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Notoriety (play)
''Notoriety'' is a 1791 comedy play by the British writer Frederick Reynolds. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden on in London on 5 November 1791.Class & Robinson p.75 The original cast included William Thomas Lewis as Nominal, John Quick as Colonel Hubbub, Richard Wilson as Sir Andrew Acid, Joseph Shepherd Munden as Lord Jargon, William Farren as Clairville, Charles Farley as James, John Henry Johnstone as O'Whack, Mrs Webb as Lady Acid, Mary Wells as Sophia Strangways and Harriet Pye Esten Harriet Pye Esten or Harriet Pye Scott-Waring born Harriet Pye Bennett (1760s? – 1865) was an English actress, and briefly a theatre manager. Life Esten was born in Tooting in or around the 1760s. She was the daughter of housekeeper Anna Mar ... as Honoria. References Bibliography * Class, Monika & Robinson, Terry F. ''Transnational England: Home and Abroad, 1780-1860''. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2009. * Greene, John C. ''Theatre in Dublin, 1745-1820: A Calendar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frederick Reynolds (writer)
Frederick Reynolds (1 November 1764 – 16 April 1841) was an English dramatist. During his literary career he composed nearly one hundred tragedies and comedies, many of which were printed, and about twenty of them obtained temporary popularity. Reynolds' plays were slight, and are described as having been "aimed at the modes and follies of the moment". He is still occasionally remembered for his caricature of Samuel Ireland as Sir Bamber Blackletter in '' Fortune's Fool'', and for his adaptations of some of Shakespeare's comedies. His first name is sometimes spelt as Frederic. Early life Born in Lime Street, London, Frederick Reynolds was the grandson of an opulent merchant at Trowbridge in Wiltshire, and the son of a whig attorney who acted for Chatham, Wilkes, and many other prominent politicians. His mother was the daughter of a rich city merchant named West. For many years his father's business was very prosperous, but about 1787 he was involved in financial difficulti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Henry Johnstone
John Henry Johnstone (1749–1828), also known as 'Jack' Johnstone or 'Irish' Johnstone, was an Irish actor, comedian and singer. He was a notable performer of Stage Irishman roles. Life Johnstone was born probably on 1 August 1749, in the horse-barracks in Kilkenny, where his father, a quartermaster in a dragoon regiment, was then quartered. He joined a cavalry regiment, and won some reputation among his comrades for his sweet tenor voice. It is said that on his discharge his colonel recommended him for his singing in a letter to Thomas Ryder, manager of the Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin. Here in any case Johnstone made his first stage appearance, about 1773, as Lionel in ''Lionel and Clarissa'' (Charles Dibdin and Isaac Bickerstaffe). He was engaged for three years, and remained from seven to ten years on the Irish stage, singing principal tenor parts. The London stage On the recommendation of Charles Macklin, Johnstone and his wife were engaged by Thomas Harris at Covent Ga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
West End Plays
West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance languages (''ouest'' in French, ''oest'' in Catalan, ''ovest'' in Italian, ''vest'' in Romanian, ''oeste'' in Spanish and Portuguese). As in other languages, the word formation stems from the fact that west is the direction of the setting sun in the evening: 'west' derives from the Indo-European root ''*wes'' reduced from ''*wes-pero'' 'evening, night', cognate with Ancient Greek ἕσπερος hesperos 'evening; evening star; western' and Latin vesper 'evening; west'. Examples of the same formation in other languages include Latin occidens 'west' from occidō 'to go down, to set' and Hebrew מַעֲרָב (maarav) 'west' from עֶרֶב (erev) 'evening'. West is sometimes abbreviated as W. Navigation To go west using a compass for navigati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comedy Plays
Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greece: in Athenian democracy, the public opinion of voters was influenced by political satire performed by comic poets in theaters. The theatrical genre of Greek comedy can be described as a dramatic performance pitting two groups, ages, genders, or societies against each other in an amusing '' agon'' or conflict. Northrop Frye depicted these two opposing sides as a "Society of Youth" and a "Society of the Old". A revised view characterizes the essential agon of comedy as a struggle between a relatively powerless youth and the societal conventions posing obstacles to his hopes. In this struggle, the youth then becomes constrained by his lack of social authority, and is left with little choice but to resort to ruses which engender dramatic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1791 Plays
Events January–March * January 1 – Austrian composer Joseph Haydn arrives in England, to perform a series of concerts. * January 2 – Northwest Indian War: Big Bottom Massacre – The war begins in the Ohio Country, with this massacre. * January 12 – Holy Roman troops reenter Liège, heralding the end of the Liège Revolution, and the restoration of its Prince-Bishops. * January 25 – The British Parliament passes the Constitutional Act 1791, splitting the old province of Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada. * February 8 – The Bank of the United States, based in Philadelphia, is incorporated by the federal government with a 20-year charter and started with $10,000,000 capital.''Harper's Encyclopaedia of United States History from 458 A. D. to 1909'', ed. by Benson John Lossing and, Woodrow Wilson (Harper & Brothers, 1910) p169 * February 21 – The United States opens diplomatic relations with Portugal. * March 2 – Fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harriet Pye Esten
