''Timour the Tartar'' is an 1811

hippodrama Hippodrama, horse drama, or equestrian drama is a genre of theatrical show blending circus horsemanship display with popular melodrama theatre. Definition Kimberly Poppiti defines hippodrama as "plays written or performed to include a live horse ...

play by English dramatist Matthew Lewis. The equestrian drama was a popular success.Gamer, Michael
A Matter of Turf: Romanticism, Hippodrama, and Satire
in ''Nineteenth-Century Contexts'', Vol. 28, No. 4, pp. 305-334, December 2006 Due to the success of a new equestrian version of ''Blue Beard'' (a play by

George Colman the Younger George Colman (21 October 1762 – 17 October 1836), known as "the Younger", was an English dramatist and miscellaneous writer. He was the son of George Colman the Elder. Life He passed from Westminster School to Christ Church, Oxford, and ...

) in February 1811, the managers of Covent Garden hired Matthew Lewis (nicknamed "Monk" Lewis because of his successful 1796 novel, ''

The Monk ''The Monk: A Romance'' is a Gothic novel by Matthew Gregory Lewis, published in 1796. A quickly written book from early in Lewis's career (in one letter he claimed to have written it in ten weeks, but other correspondence suggests that he ha ...

'') to specifically author an equestrian play, believed to be the first play expressly written to features horses. It debuted on either April 29 or May 1, 1811.Poppiti, Kimberley
A History of Equestrian Drama in the United States
(2018) Though successful with audiences, its debut was the subject of some controversy. Some were worried it was preying on the success of smaller "non-legitimate" theatres which featured horses, and others lamented the reliance on horses to make a hit. But its success showed that this new combination of circus amusement and traditional theatre was clearly not going away.Cox, Jeffrey N. & Michael Garner, ed
The Broadview Anthology of Romantic Drama
pp. 348-51 (contemporary reviews of the play) In the United States, the play debuted at the Anthony Street Theatre in New York (called the "Olympic" at the time, and also a circus venue) in September 1812. Mr. Robertson played Timour and Mrs. Twaits played Zorilda. The play then went to the Park Theatre.Ireland, Joseph Norto
Fifty-years of a Play-goer's Journal
p. 199 (1860) The play was performed often in both England and America for the next fifty years.

Original cast (Covent Garden)

* Charles Farley as Timour *Mast. Chapman as Agib *Mr. Treby as Bermeddia *Mr. King as Abdalee *Mr. Crossman as Kerim *Mr. Makeen as Sanballat *Mr. Field as Orasmin * John Fawcett as Oglou *Nannette Parker Johnston ("Mrs. H. Johnston") as Zorilda *Miss Bolton as Selima *Mrs. Liston and Miss Feron as Liska

References

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External links

Timour the Tartar
(1842, United States printing)
Nannette Johnston (née Parker) ('Mrs H Johnston, in the Melodrama of Timour the Tartar'
National Portrait Gallery 1811 plays West End plays Plays based on real people Cultural depictions of Timur Plays set in the 14th century Plays set in the 15th century Plays set in Turkey Plays by Matthew Lewis Theatre controversies