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The Belle's Stratagem
''The Belle's Stratagem'' is a romantic comedy of manners, the most successful work of its playwright, Hannah Cowley. It received its premiere on 22 February 1780, filling the 2,000-seat Drury Lane theatre.Swale, Jessica. "The Belle of London: Hannah Cowley." Program notes, Southwark Playhouse's 2011 production of "The Belle's Stratagem." The play became a major hit of the season, with Queen Charlotte enjoying it so much that she decreed it be performed for the royal family once a season for several years.Winter Its title comes from George Farquhar's play ''The Beaux' Stratagem''. Synopsis The play's double plotline concerns the romance between Letitia Hardy and Doricourt, as well as the relationship between Sir George Touchwood and his wife, Lady Frances Touchwood. The story comes to a dénouement at the masquerade ball of the last act. As described by the press office of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, "Set in 1780s London, ''The Belle's Stratagem'' is the tale of Letitia Har ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sarah Booth
Sarah Booth (1793 – 30 December 1867) was an English actress. Personal life Sarah Booth was born in Birmingham, England in 1793. She was related to Barton Booth. She was discovered in Manchester, England as a dancer, alongside her sister, around 1804. She died in 1867 after a long retirement from performing. Work She was managed by a promoter named Macready who worked for the Manchester Theatre. She performed as a prince in the play '' King John''. She moved to Doncaster, where she performed in the play ''Deserts of Siberia'' (also called ''The Exile'') as Alexina. She was heard of by the manager of the Surrey Theatre, Robert William Elliston. She performed in London, England for the first time in 1810, in a burletta alongside Elliston. That same year, on 23 November, she debuted at the Royal Opera House, playing Amanthis in a play titled ''Child of Nature''. She performed at Covent Garden many times, performing in ''Miller and his Men'', '' The Dog of Montarges'', and '' L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Runaway (play)
''The Runaway'' is a 1776 comedy play by the British writer Hannah Cowley (writer), Hannah Cowley. It premiered at London's Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on 15 February 1776. The original cast included Richard Yates (actor), Richard Yates as Mr Hargrave, William "Gentleman" Smith, William Smith as George Hargrave, Robert Bensley as Mr Drummond, William Brereton (actor), William Brereton as Sir Charles Seymour, James Aickin as Mr Morley, William Parsons (actor), William Parsons as Justice, John Palmer (actor), John Palmer as Jarvis, Charles Bannister as First Hunter, Elizabeth Hopkins as Lady Dinah, Elizabeth Younge as Bella, Priscilla Hopkins as Harriet, Sarah Siddons as Emily and Mary Ann Wrighten as Susan. Cowley dedicated the play to David Garrick, the actor-manager of Drury Lane, who wrote the prologue. The action revolves around a country house in England.Escott p.62 Synopsis George Hargrave, who is home from college, is overjoyed to learn that Emily, the mysterious runaway whom h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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. Her father and her uncle William were also actors. Her grandfather Thomas Hallam had been part of the Drury Lane company when he was killed in a dispute with fellow actor Charles Macklin during a performance. When her parents and William decided to try acting in America in 1752 they took three of Isabella's siblings, but she was left in the care of her aunt, Ann, and her husband John Barrington in England. In 1762 she made her debut in the adult role of Juliet. For most of her childhood except for a few years at school she played small parts in the productions of the Covent Garden company of actors. When she was sixteen she joined the company and in 1765 she married her leading man George Mattocks. Hallam's guardians who she said treated her like true parents opposed the match for reasons that are not ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elizabeth Younge
