The African GroveTheatre opened in New York City in 1821. It was founded and operated by William Alexander Brown, a free black man from the West Indies. It opened six years before the final abolition of slavery in New York state. The African Grove Theatre was attended by "all types of black New Yorkers -- free and slave, middle-class and working-class" along with others. It was the first place where Ira Aldridge, who would later become an esteemed and renowned Shakespearian actor, first saw a production of a Shakespeare play.
Charles Murray (1754–1821) was a Scottish actor and dramatist.
Jane Lessingham née Hemet was a stage actress from 1756 to 1782. Lessingham predominately performed at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, where she was known for both her beauty and her skill as a comedy actress.
The Anthony Street Theatre was an early New York City theatre which operated intermittently from 1812 to 1821. It opened as the Olympic Theatre in May 1812 and had multiple names during its brief existence.
The Traitor is a tragedy published anonymously in 1718 and commonly attributed to the British writer and actor Christopher Bullock. It is a revised version of the 1631 play of the same title by James Shirley. It was Bullock's only effort to write tragedy, as his other works were all farces.
Pasquin is a 1736 comedy play by Henry Fielding. It is a satire on both politics and the theatre, with a play within a play plot about a group of actors attempting to put on a production about a local election. It takes its name from Pasquin, a historic statue in Rome.
The WelchHeiress is a 1795 comedy play written by Edward Jerningham. Although it had only a single stage performance, the published script had some success.
The Siege of Berwick is a four-act verse tragedy by Edward Jerningham, acted in 1793 and published the following year. The text was republished in the third volume of Jerningham’s Poems and Plays (1806) and then in a separate edition as The Siege of Berwick: a tragedy by Mr Jerningham as performed at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, edited by his great grand-nephew Hubert Jerningham in 1882. The subject concerns a supposed incident during the English invasion of Scotland in 1333. Though the play is of historical interest, it was not a critical success.
The Massacre of Paris is a 1689 tragedy by the English writer Nathaniel Lee. It was first staged by the United Company at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. It is based around the 1572 St. Bartholomew's Day massacre which led the killing of many Huguenots during the French Wars of Religion. The events had previously been portrayed in Christopher Marlowe's Elizabethan play The Massacre at Paris.
The Pledge; Or, Castilian Honour is an 1831 tragedy by the British writer James Kenney. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London on 8 April 1831. It is inspired by the play Hernani by French writer Victor Hugo. The original London cast included William Macready as Don Leo, Henry John Wallack as Hernani, John Cooper as Don Carlos and George Yarnold as Don Ricardo.
The Touchstone is an 1817 comedy play by the British writer James Kenney. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London on 3 May 1817. The original cast included Charles Holland as Finesse, James William Wallack as Garnish, John Pritt Harley as Paragon, William Dowton as Probe, William Oxberry as Croply, Frances Maria Kelly as Dinah Croply, Sarah Harlowe as Mrs. Fairweather and Frances Alsop as Miss Becky. It's Irish debut was at Dublin's Crow Street Theatre on 16 February 1818.
Gisippus is an 1842 tragedy by the Irish writer Gerald Griffin. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London on 23 February 1842. It was staged posthumously as Griffin had died from typhus in 1840, and was likely written before 1838. The original cast included William Macready as Gisippus, James Robertson Anderson as Titus Quintus Fulvius, Edward Elton as Pheax, George Bennett as Lycias, Charles Selby as Macro and Helena Faucit as Sophronia. Its opening resembles William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, but with the setting switched from Rome to Athens. The play was a popular success. It went on to appear in New York at the Park Theatre in 1847 and Broadway Theatre in 1848.
First Impressions is an 1813 comedy play by the British writer Horatio Smith. It was first performed at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on 30 October 1813. The original cast included Joseph Munden as Sir Thomas Trapwell, Alexander Rae as Fortescue, Robert Elliston as Harcourt, William Lovegrove as Sir Toby Harbottle, William Oxberry as Sapling, Benjamin Wrench as Professor Trifleton, Julia Glover as Laetitia Freemantle, Elizabeth Rebecca Edwin as Lady Trapwell, Sarah Sparks as Lady Anemone, Frances Maria Kelly as Louisa and Susan Boyce as Phoebe. It lasted for fifteen performances on its original run. It's Irish premiere took place at the Crow Street Theatre in Dublin on 27 January 1814.
