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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] |
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Drury Lane. The building is the most recent in a line of four theatres which were built at the same location, the earliest of which dated back to 1663, making it the oldest theatre site in London still in use. According to the author Peter Thomson, for its first two centuries, Drury Lane could "reasonably have claimed to be London's leading theatre". For most of that time, it was one of a handful of patent theatres, granted monopoly rights to the production of "legitimate" drama in London (meaning spoken plays, rather than opera, dance, concerts, or plays with music). The first theatre on the site was built at the behest of Thomas Killigrew in the early 1660s, when theatres were allowed to reopen during the English Restoration. Initially ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elkanah Settle
Elkanah Settle (1 February 1648 – 12 February 1724) was an England, 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 (dramatist), 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry IV Of France (play)
''Henry IV of France'' is a 1719 tragedy by the British writer Charles Beckingham. It portrays the reign of Henry IV of France, who was assassinated in 1610. The play was written and produced a time when the Catholic Jacobite pretender James III was attempting to launch an invasion of Britain with the assistance of Spain, and reflects Whig concerns about Catholic power and the persecution of French Huguenots. Although a Catholic by the time of his death, Henry IV is portrayed as a defender of liberty and a victim of plotting by the Catholic factions at his court.Streete p.251 The original cast included James Quin as Henry, Lacy Ryan as Prince of Conde, John Leigh as Duke of Vendome, John Ogden as Duke of Boullion, Thomas Smith as Villeyor, Richard Diggs as Rosny, John Harper as Montmorency, Christopher Bullock as Nuncio, Anthony Boheme as French Bishop, John Egleton as Ravillac and Jane Rogers as Charlotta. The epilogue was written by George Sewell George Sewell ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Beckingham
Charles Beckingham (25 July 1699 – 19 February 1730-31) was an English poet and dramatist. Life Beckingham was born, according to the register of Merchant Taylors' School, on 25 July 1699 (Robinson's ''Register'', ii. 32). His father was a linen draper in Fleet Street. Beckingham was educated at Merchant Taylors' School under Dr. Smith, and is said to have displayed "great proficiency in his studies", and given "the strongest testimonials of extraordinary abilities". On 18 February 1718 '' Scipio Africanus'', a historical tragedy in the regulation five acts, was produced at the theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields. This was followed at the same house on 7 November of the next year by a second work of a similar description, entitled ''Henry IV of France''. The youth of the author, and the presence of a large number of his fellow-students who had been permitted to visit the theatre, gave some éclat to the production of the earlier work. A chief subject of praise in contemporary w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scipio Africanus (play)
''Scipio Africanus'' is a 1718 historical tragedy by the British writer Charles Beckingham. It is inspired by the story of The Continence of Scipio, featuring the Ancient Roman general Scipio Africanus during the Second Punic War. Staged at Lincoln's Inn Fields the cast included James Quin as Scipio, John Leigh as Trebellius, Sarah Thurmond as Almeyda, Jane Rogers as Semanthe, Thomas Smith as Alucius, John Corey as Lelius, John Ogden as Lucilius, Thomas Smith as Alucius, and Mary Kent Mary Kent (before 1692 – after 1718) was an English actress, whose career lasted from 1692 to 1718, and the wife of Drury Lane actor Thomas Kent. Her dates of birth and death are not known. Mary Kent appeared in many playbills from 1692 onwards ... as Axarte. References Bibliography * Burling, William J. ''A Checklist of New Plays and Entertainments on the London Stage, 1700-1737''. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1992. 1718 plays West End plays Plays by Charles Beckingham T ... [...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] |
The Traitor (1718 Play)
''The Traitor'' (often spelt as ''The Traytor'') is a tragedy published anonymously in 1718 and commonly attributed to the British writer and actor Christopher Bullock. It is a revised version of the 1631 play of the same title by James Shirley. It was Bullock's only effort to write tragedy, as his other works were all farces. It was staged at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre with a cast that included John Leigh as the Duke, Lacy Ryan as Sciarrah, James Quin as Lorenzo, Christopher Bullock as Cosmo, John Egleton as Florio, Thomas Smith as Pisano, William Bullock as Depazzi, Thomas Smith as Pisano, John Ogden as Petruchio, Jane Rogers as Amidea, Anna Maria Seymour as Oriana and Mary Kent Mary Kent (before 1692 – after 1718) was an English actress, whose career lasted from 1692 to 1718, and the wife of Drury Lane actor Thomas Kent. Her dates of birth and death are not known. Mary Kent appeared in many playbills from 1692 onwards ... as Orian's Mother. Lasting six perform ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Perfidious Brother