Elizabeth Younge (1740 – 15 March 1797)Her epitaph in Westminster Abbey states that she died at the age of 52 but ''The New Monthly Magazine'' which gave her d.o.b. as 1940 wrote, "How this error in her age arose there is no possibility of ever guessing, as her real age was so well known." was an English actress who specialized in William Shakespeare, Shakespearean roles. Biography Younge was born near Gravel Lane, Old Gravel Lane, Southwark. An Elizabeth Young, daughter of Samuel and Mary Young, was baptized at St Olave's, Southwark, on 14 January 1744, but it is not known if this was the same person. She received her early education at a day-school with other working-class children. After she left school, she became apprenticed to a milliner. Her parents died while she was still young and she had to support herself. In her leisure time, she did a great deal of reading and devoted herself to studying the best poets, especially the dramatic ones. She made friends with a youn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Fearon (actor)
James Fearon (1746–1789) was a British stage actor. From 1768 to 1771 he acted in Edinburgh and Glasgow, before making his London debut at Haymarket Theatre. He appeared in London until his death, mainly at the Covent Garden Theatre, whose company he joined in 1774.Cox & Gamer pp. 418–19 Selected roles * Peter Poultice in '' The Maid of Bath'' by Samuel Foote (1771) * Coachman in ''The Rivals'' by Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1775) * Sir John Millamour in '' Know Your Own Mind'' by Arthur Murphy (1777) * Porter in ''The Belle's Stratagem'' by Hannah Cowley (1780) * Officer in '' The Count of Narbonne'' by Robert Jephson (1781) * Bumboat in ''The Walloons'' by Richard Cumberland (1782) * David in '' More Ways Than One'' by Hannah Cowley (1783) * Vasquez in ''A Bold Stroke for a Husband'' by Hannah Cowley (1783) * Leuthrop in '' Werter'' by Frederick Reynolds (1786) * Wilkins in '' He Would Be a Soldier'' by Frederick Pilon (1786) * Mathias in '' The Midnight Hour'' by Eliz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ralph Wewitzer
Ralph Wewitzer (1748–1825) was an English actor. He won critical acclaim in supporting parts, but was never given leading roles. He had a 44-year acting career, and is thought to have learned over 400 speaking parts. Early roles at Covent Garden He was born on 17 December 1748 in Salisbury Street, Strand, London, to Peter and Ann Wewitzer; his parents were involved in the theatre, and his father was Swiss or Norwegian. He is identified by Gerald Reitlinger and Kalman Burnim as Jewish by background. Wewitzer was once apprenticed to a jeweller. He made his first appearance at Covent Garden Theatre in May 1773 as Ralph in ''The Maid in the Mill'', it is said for the benefit of his sister Sarah Wewitzer. On 21 November 1775 he was the original Lopez, a Spanish manservant in '' The Duenna'' by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. For 14 years he remained at Covent Garden. It was said that in the early days Wewitzer, in debt, went to Dublin, where he acted under Thomas Ryder. Among his parts ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Robson (actor)
Thomas Robson (1737–1813) was a British stage actor and singer. Born as Thomas Robson Brownhill in Hull in 1737, he began his career in provincial theatre appearing in Norwich in the late 1760s. In 1769 he was at the Richmond Theatre and the following year made his London debut at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket then under the management of Samuel Foote. He originated roles of several of Foote's new farces, and also appeared the Orchard Street Theatre in Bath and the Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin over the next few years. In 1776 he joined the company of the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden and remained there until 1782, appearing in over a hundred roles. His last known roles in London were at the Haymarket in 1784. Later in life he was a driving force behind the construction of the Theatre Royal, Margate from 1786 to provide entertainment for the growing Kent coastal town. He died in Richmond, Surrey in 1813 according to ''The Gentleman's Magazine''.Highfill, Burnim & Langhans p.49=50 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Whitfield (actor)
John Whitfield (1752–1814) was a British stage actor. He was part of the Covent Garden and Drury Lane companies, playing over two hundred roles. He often appeared alongside his wife Mary Whitfield.Cox & Gamer p.426 Selected roles * Agenor in '' Cleonice, Princess of Bithynia'' by John Hoole (1775) * Edric in '' Percy'' by Hannah More (1777) * Sir Henry Lovewit in '' Know Your Own Mind'' by Arthur Murphy (1777) * Earl of Surrey in ''Alfred'' by John Home (1778) * Villers in ''The Belle's Stratagem'' by Hannah Cowley (1780) * Don Garcia in ''A Bold Stroke for a Husband'' by Hannah Cowley (1783) * Camillo in ''Julia'' by Robert Jephson (1787) * Nicrates in '' The Fate of Sparta'' by Hannah Cowley (1788) * De Courcy in '' The Haunted Tower'' by James Cobb (1789) * Lupercio in '' Marcella'' by William Hayley (1789) * Woodville in '' The Wheel of Fortune'' by Richard Cumberland (1795) * Redwald in ''Edwy and Elgiva'' by Fanny Burney (1795) * Wortimerus in ''Vortigern and Rowen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Francis Aickin