Harriet Pye Esten or Harriet Pye Scott-Waring born Harriet Pye Bennett (1760s? – 1865) was an English actress, and briefly a theatre manager. Life Esten was born in Tooting in or around the 1760s. She was the daughter of housekeeper Anna Maria Bennett and her employer and lover Admiral Sir Thomas Pye. In 1784 she married James Esten who was in the navy. Esten was taught to act by her mother, who assisted her daughter throughout her career. She initially appeared in Bath and Bristol before moving on to appear at the Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin. Whilst she was there in 1789 she and her mother negotiated a formal separation with James Esten. Her mother, who was a successful novelist, paid off her husband's debts in exchange for his agreement. The following year she made her first appearance on the London stage at Covent Garden on 20 October. She appeared as ''Rosalind'' in "As You Like It", a role she had portrayed successfully in York. She appeared in London for a year at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mary Wells (actress)
Mary Wells, afterwards Mrs. Sumbel (16 December 1762 – 23 January 1829), was an English actress and memoirist. Early life She was the daughter of Thomas Davies, a carver and gilder who was born there on 16 December 1762 in Birmingham. Her father died whilst being held in a madhouse. Her widowed mother kept a tavern whose customers included the actor Richard Yates. Yates arranged for Mary to appear in a breeches role as the young Duke of York in ''Richard III'' at the Birmingham Theatre. She went to appear as Cupid in William Whitehead's ''Trip to Scotland'', and as Arthur in '' King John''. In Gloucester, she played Juliet and married the Mr Wells who played Romeo at Chad's Church in Shrewsbury. The marriage did not last long and she was abandoned. On the London stage On 1 June 1781, as Madge in Isaac Bickerstaffe's ''Love in a Village'' and Mrs. Cadwallader in Samuel Foote's ''Author'', she made her first appearance at the Haymarket. John Genest says that she was excellen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mrs Webb
Mrs Webb or Mrs Richard Webb or Mrs Day born Lydia or Lucia Child (1736/7 – 1797) was a British comic actress and singer. For fifteen years she appeared at Covent Garden and at the Haymarket theatres where she was a popular comedian. Life She is thought to have been born with the name Lydia Child in 1736 or 1737 (Some give her name as Lucia). She first came to notice in 1764 when she made her acting debut in Norwich. The following year she was working in Colchester when she is said to have interceded to save the job of "Plausible Jack" Palmer. In 1772 she was acting in Edinburgh where she was using the name of "Mrs Day" although in 1774 she was using the name of Mrs Dicky Webb and she was in Scotland until 1779. She was now known for comedy roles although she also appeared in Shakespeare plays. She played Mrs Malaprop, Mrs Peachum in The Beggar's Opera and also appeared in The Recruiting Officer, Love for Love, She Stoops to Conquer and The School for Scandal. She had an adop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Farley
Charles Farley (1771–1859) was an English actor and dramatist. Career Farley was born in London and entered the theatrical profession at an early age, making his first appearance as a page at Covent Garden Theatre, London, in 1782. He came to notice in legitimate drama as Osric in ''Hamlet'', Trip in ''The School for Scandal'', and similar parts. He was better known, however, as a melodramatic performer and as an efficient stage-manager. He was the instructor of Joseph Grimaldi, with whom he starred in a production of ''Valentine and Orson'' in 1806, Farley playing the former role. He also assisted Thomas Dibdin in the composition of '' Harlequin and Mother Goose'', the show which boosted Grimaldi to stardom. From 1806 to 1834 the Covent Garden pantomimes owed much of their success to Farley's inventive mind and diligent superintendence. As a theatrical machinist he was in his time without a rival, and he was the originator of many of the incidents and tricks introduced into th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million. London stands on the River Thames in southeast England, at the head of a tidal estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major settlement for nearly 2,000 years. Its ancient core and financial centre, the City of London, was founded by the Roman Empire, Romans as Londinium and has retained its medieval boundaries. The City of Westminster, to the west of the City of London, has been the centuries-long host of Government of the United Kingdom, the national government and Parliament of the United Kingdom, parliament. London grew rapidly 19th-century London, in the 19th century, becoming the world's List of largest cities throughout history, largest city at the time. Since the 19th cen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Farren (actor, Born 1754)
William Farren (1754–1795) was an English stage actor of the eighteenth century. He was born in London to a chandler from Clerkenwell. He made his debut at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London in 1775, likely due to the influence of the actor Richard Yates and remained there until 1784 when he transferred to the rival Theatre Royal, Covent Garden. A notable early role at Drury Lane was the original Careless in Sheridan's ''The School for Scandal''. He remained at Covent Garden until his death in 1795, making occasional summer appearances at the Haymarket. He played a mixture of supporting roles and occasional leads, and developed a reputation as a versatile actor who could appear in comedy and tragedy.''The Routledge Anthology of Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Drama'' p.XLVII He died of pneumonia and was buried at St Paul's Church in Covent Garden. His son William Farren also became an actor, and the father is sometimes known as William Farren the Elder to distinguish ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 leading comedian. In 1813 he was at Drury Lane. He retired in 1824. Early life Munden was the son of a poulterer in Brook's Market, Leather Lane, Holborn. He ran away from home to join a strolling company. He was by the age of twelve in an apothecary's shop; subsequently he was apprenticed to Mr. Druce, a law stationer in Chancery Lane. In Liverpool he was engaged for a while in the office of the town clerk, also appearing on the stage as an extra. After some experience of repertory companies, Munden was engaged to play old men at Leatherhead. He began to make his mark at Canterbury under the manager Hurst, where in 1780 he was the original Faddle in Mrs. Burgess's comedy, ''The Oaks, or the Beauties of Canterbury''. In the company of Joseph ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
