''The Way to Keep Him'' is a 1760

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 Arthur Murphy. Originally three-acts in length, it premiered at the

Drury Lane Theatre 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 Drur ...

in a

double bill The double feature is a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatres would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown. Opera use Opera ho ...

with Murphy's ''The Desert Island''. Actor-manager David Garrick appeared in both productions.Gilman p.310-11 A great success, the following year it was extended to five acts, with music composed by

Thomas Arne Thomas Augustine Arne (; 12 March 17105 March 1778) was an English composer. He is best known for his patriotic song " Rule, Britannia!" and the song "A-Hunting We Will Go", the latter composed for a 1777 production of '' The Beggar's Opera'', wh ...

to accompany it. It had many revivals well into the nineteenth century. The original 1760 Drury Lane cast included Garrick as Lovemore,

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 ...

as Sir Brilliant Fashion, Thomas King as William,

Maria Macklin Maria Macklin (1733 – 1781) was a British actress. Her parents were both leading Irish born actors. Life During the 1730s her father Charles Macklin and her mother Ann Grace Purvor were lovers. They were both Irish born actors appearing on t ...

as Widow Bellmour,

Mary Ann Yates Mary Ann Yates (1728–1787) was an English tragic actress. The daughter of William Graham, a ship's steward and his wife, Mary, she married Richard Yates (c. 1706-1796), a well-known comedian of the time. In 1754, aged 25, she appeared at Drur ...

as Mrs Lovemore, Mary Bradshaw as Mignionet and

Kitty Clive Catherine Clive (née Raftor; 5 November 1711 – 6 December 1785) Catherine ‘Kitty’ Clive (1711-1785, active 1728-1769) was a first songster and star comedienne of British playhouse entertainment. Clive led and created new forms of English ...

as Muslin.

References

Bibliography

* Baines, Paul & Ferarro, Julian & Rogers, Pat. ''The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Eighteenth-Century Writers and Writing, 1660–1789''. Wiley-Blackwell, 2011. * Gilman, Todd. ''The Theatre Career of Thomas Arne''. Rowman & Littlefield, 2013. 1760 plays Comedy plays West End plays Plays by Arthur Murphy {{play-stub