John Banks (playwright) on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
John Banks (1650–1706) was an English playwright of the Restoration era. His works concentrated on historical dramas, and his plays were twice suppressed because of their implications, or supposed implications, for the contemporaneous political situation.
Virtually nothing is known about Banks's early life; his date of birth has been estimated on the basis of his later biography. He studied law at the New Inn, one of the minor Inns of Chancery attached to the Middle Temple. Banks's first play was ''The Rival Kings'' of
John Banks (1650–1706) was an English playwright of the Restoration era. His works concentrated on historical dramas, and his plays were twice suppressed because of their implications, or supposed implications, for the contemporaneous political situation.
Virtually nothing is known about Banks's early life; his date of birth has been estimated on the basis of his later biography. He studied law at the New Inn, one of the minor Inns of Chancery attached to the Middle Temple. Banks's first play was ''The Rival Kings'' of 1677
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Jean Racine's tragedy ''Phèdre'' is first performed, in Paris.
* January 21 – The first medical publication in America (a pamphlet on smallpox) is produced in Boston.
* February 15 ...
, written in imitation of Nathaniel Lee
Nathaniel Lee (c. 1653 – 6 May 1692) was an England, English dramatist. He was the son of Dr Richard Lee, a Presbyterian clergyman who was rector of Hatfield and held many preferments under the Commonwealth of England, Commonwealth; Dr Lee was ...
's ''The Rival Queens'' of the same year. Banks followed this with ''The Destruction of Troy
''The Destruction of Troy'' is a 1678 tragedy by the English writer John Banks. It was first staged by the Duke's Company at the Dorset Garden Theatre in London. It depicts the Trojan War as inspired by Homer's ''Iliad''.
The original cast inclu ...
'', which was staged 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 ...
at the Dorset Garden Theatre in November 1678
Events
January–March
* January 10 – England and the Dutch Republic sign a mutual defense treaty in order to fight against France.
* January 27 – The first fire engine company (in what will become the United States) goe ...
and printed the following year. '' The Unhappy Favourite, or the Earl of Essex'' (1682
Events
January–March
* January 7 – The Republic of Genoa forbids the unauthorized printing of newspapers and all handwritten newssheets; the ban is lifted after three months.
* January 12 – Scottish minister James Ren ...
), for which John Dryden provided a prologue and epilogue, was his first major success. ''Virtue Betrayed, or Anna Bullen'', published the same year, proved to be his most popular play, and was acted as late as 1766
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Charles Edward Stuart ("Bonnie Prince Charlie") becomes the new Stuart claimant to the throne of Great Britain, as King Charles III, and figurehead for Jacobitism.
* January 14 – Chr ...
.
Banks was considered a crude writer who could nonetheless, at his best, create powerful drama. His next play, however, was judged more crude than powerful: ''The Innocent Usurper'', based on the life of Lady Jane Grey
Lady Jane Grey ( 1537 – 12 February 1554), later known as Lady Jane Dudley (after her marriage) and as the "Nine Days' Queen", was an English noblewoman who claimed the throne of England and Ireland from 10 July until 19 July 1553.
Jane was ...
, was disliked by both the King's Company and the Duke's Company. He tried to stage ''The Innocent Usurper'' again in 1693
Events
January–March
* January 11 – 1693 Sicily earthquake: Mount Etna erupts, causing a devastating earthquake that affects parts of Sicily and Malta.
* January 22 – A total lunar eclipse is visible across North and South Ameri ...
, but on this second attempt the play was banned for political reasons. It was eventually published in 1694
Events
January–March
* January 16 – Francesco Morosini, the Doge of Venice since 1688, dies after ruling the Republic for more than five years and a few months after an unsuccessful attempt to capture the island of Negropont from the ...
. ''The Island Queens, or the Death of Mary Queen of Scotland'' (1684
Events
January–March
* January 5 – King Charles II of England gives the title Duke of St Albans to Charles Beauclerk, his illegitimate son by Nell Gwyn.
* January 15 (January 5 O.S.) - To demonstrate that the River Thames, froz ...
), had a similar history: originally banned on political grounds, it was published in 1686
Events
January–March
* January 3 – In Madras (now Chennai) in India, local residents employed by the East India Company threaten to boycott their jobs after corporate administrator William Gyfford imposes a house tax on res ...
, and eventually successfully staged as ''The Albion Queens'', twenty years after its creation.
His last drama was ''Cyrus the Great
Cyrus II of Persia (; peo, 𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁 ), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian empire. Schmitt Achaemenid dynasty (i. The clan and dynasty) Under his rule, the empire embraced ...
'', inspired by ''Le Grand Cyrus'' of Madeleine de Scudéry. The acting companies resisted this work because of its perceived low quality, but it proved to be another success once staged, by the King's Company at Lincoln's Inn Fields.
References
*External links
* 1650s births 1706 deaths Year of birth uncertain English dramatists and playwrights English male dramatists and playwrights {{UK-playwright-stub