''The Artful Husband'' is a 1717

comedy play Comedy is a genre of dramatic performance having a light or humorous tone that depicts amusing incidents and in which the characters ultimately triumph over adversity. For ancient Greeks and Romans, a comedy was a stage-play with a happy endin ...

by the British writer William Taverner. Staged at the

Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre Lisle's Tennis Court was a building off Portugal Street in Lincoln's Inn Fields in London. Originally built as a real tennis court, it was used as a playhouse during two periods, 1661–1674 and 1695–1705. During the early period, ...

, it ran for fifteen nights. It was frequently revived during the eighteenth century. The cast included Thomas Elrington as Sir Harry Freelove,

Theophilus Keene Theophilus Keene (1680-1718) was an Anglo-Irish stage actor and theatre manager. Keene was from a Presbyterian background. He originally began acting at the Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin. Having arrived in London from Ireland in 1704, he appeared ...

as Winwife,

James Spiller James Spiller (c.1761–1829) was an English architect and surveyor, a close associate of Sir John Soane. His designs included the Church of St John-at-Hackney, and the Great Synagogue, London. Life Spiller was a pupil of the architect James Wy ...

as Stockwell, George Pack as Frank Flash, Jane Rogers as Mrs Winwife and

Sarah Thurmond Sarah Thurmond or Sarah Lewis ( – 1762) was a British actress. Life Sarah Lewis was born in Epsom although the date is unknown. Her first appearances were at Drury Lane and Lincoln's Inn Fields at the end of 1711 in Greenwich where she met J ...

as Belinda. The part of Lady Upstart was played by the veteran actress

Frances Maria Knight Frances is a French and English given name of Latin origin. In Latin the meaning of the name Frances is 'from France' or 'free one.' The male version of the name in English is Francis. The original Franciscus, meaning "Frenchman", comes from the ...

List of Characters

* Sir Harry Freelove - Mr Elrington * Lady Upstart - Mrs Knight * Mr Winwife - Mr Keene * Mrs Winwife - Mrs Rogers * Belinda - Mrs Thurmond * Mr Stockwel - Mr Spiller * Frank Flash - Mr Pack * Steward to Winwife - Mr Rogers * Ned, servant to Sir Harry - Mr Knapp * Butler - Mr Hall * Decoy, a procuress - Mrs Kear * Maria, a pretended French woman - Mrs Schoolding * Four servants to Lady Upstart * Servant to Belinda * Servants to Mrs Winwife. * Two chairmen

References

Bibliography

* Burling, William J. ''A Checklist of New Plays and Entertainments on the London Stage, 1700-1737''. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1992. * Howe, Elizabeth. ''The First English Actresses: Women and Drama, 1660-1700''. Cambridge University Press, 1992. 1717 plays West End plays Plays by William Taverner Comedy plays {{18thC-play-stub