''Junius Brutus'' is a 1734

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 British writer

William Duncombe William Duncombe (19 January 1690 – 26 February 1769) was a British author and playwright. Life Duncombe worked in the Navy Office from 1706 until 1725. That year, he and Elizabeth Hughes won a very large lottery sum on a joint ticket. He marr ...

. It was one of a number of plays based on the life of the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

Lucius Junius Brutus Lucius Junius Brutus (died ) was the semi-legendary founder of the Roman Republic and traditionally one of its two first consuls. Depicted as responsible for the expulsion of his uncle, the Roman king Tarquinius Superbus after the suicide of L ...

.Ellison p.30 The original

Drury Lane Drury Lane is a street on the boundary between the Covent Garden and Holborn areas of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of London Borough of Camden, Camden and the southern part in the City o ...

cast included

John Mills Sir John Mills (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 190823 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portray ...

as Junius Brutus,

Edward Berry Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Berry, 1st Baronet, KCB (17 April 1768 – 13 February 1831) was a British Royal Navy officer primarily known for his role as flag captain of Rear Admiral Horatio Nelson's ship HMS ''Vanguard'' at the Battle of the Ni ...

as Valeius Publicola,

William Milward William Milward (1702–1742) was a British stage actor. He began his career with John Rich's company at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre and also appeared at the Haymarket. From 1734 he became part of the company at Drury Lane where he remained ...

as Titus, William Mills as Caelius,

Theophilus Cibber Theophilus Cibber (25 or 26 November 1703 – October 1758) was an English actor, playwright, author, and son of the actor-manager Colley Cibber. He began acting at an early age, and followed his father into theatrical management. In 1727, Alex ...

as Messala,

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 Thea ...

as Silvus and Mary Heron as Lucia and

Hannah Pritchard Hannah Pritchard (née Vaughan, 1711 – 1768) was an English actress who regularly played opposite David Garrick. She performed many significant Shakespearean roles and created on stage many important female roles by contemporary playwrights. ...

as Hortensia.

References

Bibliography

* Burling, William J. ''A Checklist of New Plays and Entertainments on the London Stage, 1700-1737''. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1992. * Ellison, Julie. ''Cato's Tears and the Making of Anglo-American Emotion''. University of Chicago Press, 1999. 1734 plays British tragedy plays West End plays Plays set in the 1st century BC Plays set in the Roman Republic Cultural depictions of Lucius Junius Brutus {{18thC-play-stub