''A Fool's Preferment; Or, The Three Dukes Of Dunstable'' is a 1688

comedy play Comedy is a genre of dramatic performance having a light or humorous tone that depicts amusing incidents and in which the characters ultimately triumph over adversity. For ancient Greeks and Romans, a comedy was a stage-play with a happy endin ...

by the English writer

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 Devonshi ...

. It is a reworking of John Fletcher's Jacobean work ''

The Noble Gentleman ''The Noble Gentleman'' is a Jacobean era stage play, a comedy in the canon of John Fletcher and his collaborators that was first published in the first Beaumont and Fletcher folio of 1647. It is one of the plays in Fletcher's canon (see ''L ...

''. It was first performed by the

United Company The United Company was a London theatre company formed in 1682 with the merger of the King's Company and the Duke's Company. Both the Duke's and King's Companies suffered poor attendance during the turmoil of the Popish Plot period, 1678&ndas ...

at the

Dorset Garden Theatre The Dorset Garden Theatre in London, built in 1671, was in its early years also known as the Duke of York's Theatre, or the Duke's Theatre. In 1685, King Charles II died and his brother, the Duke of York, was crowned as James II. When the D ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer. Purcell's style of Baroque music was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Generally considered among the greatest E ...

composed the play's

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as t ...

. It was his first major work composing for the theatre in seven years since ''

Sir Barnaby Whigg ''Sir Barnaby Whigg; Or, No Wit Like A Womans'' is a 1681 comedy play by the English writer Thomas D'Urfey. It was first staged by the King's Company at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. A song for the play was composed by Henry Purcell. The origin ...

''. The original cast featured

James Nokes James Nokes (Noke, Noak, Noakes) (died c.1692) was an English actor, whose laughter-arousing genius was attested by Cibber and other contemporaries. Life Nokes was one of the male actors who played female roles in the newly reopened playhouses s ...

as Cocklebrain,

Anthony Leigh Anthony Leigh (died 1692) was a celebrated English comic actor. Life He was from a Northamptonshire family, and was not closely related to the actor John Leigh (c.1689–1726?). He joined the Duke of York's company about 1672, and appeared in ...

as Justice,

William Mountfort William Mountfort (c. 1664 – 10 December 1692), England, English actor and dramatic writer, was the son of a Staffordshire gentleman. Biography His first stage appearance was with the Dorset Garden Theatre company about 1678, and by 168 ...

as Lyonel,

Edward Kynaston Edward Kynaston may refer to: *Edward Kynaston (actor) (c. 1640–1712), English actor *Edward Kynaston (1709–1772) Edward Kynaston (6 October 1709–1772), of Garth and Bryngwyn, Montgomeryshire and Hardwick, Shropshire, was a British landowne ...

as Clermont, George Powell as Longevile, John Bowman as Bewford,

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 br ...

as Toby,

Martin Powell Martin Powell is an English musician. In 1991, Powell auditioned for the position of bass player in the band My Dying Bride, but was turned down as the band had just filled the position. Upon informing the band he was also a violin and keyboard ...

as Usher and

Elizabeth Boutell Elizabeth Boutell (early 1650s?—1715), was a British actress. Life She joined, soon after its formation, the company at the Theatre Royal, subsequently known as Drury Lane, and was accordingly one of the first women to appear on the English st ...

as Aurelia.Van Lennep p.362-63

References

Bibliography

* Canfield, J. Douglas. ''Tricksters and Estates: On the Ideology of Restoration Comedy''. University Press of Kentucky, 2014. * Price, Curtis A. ''Henry Purcell and the London Stage''. Cambridge University Press, 1984. * Van Lennep, W. ''The London Stage, 1660-1800: Volume One, 1660-1700''. Southern Illinois University Press, 1960. 1688 plays West End plays Plays by Thomas d'Urfey Restoration comedy {{17thC-play-stub