''Mustapha'' is a 1739
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
David Mallet.
[Nicoll p.343] It is based on
Mustafa
Mustafa ( ar, مصطفى
, Muṣṭafā) is one of the names of Prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in the Muslim world.
Given name Mou ...
, the son of
Ottoman ruler
Suleiman the Magnificent
Suleiman I ( ota, سليمان اول, Süleyman-ı Evvel; tr, I. Süleyman; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the West and Suleiman the Lawgiver ( ota, قانونى سلطان سليمان, Ḳ ...
.
The original cast included
James Quin
James Quin (24 February 1693 – 21 January 1766) was an English actor of Irish descent.
Life
Quin was born in King Street, Covent Garden, London, an illegitimate son of James Quin, an Irish-born barrister, and his partner (whom he apparently n ...
as Solyman,
William Milward
William Milward (1702-1742) was a British stage actor.
He began his career with John Rich's company at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre and also appeared at the Haymarket. From 1734 he became part of the company at Drury Lane where he remained fo ...
as Mustapha, Thomas Wright as Zanger,
William Mills as Rustan,
Richard Winstone
Richard Winstone (1699-1787) was a British stage actor of the eighteenth century.
In 1732 Winstone joined Henry Giffard's Goodman's Fields Theatre. After this he worked at several London theatres including Lincoln's Inn Fields, Haymarket Theate ...
as Mufti,
William Havard
William Thomas Havard (23 October 1889 – 17 August 1956) was a Welsh clergyman and rugby union international player. He served as a military chaplain during the First World War, and later as Bishop of St Asaph and then Bishop of St David ...
as Achmet,
Elizabeth Barry
Elizabeth Barry (1658 – 7 November 1713) was an English actress of the Restoration period.
Elizabeth Barry's biggest influence on Restoration drama was her presentation of performing as the tragic actress. She worked in large, prestigious L ...
as Roxalana and
Anna Marcella Giffard
Anna Marcella Giffard (1707-1777) was an Irish stage actress.
She was a member of the Lyddal acting family of Dublin, and began appearing herself at the Smock Alley Theatre under the name of Nancy Lyddal in the 1720s. In around 1728 she married ...
as Emira. The
prologue
A prologue or prolog (from Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "word") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier story that ...
was written by Mallet's friend
James Thomson. The play was dedicated to
Frederick, Prince of Wales
Frederick, Prince of Wales, (Frederick Louis, ; 31 January 170731 March 1751), was the eldest son and heir apparent of King George II of Great Britain. He grew estranged from his parents, King George and Queen Caroline. Frederick was the fath ...
who had become a popular symbol of the
Patriot Whigs
The Patriot Whigs, later the Patriot Party, were a group within the Whig Party in Great Britain from 1725 to 1803. The group was formed in opposition to the government of Robert Walpole in the House of Commons in 1725, when William Pulteney (l ...
including Mallet and Thomson.
References
Bibliography
* Baines, Paul & Ferarro, Julian & Rogers, Pat. ''The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Eighteenth-Century Writers and Writing, 1660-1789''. Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.
* Jung, Sandro. ''David Mallet, Anglo-Scot: Poetry, Patronage, and Politics in the Age of Union''. Associated University Press, 2008.
* Nicoll, Allardyce. ''A History of Early Eighteenth Century Drama: 1700-1750''. CUP Archive, 1927.
1739 plays
Tragedy plays
West End plays
Plays by David Mallet
{{1730s-play-stub