''The Castle Spectre'' is a 1797 dramatic romance in five acts by Matthew "Monk" Lewis. It is a

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

drama set in medieval

Conwy Conwy (, ), previously known in English as Conway, is a walled market town, community and the administrative centre of Conwy County Borough in North Wales. The walled town and castle stand on the west bank of the River Conwy, facing Deganwy on ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. ''The Castle Spectre'' was first performed at the

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane 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 Dr ...

, on 14 December 1797. The original cast included William Barrymore, Richard Wroughton,

Charles Kemble Charles Kemble (25 November 1775 – 12 November 1854) was a Welsh-born English actor of a prominent theatre family. Life Charles Kemble was one of 13 siblings and the youngest son of English Roman Catholic theatre manager/actor Roger Kemble ...

John Palmer John Palmer may refer to: People Politicians * John Palmer (fl. 1377–1394), English politician * Sir John Palmer, 5th Baronet (1735–1817), British politician * John Palmer (1785–1840), U.S. congressman from New York * John Palmer (1842–19 ...

James Aickin James Aickin (died 1803), was an Irish stage actor who worked at the Edinburgh Theatre in Scotland and in theatres in the West End of London. He was the younger brother of the actor Francis Aickin (died 1803) with whom he shared the stage at the ...

, William Dowton,

Jane Powell Jane Powell (born Suzanne Lorraine Burce; April 1, 1929 – September 16, 2021) was an American actress, singer, and dancer who first appeared in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musicals in the 1940s and 50s. With her soprano voice and girl-next-door image ...

and

Dorothea Jordan Dorothea Jordan, née Bland (21 November 17615 July 1816), was an Anglo-Irish actress, as well as a courtesan. She was the long-time mistress of Prince William, Duke of Clarence, later William IV, and the mother of ten illegitimate children by ...

. In a period when very few plays reached ten performances in a season, it was staged forty-seven times before June, when the theatre closed for the summer. The play had a long run also in the following year and remained in the repertoire until the late 1820s, and was revived until the end of the century. It also toured the provincial theatres and went through eleven printed editions from 1798 to 1803. Further evidence of its extraordinary popularity is given by the fact that it crossed the ocean and opened in New York on 1 June 1798. Moreover, it was turned into a prose romance in 1829 by

Sarah Wilkinson Sarah Wilkinson was the chief executive of NHS Digital, which is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care, and part of the NHS in England. Wilkinson has been named as the second most influential wo ...

. A new adaptation of this play by

Phil Willmott Phil Willmott (born 26 January 1968) is a British director, playwright, arts journalist, teacher, and founder of London based theatre production company The Steam Industry. He was the Artistic Director of the Finborough Theatre in London's Ear ...

was given its first performance at the Warehouse Theatre Croydon on 5 December 1997. It was directed by Ted Craig and designed by Peter Lindley. The cast was as follows: Percy, son of the Earl of Caernavon - Damien Goodwin, Earl Osmond - Martyn Stanbridge, Angela -

Mali Harries Mali Rhys Harries (born 6 July 1976) is a Welsh television actress and presenter who has been in the television industry since 1989. She has appeared in several well-established TV series in Welsh and English, including ''Hinterland'', ''The Ind ...

, Old Allan/Reginald, Earl of Conwy - Frank Ellis, Muley -

Nick Wilton Nicholas Wilton is an English actor and scriptwriter. He has appeared as Mr Lister in the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'' as a recurring character; he has also appeared in ''Carrott's Lib'' and '' Jackanory''. Early life Wilton studied Engli ...

, Hassan - Clive Llewellyn.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Castle Spectre, The 1797 plays Gothic fiction Plays set in the United Kingdom Plays by Matthew Lewis Wales in fiction West End plays