Francis Aickin (died 1805), was an Irish actor, who worked at the Edinburgh Theatre in Scotland, and the between 1765 and 1792 in theatres in the West End of London. Francis Aickin first appeared in London in 1765 as Dick Amlet in John Vanbrugh's '' The Confederacy'' at Drury Lane. He acted there, and at Covent Garden, until 1792. His repertory consisted of over eighty characters, and among his best parts were the Ghost in ''Hamlet'' and Jaques in ''As You Like It''. His success in impassioned declamatory roles obtained for him the nickname of "Tyrant". Biography Francis Aickin was born in Dublin and brought up to the trade of his father, a weaver in that city; but, following the example of his younger brother, James Aickin, he became a strolling player. Having appeared as George Barnwell and sustained other characters in various country towns, he joined the manager of the Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin. Aickin the shared the management of the Edinburgh Theatre in Scotland's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Wroughton
Richard Wroughton (1748–1822), was an actor, who worked mainly in Covent Garden (now the Royal Opera house) and Drury Lane (now the Theatre Royal), and occasionally in the city of his birth, Bath. Acting at Covent Garden He was born in 1748, and came to London, followed by a young milliner who had fallen in love with him, who nursed him through a severe illness, and whom he married. His first appearance was made at Covent Garden on 24 September 1768 as Zaphna in ‘ Mahomet,’ and not apparently in Altamont in ‘The Fair Penitent’ (acted on the 12th), as all his biographers say. He was seen during the season as Tressel in ‘Richard III,’ Nerestan in ‘Zara,’ Creon in ‘Medea,’ Altamont, for his benefit, on 4 May 1769, and George Barnwell. He was slow in ripening, and his early performances gave little promise. By dint of sheer hard work he developed, however, into a good actor. During the seventeen years in which he remained at Covent Garden he played the princ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Lee Lewes
Charles Lee Lewes (1740 – 13 July 1803) was an English actor. Biography He was born the son of a hosier in London. After attending a school at Ambleside he returned to London, where he found employment as a postman. In about 1760 he went on the stage in the provinces, and some three years later began to appear in minor parts at Covent Garden Theatre. His first role of importance was that of Young Marlow in ''She Stoops to Conquer'', at its production of that comedy in 1773, when he delivered an epilogue specially written for him by Goldsmith. He remained a member of the Covent Garden company until 1783, appearing in many parts, among which were Fag in ''The Rivals'', which he created, and Sir Anthony Absolute in the same comedy. In 1783 he removed to Drury Lane, where he assumed the Shakespearian rôles of Touchstone, Lucio, and Falstaff. In 1787 he left London for Edinburgh, where he gave recitations, including Cowper's "John Gilpin". For a short time in 1792 Lewes assisted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Quick (actor)
John Quick (1748 – 4 April 1831) was a British comic actor. Life The son of a brewer, he was born in Whitechapel, London. At age 13 he left his home and joined Oliver Carr's theatrical company at Fulham, where he played Altamont in the ''Fair Penitent'', receiving three shillings as a share in the profits. For some years, in Kent and Surrey, he played Romeo, George Barnewell, Hamlet, Jaffier, Tancred, and other tragic characters, and in 1766 was at the Haymarket Theatre under the management of Samuel Foote, with Edward Shuter, John Bannister, and John Palmer. His performance, for Shuter's benefit, of Mordecai in ''Love à la Mode'' commended him to Covent Garden, where, on 7 November 1767, he was the original Postboy in Colman's ''Oxonian in Town''; on 14 December the First Ferret in the ''Royal Merchant'', an operatic version of the ''Beggar's Bush''; and on 29 January 1768 the original Postboy in Oliver Goldsmith's ''Good-natured Man''. At Covent Garden, with occasional ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
