''The Town Shifts; Or, The Suburb-Justice'' is a 1671

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 Edward Revet. It was originally staged by the

Duke's Company The Duke's Company was a theatre company chartered by King Charles II at the start of the Restoration era, 1660. Sir William Davenant was manager of the company under the patronage of Prince James, Duke of York. During hats period, theatres b ...

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, ...

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 ...

. It is part of the tradition of Restoration Comedy. The original cast included

Philip Cademan Philip Cademan (born. 1643) was an English stage actor of the Restoration era. The son of an apothecary Thomas Cross, he adopted his stepfather's surname of Cademan after his mother remarried. In 1651 she married again this time to the playwrig ...

as Lovewell,

Matthew Medbourne Matthew Medbourne (died 1680) was an English stage actor and occasional playwright of the Restoration era. A long-standing member of the Duke's Theatre, Medbourne was a victim of the Popish Plot scare and died in Newgate Prison. Medbourne was a ...

as Friendly, Edward Angel as Leftwell, Henry Norris as Pett,

Samuel Sandford Samuel Sandford ( fl. 1661–1699) was an English character actor, known for his roles as villains. Career He joined William D'Avenant's company at Lincoln's Inn Fields about a year after its formation, and was, on 16 December 1661, the original ...

as Frump, Joseph Williams as Moses, Mary Lee as Leticia,

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 h ...

as Betty and Jane Long as Fickle.Van Lennep p.181

References

Bibliography

* Canfield, J. Douglas. ''Tricksters and Estates: On the Ideology of Restoration Comedy''. University Press of Kentucky, 2014. * Van Lennep, W. ''The London Stage, 1660-1800: Volume One, 1660-1700''. Southern Illinois University Press, 1960. 1671 plays West End plays Restoration comedy Plays set in London {{17thC-play-stub