''The Hunchback'' is an 1832

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 Irish writer

James Sheridan Knowles James Sheridan Knowles (12 May 1784 – 30 November 1862) was an Irish dramatist and actor. Biography Knowles was born in Cork. His father was the lexicographer James Knowles (1759–1840), cousin of Richard Brinsley Sheridan. The family mov ...

. Knowles wrote it in the wake of the disastrous reception of his previous comedy '' The Beggar's Daughter of Bethnal Green'' in 1828. It premiered at the

Theatre Royal, Covent Garden The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Ope ...

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 ...

's West End on 5 April 1832.Nicoll p.172 The cast included Sheridan Knowles himself as Master Walter,

Fanny Kemble Frances Anne "Fanny" Kemble (27 November 180915 January 1893) was a British actress from a theatre family in the early and mid-19th century. She was a well-known and popular writer and abolitionist, whose published works included plays, poetry ...

as Julia, Hariette Taylor as Helen,

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 ...

as Sir Thomas Clifford,

Benjamin Wrench Benjamin Wrench (1778–1843), was an actor, born in 1778 in London, where his father occupied ‘a lucrative appointment in the Exchequer.’ He seems to have been grandson of Sir Benjamin Wrench, M.D., of Norwich (d. 1747, aged 82) (see Notes ...

as Lord Tinsel,

William Abbot William Abbot or Abbott (12 June 1790 – 1 June 1843) was an English actor, and a theatrical manager, both in England and the United States. Life Abbot was born in Chelsea, London, and made his first appearance on the stage at Bath in 1806, ...

as Modus,

Drinkwater Meadows Drinkwater Meadows (1799 – 12 June 1869) was an English actor. Biography Meadows was a native of Yorkshire, or, according to another account, of Wales, born in 1799, joined a theatrical company established in Kendal, and played in various towns ...

as Fathom and William Payne as Stephen. It was Fanny Kemble's last performance in England before embarking on a tour of the United States with her father, where she married and retired from the stage.

References

Bibliography

* Nicoll, Allardyce. ''A History of Early Nineteenth Century Drama 1800-1850''. Cambridge University Press, 1930. 1832 plays West End plays Comedy plays British plays Plays by James Sheridan Knowles {{19thC-play-stub