William Abbot or Abbott was an English actor, and a theatrical manager, both in England and the United States.
Charles Kemble was a Welsh-born English actor of a prominent theatre family.
George Stephen Kemble was a successful English theatre manager, actor, and writer, and a member of the famous Kemble family. He was described as "the best Sir John Falstaff which the British stage ever saw" though he also played title roles in Hamlet and King Lear among others. He published plays, poetry and non-fiction.
Frances Anne "Fanny" Kemble was a British actress from a theatre family in the early and mid-19th century. She was a well-known and popular writer and abolitionist whose published works included plays, poetry, eleven volumes of memoirs, travel writing, and works about the theatre.
Ellen Kean was an English actress. She was known as Ellen Tree until her marriage in 1842, after which she was known both privately and professionally as Mrs Charles Kean and always appeared in productions together with her husband.
Maria Theresa Kemble (1774–1838), née Marie Thérèse Du Camp, was an Austrian-born English actress, singer, dancer and comic playwright on the stage. She was the wife of actor Charles Kemble.
Enslavement: The True Story of Fanny Kemble is a 2000 American television film starring Jane Seymour and directed by James Keach. It depicts the life of British actress and abolitionist Fanny Kemble, who sees first-hand the horrors of slavery when she marries an American plantation owner. Her published diaries in the form of personal accounts are shown to influence the British government's decision to withhold support of the Confederacy during the American Civil War. Keith Carradine co-stars as Fanny's husband Pierce Butler, with Keach, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, and Colin Fox also appearing.
James Mease (1771–1846) was a prominent American scientist, horticulturist, and physician from Philadelphia who published the first known tomato-based ketchup recipe in 1812.
The Hunchback is an 1832 comedy play by the Irish writer James Sheridan Knowles. Knowles wrote it in the wake of the disastrous reception of his previous comedy The Beggar's Daughter of Bethnal Green in 1828. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London's West End on 5 April 1832. The cast included Sheridan Knowles himself as Master Walter, Fanny Kemble as Julia, Hariette Taylor as Helen, Charles Kemble as Sir Thomas Clifford, Benjamin Wrench as Lord Tinsel, William Abbot as Modus, Drinkwater Meadows as Fathom and William Payne as Stephen. It was Fanny Kemble's last performance in England before embarking on a tour of the United States with her father, where she married and retired from the stage.
The Grecian Daughter is a 1772 tragedy by the Irish writer Arthur Murphy. It was widely performed for nearly sixty years, through the 1830s. For many British actresses in the eighteenth century, playing the role of the central heroine, Euphrasia, was an important part of gaining fame.
The Captives is a 1786 tragedy by the British writer John Delap.
Adelmorn, the Outlaw is an 1801 play by the British writer Matthew Lewis. The overture and incidental music was composed by Michael Kelly. It was first staged at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London. The manager Richard Brinsley Sheridan chose the play ahead of the author's historical tragedy Alfonso, King of Castile, because he hoped it would enjoy the same success as his melodramatic hit The Castle Spectre.
Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation in 1838–1839 is an account by Fanny Kemble of the time spent on her husband's plantation in Butler Island, Georgia. The account was not published until 1863, after her marriage had ended and the American Civil War had begun. According to PBS, she decided to publish it then "in response to England's hostility toward the North and Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation."
Antonio, or the Soldier's Return is an 1800 historical tragedy by the British writer William Godwin. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on 13 December 1800. The cast included John Philip Kemble as Antonio, Sarah Siddons as Helena, William Barrymore as Don Gusman, Richard Wroughton as Don Pedro, Charles Kemble as Don Henry, William Powell as Don Diego. Both the audience and critical reaction was negative. Seven years later another of Godwin's plays Faulkener was staged at the same theatre.
Fazio is a tragedy by the British writer Henry Hart Milman. It was first published in 1815. An unauthorised adaptation was performed at the Surrey Theatre under the title The Italian Wife. Another unauthorised version was performed at the Theatre Royal, Bath. In 1818 Milman granted permission for the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden to stage the play. It premiered there on 5 February 1818. It starred Charles Kemble as Giraldi Fazio, Elizabeth O'Neill as Bianca, Daniel Egerton as the Duke of Florence, Charles Mathews as Gonsalvo, William Blanchard as Bartolo, Harriet Faucit as Aldabella and Charles Connor as Falsetto. A first Dublin performance took place at the Crow Street Theatre on 6 April 1818. Fanny Kemble later played Bianca in Britain and America, where she appeared at the Park Theatre in 1832. It was revived on both sides of the Atlantic over the following decades.
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.
John Duruset (1793–1843) was a British stage actor and singer. He is also known as Jack Duruset and John Durousset. Born in London and showing a gift, he was apprenticed to the Italian composer and music teacher Domenico Corri. An early role came in Theodore Hook's The Siege of St Quintin (1808) at Drury Lane. Following the Drury Lane Fire of 1809 he moved with the company to the Lyceum Theatre. From 1810 was a regular for many years at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden. He acted in many comic operas and musicals, as well as straight tragedies and non-musical comedies. He featured in the theatrical reviews of William Hazlitt.
Mary Stuart is an 1840 historical tragedy by the Irish writer James Haynes. It is based on the assassination of David Rizzio, a courtier to Mary, Queen of Scots. The play was staged as part of an ambitious plan to relaunch the reputation of London's Theatre Royal, Drury Lane by the new manager William John Hammond, but faced issues of censorship from Charles Kemble and the Lord Chamberlain's office.
