''The Assignation, or Love in a Nunnery'' is a Restoration comedy written by

John Dryden John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration (En ...

. The play was first acted late in 1672, by the

King's Company The King's Company was one of two enterprises granted the rights to mount theatrical productions in London, after the London theatre closure 1642, London theatre closure had been lifted at the start of the English Restoration. It existed from 166 ...

at their theatre at Lincoln's Inn Fields, but was not a success with its audience. Apart from the question of the play's quality — many critics have regarded it as a rush job, written mainly in prose with some blank verse — Dryden was suspected of anti-Catholic satire, especially in his choice of a subtitle. This was a sensitive issue at the time, given strong Catholic sympathies among some elements of the royal court — primarily the Duke of York, the future King James II. The cast of the original production included Michael Mohun as the Duke of Mantua, Edward Kynaston as Prince Frederick, Charles Hart as Aurelian, Joseph Haines as Benito, William Cartwright as Mario, and Nicholas Burt as Camillo. The role of Hyppolita, the nun, was taken by Mary Knep; Rebecca Marshall played Lucretia, Elizabeth James was Sophronia, Elizabeth Boutell was Laura and Elizabeth Cox was Violetta. Dryden drew plot material from a play by Pedro Calderón de la Barca titled ''Con quien vengo vengo.'' ''The Assignation'' was published in

quarto Quarto (abbreviated Qto, 4to or 4º) is the format of a book or pamphlet produced from full sheets printed with eight pages of text, four to a side, then folded twice to produce four leaves. The leaves are then trimmed along the folds to produc ...

1673 Events January–March * January 22 – Impersonator Mary Carleton is hanging, hanged at Newgate Prison in London, for multiple thefts and returning from penal transportation. * February 10 – Molière's ''comédie-ballet ...

by Henry Herringman. Dryden dedicated the play to Sir Charles Sedley.Steven N. Zwicker, ed., ''The Cambridge Companion to John Dryden'', Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2004; p. 207. The play was republished in 1678 and 1692.

References

Plays by John Dryden English Restoration plays Restoration comedy 1672 plays Plays set in the 17th century Plays based on works by Pedro Calderón de la Barca Plays about Catholicism Plays about nuns {{17thC-play-stub

See also

References