''The Double Dealer'' is a comic play written by
English
English usually refers to:
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Culture, language and peoples
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
* ''English'', an Amish ter ...
playwright
A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just
Readin ...
William Congreve
William Congreve (24 January 1670 – 19 January 1729) was an English playwright, satirist, poet, and Whig politician. He spent most of his career between London and Dublin, and was noted for his highly polished style of writing, being regard ...
, first produced in
1693
Events
January–March
* January 11 – The Mount Etna volcano erupts in Italy, causing a devastating earthquake that kills 60,000 people in Sicily and Malta
Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Sout ...
.
Incidental music
Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as th ...
for the play was written 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 ...
.
Characters and plot
This comedy sees character Mellefont, nephew and prospective heir of Lord Touchwood, about to marry Cynthia, daughter of Sir Paul Plyant. Lady Touchwood, a violent and dissolute woman, is in love with Mellefont, but as he rejects her advances, determines to prevent the match and ruin him in Lord Touchwood's esteem. In this design she finds a confederate in Maskwell, the Double Dealer, who has been her lover, pretends to be Mellefont's friend, and aspires to cheat him of Cynthia and get her for himself. To this end he leads Plyant to suspect an intrigue between Mellefont and Lady Plyant, and Touchwood an intrigue between Mellefont and Lady Touchwood; and contrives that Touchwood shall find Mellefont in the latter's chamber.
Mellefont is disinherited and Cynthia is to be made over to Maskwell. The latter's plot, however, here goes wrong. Lord Touchwood informs Lady Touchwood of Maskwell's intention to marry Cynthia. This awakens her jealousy. She finds Maskwell and rebukes him, and is overheard by Lord Touchwood, who now perceives Maskwell's treachery, and defeats his final attempt to carry off Cynthia.
[Cf. E.S. Rump, (ed.), ''The Comedies of William Congreve'', Penguin Classics (1986).]
Adaptations
On 14 May 1995,
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...
broadcast a production directed by
Phyllida Lloyd
Phyllida Christian Lloyd, (born 17 June 1957) is an English film and theatre director and producer.
Her theatre work includes directing productions at the Royal Court Theatre and Royal National Theatre, and opera director for Opera North and ...
and featuring Robin Bailey as Lord Touchwood, Sheila Gish as Lady Touchwood, Jonathan Cullen as Mellefont,
Clive Swift
Clive Walter Swift (9 February 1936 – 1 February 2019) was an English actor and songwriter. A classically trained actor, his stage work included performances with the Royal Shakespeare Company, but he was best known to television viewers for h ...
as Sir Paul Plyant,
Penelope Wilton
Dame Penelope Alice Wilton (born 3 June 1946) is an English actress. She was formerly married to fellow actor Sir Ian Holm and, as she has not remarried, retains her married style of Lady Holm.
Wilton is known for starring opposite Richard ...
as Lady Plyant,
Christopher Benjamin Christopher Benjamin may refer to:
* Christopher Benjamin (actor)
Christopher John Benjamin (27 December 1934 – 10 January 2025) was an English actor with many stage and television credits from 1958 to 2016. He played Henry Gordon Jago in ...
as Lord Froth,
Celia Imrie
Celia Diana Savile Imrie (born 15 July 1952) is a British actress and author. She is best known for her film roles, including the '' Bridget Jones'' film series, '' Calendar Girls'' (2003), '' Nanny McPhee'' (2005), '' The Best Exotic Marigold ...
as Lady Froth,
Claire Skinner
Claire Skinner (born 1965) is an English actress, known in the United Kingdom for her television career, particularly playing Sue Brockman from the BBC television series '' Outnumbered''. She is also known for her collaboration with director M ...
as Cynthia, Mark Lockyer as Brisk, Richard Bonneville as Careless and
Robert Glenister
Robert Lewis Glenister (born 11 March 1960) is an English actor. He is best known for his television roles as Ash "Three Socks" Morgan in the crime drama series '' Hustle'' (2004–2012) and Nicholas Blake in the spy drama series '' Spooks'' (2 ...
as Maskwell.
See also
*
Restoration comedy
Notes
References
*
Macaulay, Thomas Babington. ''The Comic Dramatists of the Restoration.'' London, Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1853.
*Rump, E. S., (ed.) ''The Comedies of William Congreve'', Penguin Classics (1986).
*Erskine-Hill, H., Lindsay, A. (eds), ''William Congreve: The Critical Heritage'', Routledge (1995).
*Henderson, A. G., ''The Comedies of William Congreve'', Cambridge University Press (1982).
External links
*.
*
*
Congreve's BiographyThe Library of William Congreve at the Internet Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Double Dealer, The
1693 plays
Plays set in the 17th century
Restoration comedy
Plays by William Congreve