''Distress'd Innocence; Or, The Princess Of Persia'' is a 1690

tragedy A tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a tragic hero, main character or cast of characters. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsi ...

by the English writer

Elkanah Settle Elkanah Settle (1 February 1648 – 12 February 1724) was an English poet and playwright. Biography He was born at Dunstable, and entered Trinity College, Oxford, in 1666, but left without taking a degree. His first tragedy, '' Cambyses, King ...

. It was first performed by the

United Company The United Company was a London theatre company formed in 1682 with the merger of the King's Company and the Duke's Company. Both the Duke's and King's Companies suffered poor attendance during the turmoil of the Popish Plot period, 1678–8 ...

at the

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and listed building, Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) an ...

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 Wester ...

. Incidental music was composed for the play by

Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: ; September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer of Baroque music, most remembered for his more than 100 songs; a tragic opera, Dido and Aeneas, ''Dido and Aeneas''; and his incidental music to a version o ...

. The original cast included John Bowman as Isdigerdes,

William Mountfort William Mountfort (c. 1664 – 10 December 1692), English actor and dramatic writer, was the son of a Staffordshire gentleman. He met his death at the hand of notorious brawler Charles Mohun, 4th Baron Mohun of Okehampton, who had just take ...

as Hormidas, George Powell as Theodosius, John Hodgson as Audas, George Bright as Cleontes,

Edward Kynaston Edward Kynaston may refer to: *Edward Kynaston (actor) Edward Kynaston (c. 1640 – January 1706) was an English actor, one of the last Restoration "boy players", young male actors who played women's roles. Career Kynaston was good looking ...

as Otrantes,

Samuel Sandford Samuel Sandford (fl. 1661–1699) was an English character actor, known for his roles as villains. Career He joined William D'Avenant's company at Lincoln's Inn Fields about a year after its formation, and was, on 16 December 1661, the origina ...

as Rugildas, John Freeman and

John Verbruggen John Baptista Verbruggen, d. 1708, was an English actor working in London. Verbruggen is first mentioned as a member of the United Company in a Lord Chamberlain's warrant in 1688. His name does not appear in any cast lists until October 1690. Th ...

as Persian Magi,

Elizabeth Barry Elizabeth Barry (1658 – 7 November 1713) was an English actress of the Restoration period. Elizabeth Barry's biggest influence on Restoration drama was her presentation of performing as the tragic actress. She worked in large, prestigious ...

as Orundana,

Anne Bracegirdle Anne Bracegirdle (possibly 167112 September 1748) was an English actress and soprano. Most of the plays she performed in involved singing as well as acting. She often performed music written for her by the composer John Eccles, and also sung mu ...

as Cleomira and

Katherine Corey Katherine Corey (fl. 1660–1692) was an English actress of the Restoration era, one of the first generation of female performers to appear on the public stage in Britain. Corey played with the King's Company and the United Company, and had one o ...

as Doranthe.Van Lennep p.390

References

Bibliography

* Brown, Frank Clyde. ''Elkanah Settle''. University of Chicago Press, 1910. * Schab, Alon. 'Distress'd Sources? A Critical Consideration of the Authority of Purcell's "Ayres for the Theatre"'. ''Early Music'', Vol. 37, No. 4 (Nov., 2009), 633-645. * Van Lennep, W. ''The London Stage, 1660-1800: Volume One, 1660-1700''. Southern Illinois University Press, 1960. 1690 plays West End plays British tragedy plays Plays set in ancient Greece Plays by Elkanah Settle {{17thC-play-stub