''Aureng-zebe'' is a Restoration

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

John Dryden '' John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the per ...

, written in

1675 Events January–March * January 5 – Franco-Dutch War – Battle of Turckheim: The French defeat Austria and Brandenburg. * January 29 – John Sassamon, an English-educated Native American Christian, dies at Assa ...

. It is based loosely on the figures of Aurangzeb (Aureng-zebe), the then-reigning Mughal Emperor of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

; his brother,

Murad Baksh Muhammad Murad Bakhsh ( fa, ), (9 October 1624 – 14 December 1661) was a Mughal prince and the youngest surviving son of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan and Empress Mumtaz Mahal. He was the Subedar of Balkh, till he was replaced by his elder ...

(Morat); and their father, Shah Jahan (Emperor). The piece is the last drama that Dryden wrote in rhymed verse. It is considered his best tragic work. The premiere production by the

King's Company The King's Company was one of two enterprises granted the rights to mount theatrical productions in London, after the London theatre closure had been lifted at the start of the English Restoration. It existed from 1660 to 1682, when it merged wit ...

featured Charles Hart in the title role,

Michael Mohun Michael Mohun (1616? – buried 11 October 1684) was a leading English actor both before and after the 1642–60 closing of the theatres. Mohun began his stage career as a boy player filling female roles; he was part of Christopher Beeston's the ...

as the Old Emperor,

Edward Kynaston Edward Kynaston may refer to: *Edward Kynaston (actor) (c. 1640–1712), English actor *Edward Kynaston (1709–1772) Edward Kynaston (6 October 1709–1772), of Garth and Bryngwyn, Montgomeryshire and Hardwick, Shropshire, was a British landow ...

as Morat,

William Wintershall William Wintershall (died July 1679), also Wintersall or Wintersell, was a noted seventeenth-century English actor. His career spanned the difficult years of mid-century, when English theatres were closed from 1642 to 1660, during the English Civi ...

as Arimant, Rebecca Marshall as the Empress Nourmahal, Elizabeth Cox as Indamora, and

Mary Corbett Mary Corbett was an English stage actress of the seventeenth century. She was a member of the King's Company, based at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. She appears to have left the company around the time of the merger creating the new United Compan ...

as Melesinda. John Downes, ''Roscius Anglicanus'', London, 1708, Montague Summers, ed., London, Fortune Press

o date O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''o'' (pronounced ), plu ...

reprinted New York, Benjamin Blom, 1963.

Modern adaptations

The play was adapted as ''The Captive Queen'', and performed by

Northern Broadsides Northern Broadsides is a theatre company formed in 1992 and based at Dean Clough Mill in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. It was founded by Barrie Rutter, who was its Artistic Director until resigning in 2018, followed by Conrad Nelson who was ...

at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse in February and March 2018. It was the final production with the company for its founder and artistic director Barrie Rutter, and as well as directing, he played the part of the emperor.

References

External links

Text of the play
{{John Dryden 1675 plays English Restoration plays Plays by John Dryden Cultural depictions of Aurangzeb Cultural depictions of Shah Jahan Cultural depictions of Indian monarchs Plays set in India Mughal Empire in fiction India in fiction