''A Woman's Revenge, or a Match in Newgate'' is a 1715

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 endi ...

by the British writer Christopher Bullock. It was originally performed as an

afterpiece An afterpiece is a short, usually humorous one-act playlet or musical work following the main attraction, the full-length play, and concluding the theatrical evening.p24 "The Chambers Dictionary"Edinburgh, Chambers, 2003 This short comedy, farce ...

to another work '' The Lucky Prodigal''. With its

Newgate Prison Newgate Prison was a prison at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey, just inside the City of London, England, originally at the site of Newgate, a gate in the Roman London Wall. Built in the 12th century and demolished in 1904, the pr ...

setting and cynical references to corruption, it could be regarded as a precursor to

John Gay John Gay (30 June 1685 – 4 December 1732) was an English poet and dramatist and member of the Scriblerus Club. He is best remembered for ''The Beggar's Opera'' (1728), a ballad opera. The characters, including Captain Macheath and Polly Peach ...

's hit ''

The Beggar's Opera ''The Beggar's Opera'' is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of sati ...

'' of a decade later.Fisher p.143 The cast included William Bullock as Thinkwell, John Thurmond as Bevil, Christopher Bullock as Vizard and Sarah Thurmond as Corinna. George, Prince of Wales attended the first performance.

References

Bibliography

* Burling, William J. ''A Checklist of New Plays and Entertainments on the London Stage, 1700-1737''. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1992. * Fisher, Tony. ''Theatre and Governance in Britain, 1500–1900''. Cambridge University Press, 2017. * Nicoll, Allardyce. ''A History of Early Eighteenth Century Drama: 1700-1750''. CUP Archive, 1927. 1715 plays Plays by Christopher Bullock West End plays Comedy plays {{18thC-play-stub