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The Squire Of Alsatia
''The Squire of Alsatia'' is a 1688 comedy play by the English writer Thomas Shadwell. Alsatia was a nickname for the Whitefriars area of London, deriving from Alsace in northeastern France. A restoration comedy, it was performed at the Drury Lane Theatre by the United Company following on from John Crowne's ''Darius, King of Persia''. One of the best-remembered roles, that of the shrewish Mrs. Termagant was first performed by Elizabeth Boutell. It was revived numerous times during the eighteenth century. The original Drury Lane cast included Anthony Leigh as Sir William Belfond, Philip Griffin as Sir Edward Belfond, Thomas Jevon as Belford senior, William Mountfort as Belfont junior, John Bowman as Trueman, Samuel Sandford as Cheatly, George Powell as Shamwell, George Bright as Captain Hackum, Martin Powell as Attorney, John Freeman as Scrapeall, Cave Underhill as Lolpoop, John Verbruggen as Termagant, Frances Maria Knight as Teresia, Susanna Verbruggen as Isabella, Ann ... [...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 At the Whig triumph in 1688, he superseded John Dryden as poet laureate and historiographer royal.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] |
Thomas Jevon
Thomas Jevon (1652–1688) was an English playwright, and one of the first English Harlequins. He began his career as a dancing master, but worked his way onto the stage, and played leading low-comedy parts in London between 1673 and 1688. His brother-in-law was the English playwright and poet laureate Thomas Shadwell. Jevon's only published play, the farce '' The Devil of a Wife, or, a Comical Transformation'' (with a plot borrowed from a Philip Sidney story, and possibly some assistance from Shadwell), was performed in 1686 at Dorset Garden, where Jevon usually acted. Jevon and George Powell played the two leading roles, and the piece achieved great success. Various versions with added music appeared later, and Charles Coffey Charles Coffey (late 17th century – 13 May 1745) was an Irish playwright, opera librettist and arranger of music from Westmeath. Following the initial failure of his ballad opera '' The Beggar’s Wedding'' (Dublin, Smock Alley Theatre, 24 Ma ... us ... [...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] |
1688 Plays
Events January–March * January 2 – Fleeing from the Spanish Navy, French pirate Raveneau de Lussan and his 70 men arrive on the west coast of Nicaragua, sink their boats, and make a difficult 10 day march to the city of Ocotal. * January 5 – Pirates Charles Swan and William Dampier and the crew of the privateer ''Cygnet'' become the first Englishmen to set foot on the continent of Australia. * January 11 – The Patta Fort and the Avandha Fort, located in what is now India's Maharashtra state near Ahmednagar, are captured from the Maratha clan by Mughul Army commander Matabar Khan. The Mughal Empire rules the area 73 years. * January 17 – Ilona Zrínyi, who has defended the Palanok Castle in Hungary from Austrian Imperial forces since 1685, is forced to surrender to General Antonio Caraffa. * January 29 – Madame Jeanne Guyon, French mystic, is arrested in France and imprisoned for seven months. * January 30 (January 20, 1687 old styl ... [...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] |
Susanna Verbruggen
Susanna Verbruggen (née Percival) (c. 1667–1703), aka Susanna Mountfort, was an England, English actress working in London. Life She was the daughter of Thomas Percival (actor), Thomas Percival, a member of the Duke's Company for more than a decade. Her first recorded stage appearance may have been as early as 1681 in Thomas D'Urfey, D'Urfey's ''Sir Barnaby Whigg''. In 1686 she married the actor William Mountfort, and after Mountfort's infamous murder in 1692, she married the actor John Verbruggen. She was a successful and popular comedian, known especially for her breeches roles. Her greatest success was as the main character Lucia in Thomas Southerne's ''Sir Anthony Love'', where Lucia partakes of the freedom of the roistering English Restoration, Restoration Rake (character), rake by disguising herself as "Sir Anthony". Both men and women in the audience loved her performance in these types of roles. She was one of the leading actresses at the United Company, but when the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Verbruggen
John Baptista Verbruggen, d. 1708, was an English actor working in London. Verbruggen is first mentioned as a member of the United Company in a Lord Chamberlain's warrant in 1688. His name does not appear in any cast lists until October 1690. The ''Biographical Dictionary of Actors'' contains an inconclusive discussion of the statement in Thomas Davies's ''Dramatic Miscellanies'' (1784) that Verbruggen was identical to the actor referred to in 1680s and 90s cast lists as "Mr. Alexander", supposedly an alias based on the part of Alexander the Great in John Dryden's '' Rival Queens''. The evidence is confusing, and there is no independent support for Davies's anecdote, written down a century later. Verbruggen had never played the part of Alexander the Great and was not to do so until January 1703. One reason for Verbruggen to use a different name might have been that his own was often misspelled: Verbrugen, Verbrogell, Verkruggan, Verbrugger. As "John Verbuggin", he is recorded as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cave Underhill
