''The Biter'' is a 1704 play by the English writer Nicholas Rowe. Rowe was better known for his tragedies but chose to try his hand at comedy. Performed at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre, it was not a great success and lasted for about six performances. It was overshadowed by the more popular ''

The Careless Husband ''The Carless Husband'' is a comedy play by the English writer Colley Cibber. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on 7 December 1704. The original cast featured Cibber as Lord Foppington, George Powell as Lord Morelove, Robert Wilks as ...

'' by

Colley Cibber Colley Cibber (6 November 1671 – 11 December 1757) was an English actor-manager, playwright and Poet Laureate. His colourful memoir ''Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber'' (1740) describes his life in a personal, anecdotal and even rambling ...

, which appeared 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 ...

. It was Rowe's only play in a contemporary setting, and he rapidly turned back to historical tragedies beginning with ''

Ulysses Ulysses is one form of the Roman name for Odysseus, a hero in ancient Greek literature. Ulysses may also refer to: People * Ulysses (given name), including a list of people with this name Places in the United States * Ulysses, Kansas * Ulysse ...

'' (1705). Some sources reported Rowe defiantly and loudly laughing at the jokes during a performance, even while nobody else did. The original cast included

Thomas Betterton Thomas Patrick Betterton (August 1635 – 28 April 1710), the leading male actor and theatre manager during Restoration England, son of an under-cook to King Charles I, was born in London. Apprentice and actor Betterton was born in August 16 ...

as Sir Timothy Tallapoy, George Pack as Pinch,

John Verbruggen John Baptista Verbruggen, d. 1708, was an English actor working in London. Verbruggen is first mentioned as a member of the United Company in a Lord Chamberlain's warrant in 1688. His name does not appear in any cast lists until October 1690. Th ...

as Clerimon,

Barton Booth Barton Booth (168210 May 1733) was one of the most famous dramatic actors of the first part of the 18th century. Early life Booth was the son of The Hon and Very Revd Dr Robert Booth (priest), Robert Booth, Dean of Bristol, by his first wife ...

as Friendly, Francis Leigh as Scribblescrabble, Francis Knapp as Bandileer,

William Fieldhouse William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Eng ...

as Trick, John Freeman as Bohee,

Elinor Leigh Elinor Leigh was a British stage actor of the seventeenth century. Born Elinor Dixon, she was billed as Mrs Leigh or Mrs Lee after she married the actor Anthony Leigh in 1671. This has led to some difficulty distinguishing on playbills between he ...

as Lady Stale, Susanna Mountfort as Angelica,

Abigail Lawson Abigail Lawson was an English stage actor of the seventeenth and early eighteenth century. She was a member of the United Company, making her first known appearance in ''The Marriage-Hater Matched'' by Thomas D'Urfey in 1692. From 1695 she was pa ...

as Mrs Scribblescrabble and

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 Mrs. Clever. The

epilogue An epilogue or epilog (from Greek ἐπίλογος ''epílogos'', "conclusion" from ἐπί ''epi'', "in addition" and λόγος ''logos'', "word") is a piece of writing at the end of a work of literature, usually used to bring closure to the w ...

was spoken by

Anne Bracegirdle Anne Bracegirdle (possibly 167112 September 1748) was an English actress. Biography Bracegirdle was born to Justinian and Martha (born Furniss) Bracegirdle in Northamptonshire. She was baptised in Northampton on 15 November 1671, although her to ...

.Van Lennep p.82

Synopsis

At a country fair taking place near

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

, the wealthy merchant Sir Timothy Tallapoy has arranged marriages for both himself and his daughter Angelica. However Angelica is really in love with another man, who also arrives at the fair pursued by Lady Stale an amorous, older widow.

References

Bibliography

* Caines, Michael. ''The Plays and Poems of Nicholas Rowe, Volume II: The Middle Period Plays''. Taylor & Francis, 2016. * Van Lennep, W. ''The London Stage, 1660-1800: Volume Two, 1700-1729''. Southern Illinois University Press, 1960. 1704 plays Plays by Nicholas Rowe West End plays Restoration comedy {{18thC-play-stub