''The City Bride; Or, The Merry Cuckold'' is a 1696 comedy play by the English writer Joseph Harris. It premiered 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, ...

, staged by Thomas Betterton's company. The plot was inspired by John Fletcher's ''

A Cure for a Cuckold ''A Cure for a Cuckold'' is a late Jacobean era stage play. It is a comedy written by John Webster and William Rowley. The play was first published in 1661, though it is understood to have been composed some four decades earlier. Date and perf ...

''. The original Lincoln's Inn Fields cast included John Bowman as Bonvile,

John Thurmond John Thurmond (died 1727) was a British stage actor. To distinguish him from his son, also an actor named John, he is sometimes called John Thurmond the Elder. His earliest known stage performance was in 1695, when he played in '' Cyrus the Grea ...

as Friendly, George Bright as Justice Merryman,

Samuel Bailey Samuel Bailey (5 July 1791 – 18 January 1870) was a British philosopher, economist and writer. He was called the " Bentham of Hallamshire". Life Bailey was born at Sheffield on 5 July 1791, the son of Joseph Bailey and Mary Eadon. His father ...

as Mr Spruce, John Freeman as Compasse, Elizabeth Bowman as Arabella,

Elizabeth Boutell Elizabeth Boutell (early 1650s?—1715), was a British actress. Life She joined, soon after its formation, the company at the Theatre Royal, subsequently known as Drury Lane, and was accordingly one of the first women to appear on the English st ...

as Clara and Abigail Lawson as Nurse.Van Lennep p.460

References

Bibliography

* Van Lennep, W. ''The London Stage, 1660-1800: Volume One, 1660-1700''. Southern Illinois University Press, 1960. 1696 plays West End plays Comedy plays Plays by Joseph Harris Plays set in London {{17thC-play-stub