Cave Underhill (1634–1710?) was an English actor in comedy roles. Underhill entertained three generations of London theatre-goers. For over 40 years, as a member of the Duke's Company, Underhill played the first Gravedigger in ''Hamlet''. He was also successful in playing Gregory in ''Romeo and Juliet'', the clown in ''Twelfth Night'', and Trinculo in '' The Tempest''. Early life The son of Nicholas Underhill, a clothworker, he was born in St. Andrew's parish, Holborn, London, on 17 March 1634, and was admitted to Merchant Taylors' School in January 1645. He became first a member of the acting company which was gathered by John Rhodes. around Thomas Betterton. He was then recruited for Sir William D'Avenant and the Duke of York's company at the theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields. In 1663 he was fined in an assault case, with Betterton and James Noke. Stage career The first character to which Underhill's name appears is Sir Morglay Thwack in D'Avenant's comedy ''The Wits'', re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martin Powell (actor)
Martin Powell was an English stage actor of the seventeenth century. Powell was a member of the King's Company from 1669 onwards at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London. He was one of several actors who briefly left for Scotland in 1678 after a dispute with the management, before returning to Drury Lane. In 1682 he joined the merged United Company. Billed throughout his career as Mr. Powell, some of his later appearances can be confused with those of his son George Powell. In 1675 along with John Coysh he appeared in a private production of John Dryden's '' The Indian Emperour'' staged by the Duchess of Portsmouth and an otherwise amateur cast.Walkling p.78 Selected roles * Gomel in '' The Conquest of Granada'' by John Dryden (1670) * Larasco in '' The Spanish Rogue'' by Thomas Duffet (1673) * Furfante in ''The Amorous Old Woman'' by Thomas Duffett (1674) * Mirmilon in ''Nero'' by Nathaniel Lee (1674) * Proveditor in '' Love in the Dark'' by Francis Fane (1675) * Costard i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Bright (actor)
George Bright was an English stage actor of the seventeenth and early eighteenth century. He specialised in playing "comic dullards, fops and bouncy servants".Hughes p.197 After beginning his career in Dublin he joined the Duke's Company at the Dorset Garden Theatre in 1679 and then became part of the merged United Company in 1682. Selected roles * Ajax in ''Troilus and Cressida'' by John Dryden (1679) * Glisten in '' The Revenge'' by Aphra Behn (1680) * Baltazer in ''The False Count'' by Aphra Behn (1681) * Slouch in ''The Royalist'' by Thomas D'Urfey (1682) * Sheriff in '' The Duke of Guise'' by John Dryden (1682) * Farmer in ''Dame Dobson'' by Edward Ravenscroft (1683) * Martin in ''A Jovial Crew'' by Richard Brome (1683) * Howdee in ''The Northern Lass'' by Richard Brome (1684) * Captain Hackum in ''The Squire of Alsatia'' by Thomas Shadwell (1688) * Dullman in ''The Widow Ranter'' by Aphra Behn (1689) * Don Pedro in ''The Successful Strangers'' by William Mountfort (1690) * D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Powell (playwright)
George Powell (1668? – 1714) was a 17th-century London actor and playwright who was a member of the United Company. He was the son of the actor Martin Powell, a long-standing member of the King's Company. Plays In his playwrighting Powell has been called 'an unscrupulous and opportunistic appropriator, gleaning materials from a variety of sources'. He was embroiled in a plagiarism scandal after writing a misogynistic play called ''The Imposture Defeated; or, A Trick to Cheat the Devil'', first performed in September 1697. This play portrayed the proper treatment of an adulteress as brutal confinement and isolation from others to punish her and prevent the spread of her attitude. It is widely accepted that Powell had plagiarised from the then unpublished manuscript of Mary Pix's ''The Deceiver Deceived''. Theatre critic Charles Gildon called Powell's version the inferior of the two. Powell also wrote the plays '' Alphonso, King of Naples'' (first performed in December 1690 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samuel Sandford
Samuel Sandford ( fl. 1661–1699) was an English character actor, known for his roles as villains. Career He joined William D'Avenant's company at Lincoln's Inn Fields about a year after its formation, and was, on 16 December 1661, the original Worm in Abraham Cowley's ''Cutter of Coleman Street''. On 1 March 1662 he was Sampson in ''Romeo and Juliet'', and on 20 October Maligni (the villain) in Thomas Porter's ''The Villain''. Early in January 1663 he was Ernesto in Samuel Tuke's ''Adventures of Five Hours'', and on 28 May Vindex in Robert Stapylton's ''Slighted Maid''. During the same season he was Sylvanus in the ''Stepmother'', also by Stapleton, and in 1664 was Wheadle in George Etherege's ''Comical Revenge, or Love in a Tub'', and Provost in ''The Rivals'', D'Avenant's alteration of ''The Two Noble Kinsmen''. After the break of performances on account of the Great Plague, Sandford on 26 March 1668, sang with Harris, as two ballad singers, the epilogue to D'Avenant's ''Man ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
