''The Devil of a Wife, or A Comical Transformation'' is a 1686

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 English writer and actor

Thomas Jevon Thomas Jevon (1652–1688) was an English playwright, and one of the first English Harlequins. He began his career as a dancing master, but worked his way onto the stage, and played leading low-comedy parts in London between 1673 and 1688. His br ...

. It was first performed by the

United Company The United Company was a London theatre company formed in 1682 with the merger of the King's Company and the Duke's Company. Both the Duke's and King's Companies suffered poor attendance during the turmoil of the Popish Plot period, 1678&ndas ...

at the

Dorset Garden Theatre The Dorset Garden Theatre in London, built in 1671, was in its early years also known as the Duke of York's Theatre, or the Duke's Theatre. In 1685, King Charles II died and his brother, the Duke of York, was crowned as James II. When the D ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. The original Dorset Garden cast included

Philip Griffin Philip Griffin was an English stage actor of the seventeenth century and early eighteenth century. He joined the King's Company at Drury Lane during the 1670s, and was later a member of the merged United Company from 1685. He was named as a manage ...

as Sir Richard Lovemore, John Bowman as Rowland,

Carey Perin Carey Perin (occasionally written as Perrin) was an English stage actor of the seventeenth century. He was a long-standing member of the King's Company based at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.Wilson p.23 He then joined the merged United Company in ...

as Longmore, Richard Saunders as Butler,

Thomas Percival Thomas Percival (29 September 1740 – 30 August 1804) was an English physician, health reformer, ethicist and author who wrote an early code of medical ethics. He drew up a pamphlet with the code in 1794 and wrote an expanded version in 18 ...

as Cook, Henry Norris as The Ladies Father, George Powell as Noddy,

as Jobson, John Freeman as Doctor,

Sarah Cooke Sarah Cooke (died 1688) was an English stage actress of the seventeenth century. She was a member of the King's Company, based at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. She played a number of lead roles during the 1680s. Her aunt was the governess to th ...

as Lady Lovemore, Emily Price as Jane, Susanna Percival as Nell.Van Lennep, p. 347-48. In 1724 the play was revived at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre with a cast featuring John Ogden, William Bullock and

Jane Egleton Jane Egleton (died 1734) was a British stage actress of the eighteenth century associated with John Rich's company at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre. He origins are not entirely clear, but she acted under the name Jane Giffard or Mrs Giffard ...

. In 1731 it was adapted into a

ballad opera The ballad opera is a genre of English stage entertainment that originated in the early 18th century, and continued to develop over the following century and later. Like the earlier '' comédie en vaudeville'' and the later ''Singspiel'', its dist ...

'' The Devil to Pay'', following the fashion for musical plays by ''

The Beggar's Opera ''The Beggar's Opera'' is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of satiri ...

''.

References

Bibliography

* Canfield, J. Douglas: ''Tricksters and Estates: On the Ideology of Restoration Comedy'' (Lexngton: University Press of Kentucky, 2014). * Van Lennep, W.: ''The London Stage, 1660–1800: Volume One, 1660–1700'' (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1960). 1686 plays West End plays Restoration comedy {{17thC-play-stub