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Mahomet The Imposter
''Mahomet the Imposter'' is a 1744 tragedy by the British writer James Miller. His final play, it was inspired by the 1736 French work '' Mahomet'' by Voltaire. It was Miller's only tragedy, as his other works were sentimental comedies.Nicoll p.111 The title is sometimes spelt as ''Mahomet the Impostor''. The original Drury Lane cast included David Garrick as Zaphna, Dennis Delane as Mahomet, Henry Giffard as Alcanor, Richard Winstone Richard Winstone (1699-1787) was a British stage actor of the eighteenth century. In 1732 Winstone joined Henry Giffard's Goodman's Fields Theatre. After this he worked at several London theatres including Lincoln's Inn Fields, Haymarket Theat ... as Pharon and Anna Marcella Giffard as Palmira. References Bibliography * Nicoll, Allardyce. ''A History of Early Eighteenth Century Drama: 1700-1750''. CUP Archive, 1927. 1744 plays Tragedy plays West End plays Plays by James Miller Cultural depictions of Muhammad {{1740s-play-stu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Miller (playwright)
James Miller (1704–1744) was an English playwright, poet, librettist, and minister. Biography Miller was born in Bridport, Dorset on 11 August 1704, the son of a clergyman who possessed two considerable livings in the county. He studied at Wadham College, Oxford, and while there wrote part of his famous comedy, '' The Humours of Oxford'', which contained music by Richard Charke and was first performed on 9 January 1730, to great success. Miller's family was somewhat unsupportive of his theatrical endeavors. They had wanted him to pursue a career in business, but Miller showed a revulsion to such a path. He therefore was persuaded to follow in his father's profession as a minister, taking holy orders soon after he left Wadham. Miller became a lecturer at Trinity College, Conduit Street and a preacher at Roehampton Chapel. The livings for these positions however did not provide for the lifestyle that Miller was accustomed to, so he continued to write for the stage to sup ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Drury Lane. The building is the most recent in a line of four theatres which were built at the same location, the earliest of which dated back to 1663, making it the oldest theatre site in London still in use. According to the author Peter Thomson, for its first two centuries, Drury Lane could "reasonably have claimed to be London's leading theatre". For most of that time, it was one of a handful of patent theatres, granted monopoly rights to the production of "legitimate" drama in London (meaning spoken plays, rather than opera, dance, concerts, or plays with music). The first theatre on the site was built at the behest of Thomas Killigrew in the early 1660s, when theatres were allowed to reopen during the English Restoration. Initial ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tragedy
Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsis, or a "pain hatawakens pleasure", for the audience. While many cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, the term ''tragedy'' often refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of Western civilization. That tradition has been multiple and discontinuous, yet the term has often been used to invoke a powerful effect of cultural identity and historical continuity—"the Greeks and the Elizabethans, in one cultural form; Hellenes and Christians, in a common activity," as Raymond Williams puts it. From its origins in the theatre of ancient Greece 2500 years ago, from which there survives only a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mahomet (play)
''Mahomet'' (french: Le fanatisme, ou Mahomet le Prophète, literally ''Fanaticism, or Mahomet the Prophet'') is a five-act tragedy written in 1736 by French playwright and philosopher Voltaire. It received its debut performance in Lille on 25 April 1741 in literature, 1741. The play is a study of religious fanaticism and self-serving Psychological manipulation, manipulation based on an episode in the traditional biography of Muhammad in which he orders the murder of his critics.Voltaire, ''Mahomet the Prophet or Fanaticism: A Tragedy in Five Acts'', trans. Robert L. Myers, ( New York: Frederick Ungar, 1964). Voltaire described the play as "written in opposition to the founder of a false and barbarous sect". Plot summary The story of ''Mahomet'' unfolds during Muhammad's post exile Occupation of Mecca, siege of Mecca in 629 AD, when the opposing forces are under a short term truce called to discuss the terms and course of the war. In the first act the audience is introduced to a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his '' nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—especially of the Roman Catholic Church—and of slavery. Voltaire was an advocate of freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and separation of church and state. Voltaire was a versatile and prolific writer, producing works in almost every literary form, including plays, poems, novels, essays, histories, and scientific expositions. He wrote more than 20,000 letters and 2,000 books and pamphlets. Voltaire was one of the first authors to become renowned and commercially successful internationally. He was an outspoken advocate of civil liberties and was at constant risk from the strict censorship laws of the Catholic French monarchy. His polemics witheringly satirized intolerance, religious dogma, and the French institutions of his day. H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sentimental Comedy
Sentimental comedy is an 18th-century dramatic genre which sprang up as a reaction to the immoral tone of English Restoration plays. In sentimental comedies, middle-class protagonists triumphantly overcome a series of moral trials. These plays aimed to produce tears rather than laughter and reflected contemporary philosophical conceptions of humans as inherently good but capable of being led astray by bad example. By appealing to his noble sentiments, a man could be reformed and set back on the path of virtue. While the plays contained characters whose natures seemed overly virtuous and whose problems were too easily resolved, they were accepted by audiences as truthful representations of the human predicament. Elements of the genre The characters in sentimental comedy are either strictly good or bad. Heroes have no faults or bad habits, villains are thoroughly evil or morally degraded. The authors' purpose was to show the audience the innate goodness of people and that through moral ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Garrick
