''The Italian Father: A Comedy, in Five Acts'' (1799) is an American comedic play by
William Dunlap
William Dunlap (February 19, 1766 – September 28, 1839) was a pioneer of American theater. He was a producer, playwright, and actor, as well as a historian. He managed two of New York City's earliest and most prominent theaters, the John Str ...
, though substantially adapted from Part II of ''
The Honest Whore
''The Honest Whore'' is an early Literature in English#Jacobean literature, Jacobean city comedy, written in two parts; ''Part 1'' is a collaboration between Thomas Dekker (poet), Thomas Dekker and Thomas Middleton, while ''Part 2'' is the wor ...
'' (c. 1606) by
Thomas Dekker.
Dunlap considered it his best play. It was popular with the public at the time (who mistakenly believed it to be a translation of
August von Kotzebue
August Friedrich Ferdinand von Kotzebue (, ; – ) was a German playwright, who had also worked as a Russian diplomat.
In 1817, one of Kotzebue's books was burned during the Wartburg festival. He was murdered in 1819 by Karl Ludwig Sand, a ...
and approved it accordingly as a great work),
[Dunlap, William]
A History of the American Theatre
pp. 265-66 (1832)[A History of the American Theatre from Its Origins to 1832](_blank)
p. xvi (2005) and considered positively by modern critics.
[Burt, Daniel S., ed]
The Chronology of American Literature
p. 108 (2004)[Coad, Oral Sumner]
William Dunlap: S Study of His Life and Works of His Place in Contemporary Culture
pp. 67, 167, 287 (1917) It debuted at the
Park Theatre in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
on April 15, 1799, and played for three performances that season. It also played in
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
in the fall, and was revived in New York for one performance in 1802.
The play was published in 1810, wherein Dunlap admitted he had "enriched his work" from old English sources but claimed it was "without forfeiting his claim to originality in the composition."
When writing his ''History of the American Theatre'' twenty years after that, Dunlap admitted that "Decker furnished many of the finest passages in this drama."
[Hoy, Cyrus]
Introductions, Notes and Commentaries to Texts in 'The Dramatic Works of Thomas Dekker', Vol II
pp. 74-75 (1979)
The 1830 play ''The Deformed'' by
Richard Penn Smith is based both on ''The Honest Whore'' and Dunlap's adaptation.
[Quinn, Arthur Hobson, ed]
The Literature of the American People: An Historical and Critical Survey
p. 470 (1951)
Original New York cast
*Michael Brazzo (the father) by Joseph Tyler
*Beraldo by
Thomas Apthorpe Cooper[Ireland, Joseph Norton]
A Memoir of the Professional Life of Thomas Abthorpe Cooper
p. 90 (1888)
*Hippolito by John Martin
*Lodovico by William Bates
*Fool by Joseph Jefferson (grandfather of
Joseph Jefferson (1829-1905))
*Carlo by Miller
*Beatrice by Eleanor Westray ("Miss E. Westray")
*Astrabel by Mrs.
Giles Leonard Barrett ("Mrs. Barrett")
*Leonora by Georgina George Oldmixon ("Mrs. Oldmixon")
References
External links
''The Italian Father''(1810 first publication, via Google Books)
*
1799 plays
Plays by William Dunlap
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