Elizabeth Polewheele (or Polewhele; later Lobb?; c. 1651 – c. 1691),

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

, was one of the first women to write for the professional stage in

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

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 ...

Life and work

Little is known of Polewheele's life, though she has been tentatively identified as the daughter of

nonconformist Nonconformity or nonconformism may refer to: Culture and society * Insubordination, the act of willfully disobeying an order of one's superior *Dissent, a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or entity ** ...

minister

Theophilus Polwhele Theophilus Polwhele or Polwheile (died 1689) was an English ejected minister. Life From a Cornish background, Polwhele was born in Somerset. He entered Emmanuel College, Cambridge, as a sizar, on 29 March 1644, and had William Sancroft as a tutor, ...

. That Elizabeth Polwhele was born in or around 1651, married another minister,

Stephen Lobb Stephen Lobb (c. 1647 – 1699) was an English nonconformist minister and controversialist. He was prominent in the 1680s as a court representative of the Independents to James II, and in the 1690s in polemics between the Presbyterian and Independe ...

, had five children, died in 1691, and is "probably" the playwrightBrown et al. although the identification is "somewhat startling." There are records of Polewheele's having written three plays: ''Elysium'', "possibly a religious masque," now lost; ''The Faythfull Virgins'', a tragedy in rhyme; and ''The Frolicks'', a

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

. These latter plays exist only in

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...

. There is also "probably a eulogistic poem." ''The Faythfull Virgins'' was likely performed at

Lincoln's Inn Fields Lincoln's Inn Fields is the largest public square in London. It was laid out in the 1630s under the initiative of the speculative builder and contractor William Newton, "the first in a long series of entrepreneurs who took a hand in develo ...

about 1670. ''The Frolicks'' was possibly performed by the

Duke's Company The Duke's Company was a theatre company chartered by King Charles II at the start of the Restoration era, 1660. Sir William Davenant was manager of the company under the patronage of Prince James, Duke of York. During hats period, theatres b ...

in 1671 at the new

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 ...

; it features Clarabell, a witty

heroine, and Rightwit, a

rake Rake may refer to: * Rake (stock character), a man habituated to immoral conduct * Rake (theatre), the artificial slope of a theatre stage Science and technology * Rake receiver, a radio receiver * Rake (geology), the angle between a feature on a ...

. It was dedicated to Prince Rupert and signed "E. Polewheele". In the dedication she mentions performance of both her earlier plays, and continues, "I am young, no scholar, and what I write I write by nature, not by art." Along with

Aphra Behn Aphra Behn (; bapt. 14 December 1640 – 16 April 1689) was an English playwright, poet, prose writer and translator from the Restoration era. As one of the first English women to earn her living by her writing, she broke cultural barrie ...

and

Frances Boothby Frances Boothby (fl. 1669–1670) was an English playwright and the first woman to have a play professionally produced in London. Life Little is known of Boothby's life but the dedications of her two extant works have led to speculation that ...

, Polewheele was one of the first women to write for the professional stage in the early Restoration period.

Plays

*''Elysium'' (lost) *''The Faythfull Virgins'' (ca. 1670; manuscript) *''The Frolicks; or, The Lawyer Cheated'' (1671)

''The Frolicks, or The Lawyer Cheated''

Written in or about 1671, the play existed solely in manuscript form until it was edited and published in a scholarly edition by

Cornell University Press The Cornell University Press is the university press of Cornell University; currently housed in Sage House, the former residence of Henry William Sage. It was first established in 1869, making it the first university publishing enterprise in th ...

in 1977.

Manuscript

Elizabeth Polwhele The frolicks letter page 1 RMC2018 0434.jpg, Elizabeth Polwhele. ''The frolicks'': dedicatory letter from Polwhele to Prince Rupert, page 1. 1671. Elizabeth Polwhele The frolicks letter page 2 RMC2018 0435.jpg, Elizabeth Polwhele. ''The frolicks'': dedicatory letter from Polwhele to Prince Rupert, page 2. 1671. Elizabeth Polwhele The frolicks letter page 4 RMC2018 0437.jpg, Elizabeth Polwhele. ''The frolicks'': dedicatory letter from Polwhele to Prince Rupert, page 4. 1671. Elizabeth Polwhele The frolicks playscript page 2 RMC2018 0438.jpg, Elizabeth Polwhele. ''The frolicks'': playscript, page 2. 1671.

First production

On October 11–12, 2021, second year students of the Shakespeare and Performance program at Mary Baldwin University in Staunton, Virginia premiered the first full length production of ''The Frolicks.'' The show was produced by the program and directed by Sara Hymes and Gregory Jon Phelps, two members of the Hedgepig Ensemble located in Brooklyn, New York. Hedgepig worked closely with the production's publicity team as the play was selected for Hedgepig's 2021 "Expand the Canon" list. Cast· Andrew Steven Knight as Rightwit · Rosemary Richards as Clarabell · Kelsey Linberg as Leonora/Philario · Cole Metz as Mr. Zany · Chase D. Fowler as Sir Gregory · Kara Hankard as Plainman/Mistress · Gil Mitchel as Speak · Beth Somerville as Swallow · Kelsey Harrison as Mark · Madison Mayberry as Sir Makelove · George Durfee as Lord Courtall · Kailey Potter as Lady Meanwell · Cameron Taylor as Sir Meanwell · Sam Corey as Ralph · Madison Rudolph as Procreate/Drawer · Ariel Tatum as Faith/Turnkey/Constable

Notes

References

*Brown, Susan, et al. "Elizabeth Polwhele." ''Orlando: Women’s Writing in the British Isles from the Beginnings to the Present''. Ed. Susan Brown, Patricia Clements, and Isobel Grundy. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge UP, n.d. 22 Mar. 2013. Accessed 21 Sept. 2022. * *Polewhele, Elizabeth. ''The Frolicks; or, The Lawyer Cheated''. 1671. Eds. Judith Milhous and Robert D. Hume. Ithaca, .Y. Cornell University Press, 1977.
Open access
Internet Archive) *Todd, Janet. "Elizabeth Polwhele." ''A Dictionary of British and American women writers, 1660-1800.'' Totowa, N.J.: Rowman & Allanheld, 1985, p. 259.
Open access
Internet Archive) *Wynne-Davies, Marion.
Polwhele, Elizabeth (?1651-1691) English Restoration dramatist
" ''Dictionary of English Literature'', Bloomsbury, 1997. 1650s births 1690s deaths English dramatists and playwrights British women dramatists and playwrights 17th-century English women writers 17th-century English writers {{UK-playwright-stub