''The Perfidious Brother'' is a 1716 tragedy by the British writer Lewis Theobald. A dispute rose of the authorship of the play when a watchmaker and aspiring playwright Henry Meystayer claimed that Theobald had stolen it from him.Carnegie & Taylor p.94 Meystayer published his own version of the play presenting it as the work of the "original author". Theobald was later to be involved in a much more controversial dispute in 1727 when he presented ''Double Falsehood'' as being based on a lost work of William Shakespeare. The original Lincoln's Inn Fields cast included John Corey as Gonsalvo, Theophilus Keene Theophilus Keene (1680-1718) was an Anglo-Irish stage actor and theatre manager. Keene was from a Presbyterian background. He originally began acting at the Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin. Having arrived in London from Ireland in 1704, he appear ... as Sebastian, Thomas Smith as Roderick, John Leigh as Beaufort, Jane Rogers as Luciana and Jane Bullock as Selinda. Refe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Dennis (dramatist)
John Dennis (16 September 1658 – 6 January 1734) was an English critic and dramatist. Life He was born in the parish of St Andrew Holborn, London, in 1658. He was educated at Harrow School and Caius College, Cambridge, where he took his B.A. degree in 1679. In the next year he was fined and dismissed from his college for having wounded a fellow student with a sword. He was, however, received at Trinity Hall, where he took his M.A. degree in 1683. After travelling in France and Italy, he settled in London, where he became acquainted with Dryden, and close to Wycherley, Congreve and the leading literary figures of his day; and being made temporarily independent by inheriting a small fortune, he devoted himself to literature. The Duke of Marlborough procured him a place as one of the queen's waiters in the customs with a salary of £20 a year. This he afterwards disposed of for a small sum, retaining, at the suggestion of Lord Halifax, a yearly charge upon it for a long term ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Appius And Virginia (1709 Play)
''Appius and Virginia'' is a 1709 tragedy by the British writer John Dennis. It was a distinct reworking by Dennis of an older play of the same title by John Webster. It was not a particular success on its debut. It became best known for Dennis' use of an innovative new technique to imitate the sound of thunder. When Dennis' play was taken off and a revival of ''Macbeth'' put off, he was angered when he attended a performance and discovered they were using his thunder machine, reportedly exclaiming "they will not let my play run, and yet they steal my thunder". This gave rise to the expression " stealing thunder". The original Drury Lane cast included Barton Booth as Appius, Theophilus Keene as Claudius, Thomas Betterton as Virginius, Robert Wilks as Icilius, Benjamin Husband as Valerius, Thomas Smith as Numitorious, Jane Rogers as Virginia, Frances Maria Knight Frances is a French and English given name of Latin origin. In Latin the meaning of the name Frances is 'from Fran ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lewis Theobald
Lewis Theobald (baptised 2 April 1688 – 18 September 1744), English textual editor and author, was a landmark figure both in the history of Shakespearean editing and in literary satire. He was vital for the establishment of fair texts for Shakespeare, and he was the first avatar of Dulness in Alexander Pope's ''The Dunciad''. Life and work Lewis Theobald was the son of Peter Theobald, an attorney, and his second wife, Mary. He was born in Sittingbourne, Kent, and baptized there on 2 April 1688. When Peter Theobald died in 1690, Lewis was taken into the Rockingham household and educated with the sons of the family, which gave him the grounding in Greek and Latin that would serve his scholarship throughout his career. As a young man, he was apprenticed to an attorney and then set up his own law practice in London. In 1707, possibly while he was apprenticing, he published ''A Pindaric Ode on the Union of Scotland and England'' and ''Naufragium Britannicum.''. In 1708 his tragedy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Persian Princess
''The Persian Princess'' is a 1708 tragedy by the British writer Lewis Theobald. It was performed at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. It is also written as ''The Persian Princess: or, The Royal Villain''. The play was not a great success and Theobald himself wrote disparagingly of it, although its acceptance to be staged at a major theatre suggests that it was seen as having merit. Along with his later work ''The Perfidious Brother'', it has been examined for textual clues in light of the authorship of ''Double Falsehood'' a play that Theobald claimed to be based on a lost William Shakespeare work.Carnegie & Taylor p.136 The original Drury Lane cast included Theophilus Keene as Memnon, Robert Wilks as Artaban, John Mills as Oxartes, Barton Booth Barton Booth (168210 May 1733) was one of the most famous dramatic actors of the first part of the 18th century. Early life Booth was the son of The Hon and Very Revd Dr Robert Booth (priest), Robert Booth, Dean of Bristol, by his fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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