''Tunbridge Wells; Or, A Day's Courtship'' is a 1678

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 ...

generally attributed to the English writer

Thomas Rawlins Thomas Rawlins (1620?–1670) was an English medallist and playwright. Life Born about 1620, Rawlins appears to have received instruction as a goldsmith and gem engraver, and to have worked under Nicholas Briot at the Royal Mint. Rawlins's fi ...

. It was originally staged 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 ...

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 ...

. The names of the original actors are not known. It did not enjoy the same success as Rawlins' earlier work ''

Tom Essence ''Tom Essence; Or, The Modish Wife'' is a 1676 comedy play by Thomas Rawlins, sometimes also attributed to Edward Ravenscroft. It was first performed at the Dorset Garden Theatre in London by the Duke's Company. Along with Thomas Otway's '' The ...

''. It takes place in the

spa town A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath in 1668. H ...

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the Weald, High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Roc ...

. There a man-about-town Owmuch sets up a couple of London prostitutes posing as a rich widow and her

maid A maid, or housemaid or maidservant, is a female domestic worker. In the Victorian era domestic service was the second largest category of employment in England and Wales, after agricultural work. In developed Western nations, full-time maids ...

, in the hope of collecting the

courtship Courtship is the period wherein some couples get to know each other prior to a possible marriage. Courtship traditionally may begin after a betrothal and may conclude with the celebration of marriage. A courtship may be an informal and private m ...

gifts offer by gentleman suitors. However, he sees a larger scam in tricking a

foppish Fop is a pejorative term for a foolish man. FOP or fop may also refer to: Science and technology * Feature-oriented positioning, in scanning microscopy * Feature-oriented programming, in computer science, software product lines * Fibrodysplasia o ...

and idiotic

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

Sir Lofty Vainman into marrying her. A later work ''

Tunbridge Walks ''Tunbridge Walks'' is a 1703 comedy play by the English writer Thomas Baker. It starred the droll actor William Pinkethman in a leading role. It is also known by the longer title ''Tunbridge Walks, or the Yeoman of Kent''. It was part of a gro ...

'' staged in the 1700s was also set in the town.Hembry p.82

References

Bibliography

* Canfield, J. Douglas. ''Tricksters and Estates: On the Ideology of Restoration Comedy''. University Press of Kentucky, 2014. * Hembry, Phyllis May . ''The English Spa, 1560-1815: A Social History''. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1990. * Van Lennep, W. ''The London Stage, 1660-1800: Volume One, 1660-1700''. Southern Illinois University Press, 1960. 1678 plays West End plays Restoration comedy Plays set in England {{17thC-play-stub