''The Road to Ruin'' is a 1792

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 British writer

Thomas Holcroft Thomas Holcroft (10 December 174523 March 1809) was an English dramatist, miscellanist, poet and translator. He was sympathetic to the early ideas of the French Revolution and helped Thomas Paine to publish the first part of ''The Rights of Man ...

. It premiered at

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

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 ...

with a cast that featured

William Thomas Lewis William Thomas Lewis (1748?–1811), known as "Gentleman" Lewis, due to his refined acting style, was an English actor. He was said to be "the most complete fop on the stage". In later life he went into theatrical management. Early days in Ir ...

as Goldfinch, John Quick as Mr Silky,

Joseph George Holman Joseph George Holman (1764–1817) was an English actor, dramatist and actor-manager. Early life Born in August 1764, he was son of John Major Holman of St. Giles's, Middlesex, an ensign and adjutant in the British service, who died when his so ...

as Harry Dornton, Richard Wilson as Mr Sulky,

Joseph Shepherd Munden Joseph Shepherd Munden (1758 – 6 February 1832) was an English actor. He had a long provincial experience as actor and manager. His first London appearance was in 1790 at Covent Garden, where he mostly remained until 1811, becoming a lea ...

as Mr Dornton,

George Davies Harley George Davies Harley (1762 – 28 November 1811), originally George Davies, was an English actor and poet. Life Harley was, according to one account, a tailor, and according to a second, a banker's clerk, and then a clerk in lottery offices. ...

as Mr Milford, James Thompson as Sheriff's Officer,

William Macready William Charles Macready (3 March 179327 April 1873) was an English actor. Life He was born in London the son of William Macready the elder, and actress Christina Ann Birch. Educated at Rugby School where he became headboy, and where now the ...

as Hosier,

Ann Brunton Merry Ann Brunton Merry (30 March 1769 – 28 June 1808) was an English actress popular in the United Kingdom and later America. Life Ann (or Anne) Brunton was born 30 May 1769 in Covent Garden, England, one of 14 children of John Brunton (b. 1741) ...

as Sophia, Sarah Harlowe as Jenny and

Isabella Mattocks Isabella Mattocks (1746 – June 25, 1826) was a British actress and singer. Early life Hallam (later Mattocks) was baptised in Whitechapel in 1746 by Lewis and Sarah Hallam Douglass. Her father and her uncle William were also actors.Jared Brown ...

as Mrs Warren.Hogan p.1428

References

Bibliography

* Nicoll, Allardyce. ''A History of English Drama 1660–1900: Volume III''. Cambridge University Press, 2009. * Hogan, C.B (ed.) ''The London Stage, 1660–1800: Volume V''. Southern Illinois University Press, 1968. 1792 plays Comedy plays West End plays Plays by Thomas Holcroft {{1790s-play-stub