''Elfrid: or The Fair Inconstant'', generally shortened to ''Elfrid'', is a 1710
tragedy
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 ...
by the British writer
Aaron Hill.
Hill wrote the work in less than a fortnight. Set in
Saxon England
Anglo-Saxon England or Early Medieval England, existing from the 5th to the 11th centuries from the end of Roman Britain until the Norman conquest in 1066, consisted of various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms until 927, when it was united as the Kingdom of ...
it featured
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 first wife ...
as Athelwold, Charles Powell as King Edgar and
Lucretia Bradshaw
Lucretia Bradshaw (fl. 1714 - 1741) was an English actress. She was often billed as Mrs. Bradshaw.
In Thomas Betterton's 1741 ''A History of the English Stage'', it is stated that:
She declared herself to have learned from Elizabeth Barry: "to ...
as Elfrid. Concerned about the play's modest reception, Hill wrote an
afterpiece An afterpiece is a short, usually humorous one-act playlet or musical work following the main attraction, the full-length play, and concluding the theatrical evening.p24 "The Chambers Dictionary"Edinburgh, Chambers,2003 This short comedy, farce, o ...
entitled ''The Walking Statue'' which proved to be more popular than the main play, and was revived numerous times.
In 1731 Hill reworked the play and staged it under a new title ''Athelwold'' at Drury Lane. It marked his return to the London stage after an eight year absence. Although he hoped to persuade
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 ...
to star in the title role, it ended up being played by
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 dramat ...
. Although
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...
tried to generate interest, the new version lasted for three nights and met a largely poor reception.
[Gerrard p.146]
References
Bibliography
* Burling, William J. ''A Checklist of New Plays and Entertainments on the London Stage, 1700-1737''. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1992.
* Gerrard, Christine. ''Aaron Hill: The Muses' Projector, 1685-1750''. Oxford University Press, 2003.
1710 plays
Plays by Aaron Hill
West End plays
Tragedy plays
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