Joseph Atkinson (1743–1818), was an Irish

dramatist 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 ...

. He served in the army until he obtained a captain's commission.

Works

In 1785, Atkinson produced a comedy in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, the ''Mutual Deception'', which, in the following year, was altered by Colman, the serious scenes being omitted, and, under the title of ''

Tit for Tat Tit for tat is an English saying meaning "equivalent retaliation". It developed from "tip for tap", first recorded in 1558. It is also a highly effective strategy in game theory. An agent using this strategy will first cooperate, then subseque ...

'' presented at the

Haymarket Haymarket may refer to: Places Australia * Haymarket, New South Wales, area of Sydney, Australia Germany * Heumarkt (KVB), transport interchange in Cologne on the site of the Heumarkt (literally: hay market) Russia * Sennaya Square (''Hay Squ ...

. Atkinson professed himself indebted to an Italian original for the comic portion of his play, which was found closely to resemble the earlier comedies of ''

The Double Deceit ''The Double Deceit'' is a 1735 comedy play by the British writer William Popple. The original Covent Garden cast included John Hippisley as Sir William Courtlove, Thomas Walker as Young Courtlove, Adam Hallam as Gayliffe, Thomas Chapman as J ...

'' and ''Love's Metamorphosis'', first performed in 1735 and 1776 respectively. In 1786, Atkinson produced in Dublin ''A Match for a Widow, or the Frolics of Fancy'', an opera in three acts to music by Dibdin, founded upon a French comedy, which Mrs. Inchbald had previously converted into the English play of ''

The Widow's Vow ''The Widow's Vow'' is a 1786 comedy play by the English writer Elizabeth Inchbald. A farce, it premiered as an afterpiece at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket on 20 June 1786.Greene p.4494 The original cast included William Parsons as Don Antonio, ...

'' and of which Miss Sheridan had availed herself in writing her farce of the ''Ambiguous Lover''. In 1800, Atkinson produced at the Cork Street Theatre a comic opera called ''Love in a Blaze'', borrowed from a French play, which had done duty in an English form as ''Gallic Gratitude'' at

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

in 1779. The music to ''Love in a Blaze'' was composed by

John Andrew Stevenson Sir John Andrew Stevenson (November 1761 – 14 September 1833) was an Irish composer. He is best known for his piano arrangements of ''Irish Melodies'' with poet Thomas Moore. He was granted an honorary doctorate by the University of Dublin an ...

, to whose assistance the production is said to have been indebted for the success it obtained.

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Atkinson, Joseph Irish male dramatists and playwrights 18th-century Irish dramatists and playwrights 19th-century Irish dramatists and playwrights 1818 deaths 1743 births 19th-century Irish male writers 18th-century Irish male writers