David Garrick (19 February 1717 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil and friend of Samuel Johnson. He appeared in a number of amateur theatricals, and with his appearance in the title role of Shakespeare's ''Richard III'', audiences and managers began to take notice. Impressed by his portrayals of Richard III and a number of other roles, Charles Fleetwood engaged Garrick for a season at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in the West End. He remained with the Drury Lane company for the next five years and purchased a share of the theatre with James Lacy. This purchase inaugurated 29 years of Garrick's management of the Drury Lane, during which time it rose to prominence as one of the leading theatres in Europe. At his death, three years after his retirement from Drury Lane and the stage, he was given a lavish public funeral at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dennis Delane
Dennis Delane (died April 1750) was an Irish stage actor who appeared for many years at the leading London theatres. Beginnings in Dublin Delane was educated at Trinity College, Dublin and originally intended to become a lawyer.Highfill, Burnim & Langhans p.286 His first appearance as an actor took place about 1728 at the Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin, then under the management of Thomas Elrington (actor), Thomas Elrington. Delane supported successfully a large round of characters in tragedy and comedy, his principal parts being Alexander in Lee's ‘Rival Queens’ and Young Bevil in the ‘The Conscious Lovers, Conscious Lovers’ of Richard Steele. Move to London High terms were offered him by Henry Giffard for London, and he opened at Goodman's Fields Theatre, Goodman's Fields in 1730, presumably 24 November, as Chamont in the ‘Orphan.’ His success was conspicuous and immediate. During the four years in which he remained at Goodman's Fields he played in rapid succession Othe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry Giffard
Henry Giffard (1694–1772) was a British stage actor and theatre manager. Early life Although there is some uncertainty about his early years, he is described as being the son of William Giffard. Born in London – in Lincoln's Inn Fields by some accounts – he worked for several years as a clerk for the South Sea Company before turning to acting. Ireland Throughout the 1720s he was a member of the Smock Alley Theatre company in Dublin, Ireland's leading theatre of the era. While there he married the Irish actress Mary Lydall, with whom he had two children. After her death he remarried to a relation of hers, Anna Marcella Lydall, who thereafter acted under the name Mrs Giffard. In 1726 he briefly appeared in at Drury Lane in London, appearing in '' Henry IV'' and ''The Recruiting Officer'', but then did not return to the London stage for three years. Goodman's Fields Theatre In 1729 he appeared at Thomas Odell's Goodman's Fields Theatre appearing in a wide variety of dif ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Winstone
Richard Winstone (1699-1787) was a British stage actor of the eighteenth century. In 1732 Winstone joined Henry Giffard's Goodman's Fields Theatre. After this he worked at several London theatres including Lincoln's Inn Fields, Haymarket Theate and Bartholomew Fair. From 1734 to 1753 he was an established part of the Drury Lane company working with David Garrick amongst others, making occasional appearances at other theatres. From 1743 he spent his summers working at the Jacobs Well Theatre in Bristol. After making his final London appearance in May 1753 he settled in Bristol and took an active role in the company there, which eventually gained a new home at the Theatre Royal, Bristol and also performed in Bath. He retired in 1784 and died in the city three years later.Highfill, Burnim & Langhans p.190 Selected roles * Selim in ''Scanderbeg'' (1733) * Silvus in '' Junius Brutus'' (1734) * Paulinus in ''The Christian Hero'' (1735) * Touchwood in '' The Double Dealer'' (173 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anna Marcella Giffard
Anna Marcella Giffard (1707-1777) was an Irish stage actress. She was a member of the Lyddal acting family of Dublin, and began appearing herself at the Smock Alley Theatre under the name of Nancy Lyddal in the 1720s. In around 1728 she married the English actor Henry Giffard who had been acting at Smock Alley for some years. He had previously been married to Mary Lyddal, probably Anna Marcella's sister, with whom he had two children including William Giffard. After the marriage she was generally styled Mrs Giffard on playbills. She accompanied her husband to London in 1729 and frequently appeared alongside him over the coming years. She made her British debut at the Goodman's Fields Theatre, and this became a base for the couple after Henry took over management of the company and attempted to turn it into the third major London theatre, despite operation without a patent. The Licensing Act 1737 largely ended this attempt, and in subsequent years they played in many theatres ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1744 Plays
Events January–March * January 6 – The Royal Navy ship ''Bacchus'' engages the Spanish Navy privateer ''Begona'', and sinks it; 90 of the 120 Spanish sailors die, but 30 of the crew are rescued. * January 24 – The Dagohoy rebellion in the Philippines begins, with the killing of Father Giuseppe Lamberti. * February – Violent storms frustrate a planned French invasion of Britain. * February 22– 23 – Battle of Toulon: The British fleet is defeated by a joint Franco-Spanish fleet. * March 1 (approximately) – The Great Comet of 1744, one of the brightest ever seen, reaches perihelion. * March 13 – The British ship ''Betty'' capsizes and sinks off of the Gold Coast (modern-day Ghana) near Anomabu. More than 200 people on board die, although there are a few survivors. * March 15 – France declares war on Great Britain. April–June * April – ''The Female Spectator'' (a monthly) is founded by Eliza Haywood in En ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
