) * Decius in ''Caesar in Egypt'' by Colley Cibber (1724) * Julio in ''Double Falsehood'' by Lewis Theobald (1727) * Amyntas in ''Love in a Riddle'' by Colley Cibber (1729) * Freeman in '' The Village Opera'' by Charles Johnson (1729) * Scipio in ''Sophonisba'' by James Thomson (1730) * Dinarchus in ''Timoleon'' by Benjamin Martyn Benj ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Mills (stage Actor)
John Mills (c.1670–1736) was a British stage actor. A long-standing part of the Drury Lane company from 1695 until his death, he appeared in both comedies and tragedies. His wife Margaret Mills was an actress, and his son William Mills also became an actor at Drury Lane. He was a friend of the playwright Richard Steele and Robert Wilks the lead actor and manager at Drury Lane with whom he frequently appeared on stage. He died on 17 December 1736, thirteen days after performing in his final role as the King in '' Henry IV, Part 2''.Highfill, Burnim & Langhans p.249 Selected roles * Pedro in '' Agnes de Castro'' by Catherine Trotter (1695) * Castillio in ''Neglected Virtue'' by Charles Hopkins (1696) * Pisano in ''The Unhappy Kindness'' by Thomas Scott (1696) * Lovewell in ''Love and a Bottle'' by George Farquhar (1698) * Colonel Darange in '' The Campaigners'' by Thomas D'Urfey (1698) * Vizard in ''The Constant Couple'' by George Farquhar (1699) * Don Duart in ''Love Makes a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sophonisbe (tragedy)
'' Sophonisbe '' is a tragedy in five acts by Voltaire. The play, printed in 1769 but dated 1770, was a stage failure when it premiered on 15 January 1774. Action The action takes places in a hall of the palace of Cirta at the time if the Second Punic War. Sophonisbe, daughter of Asdrubal (Hasdrubal) is married to king Siphax ( Syphax) of Numidia. Her former fiancé Massinisse (Massinissa) defeats and kills Siphax with the help of the Romans and wants to marry Sophonisbe; Scipion (Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus) however wants her sent to Rome. Massinisse therefore kills both Sophonisbe and himself.Vgl. Siegfried Detemple: ''Sophonisbe'', in: ''Voltaire: Die Werke. Katalog zum 300. Geburtstag.'' Reichert, Wiesbaden 1994, pp.220f. Literary sources The material for the plot derives from accounts by Titus Livius, Polybius and Appian, which had already been adapted into stage plays by a number of writers including Gian Giorgio Trissino (1514), Jean Mairet (1629), Pierre Corn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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