Forget and Forgive is a comedy play by the British writer James Kenney. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London on 21 November 1827. The original cast included Henry John Wallack as Charles Sydney, John Liston as Rumbold, John Cooper as Cameron, William Bennett as Sir Gregory Ogle, Maria Rebecca Davison as Lady Ratcliffe and Ellen Kean as Georgiana. Originally of five acts it was later shortened to three. It was revived under the title Frolics in France in 1828.
The French Libertine is an 1826 historical play by the British-based American writer John Howard Payne. Written under the title Richelieu the play originally focused on the life of the eighteenth century French aristocrat and libertine the Duke of Richelieu, a relation of the seventeenth century statesman Cardinal Richelieu. It was partly inspired by the 1796 work La Jeunesse de Richelieu by Alexandre Duval. Issues with the censor George Colman led to many changes, done by Charles Kemble who played the lead, and Richelieu was altered into the fictional Duke de Rougemont.
Wallace is an 1820 historical tragedy by the British writer Charles Edward Walker. It portrays the Scottish leader William Wallace and the events surrounding his capture and execution, due to the betrayal of John de Menteith. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London on 14 November 1820. It starred William Macready as Wallace, Charles Kemble as Douglas, Daniel Egerton as Comyn, William Abbot as Montieth, Thomas Comer as Kierly, William Chapman as Clare, Earl of Gloster, Charles Connor as Lord de Clifford and Margaret Agnes Bunn as Helen. It was performed sixteen times. The critic John Waldie, who saw the play in Newcastle four months after its London premiere, comparied it to Richard Brinsley Sheridan's 1799 hit Pizarro.
Charles the Second is an 1824 historical comedy in two acts by the British-based American writer John Howard Payne. It is set at the court of Charles II in Restoration London, and features a series of adventures in the company of his friend Rochester. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden on 27 May 1824. The original cast included Charles Kemble as Charles II, John Duruset as Edward, John Fawcett as Captain Copp, Harriet Faucit as Lady Clara, Maria Tree as Mary. It was performed 14 times in its initial run. An afterpiece, the running time was roughly an hour and fifty minutes. It subsequently performed in the United States at the Park Theatre Olympic Theatre in New York.
Love's Victory is an 1825 comedy play by the British writer George Hyde. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London on 16 November 1825. The original cast included Charles Kemble as Don Cesar, Prince of Naples, John Duruset as Don Luis, Prince of Bearne, Daniel Egerton as Don Diego, Duke of Barcelona, Tyrone Power as Gaston, Prince of Foix, William Farren as Don Pedro, William Blanchard as Lopez and Maria Ann Lacy as Princess Diana. It was inspired by the seventeenth century Golden Age Spanish work El desdén, con el desdén by Agustín Moreto, which was also adapted by Moliere. It published the same year by Hurst, Robinson of Waterloo Place in London and Constable in Edinburgh.
The Gazette Extraordinary is a comedy play by the British writer Joseph George Holman, published and first performed in 1811. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London on 23 April 1811 The original cast included Charles Mayne Young as Lord De Mallory, Joseph Shepherd Munden as Heartworth, William Barrymore as William Clayton, John Fawcett as Doctor Suitall, Charles Murray as Randall, Nannette Johnston as Lady Julia Sandford, Mary Catherine Bolton as Miss Alford, Mary Ann Davenport as Mrs Leech and Sarah Booth as Ellen Meredith. It was acted eleven times during its initial run.
Don Pedro, King of Castile is an 1828 historical tragedy by the British writer Lord Porchester. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London on 10 March 1828. The cast included William Macready as Henry, John Cooper as Don Pedro, James William Wallack as Raban, George Yarnold as Constable of France, Sarah West as Maria De Padilla and Ellen Tree as Blanche of Bourbon. It is based on the rule of the fourteenth century King of Castile Peter the Cruel.
