''The Jubilee'' is a 1769 play by the British playwright and actor-manager

David Garrick David Garrick (19 February 1717 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil and friend of Sa ...

, with music by

Charles Dibdin Charles Dibdin (before 4 March 1745 – 25 July 1814) was an English composer, musician, dramatist, novelist, singer and actor. With over 600 songs to his name, for many of which he wrote both the lyrics and the music and performed them himself, ...

. It was based on his ''Shakespeare Pageant'' which he had originally planned to stage during the

Shakespeare Jubilee The Shakespeare Jubilee was staged in Stratford-upon-Avon between 6 and 8 September 1769. The jubilee was organised by the actor and theatre manager David Garrick to celebrate the Jubilee of the birth of William Shakespeare. It had a major impac ...

Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon (), commonly known as just Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-we ...

until heavy rain forced it to be abandoned. It was first performed at the

Drury Lane Theatre The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Drur ...

on 14 October 1769 and proved a major success, running for ninety performances. This allowed Garrick to recoup much of the money he had spent on the Jubilee celebrations. A recording of ''The Jubilee'', also including ''Queen Mab'' and ''Datchet Mead'', was released in 2019 featuring the singer Simon Butteriss and the keyboardist Stephen Higgins.

References

Bibliography

* Nicoll, Allardyce. ''A History of English Drama 1660–1900. Volume III: Late Eighteenth Century Drama''. Cambridge University Press, 1952. * Pierce, Patricia. ''The Great Shakespeare Fraud: The Strange, True Story of William-Henry Ireland''. Sutton Publishing, 2005.

External links

Retrospect Opera: The Jubilee
1769 plays Plays by David Garrick {{18thC-play-stub