The Carmelite is a 1784 tragedy by the British writer Richard Cumberland. It was first staged at the Drury Lane Theatre on 2 December 1784. The play's hero Saint-Valori disguises himself as a Carmelite. The original cast included Sarah Siddons as Matilda, William Smith as Saint Valori, John Palmer as Lord Hildebrand, John Philip Kemble as Montgomeri, James Aickin as Lord De Courci, John Hayman Packer as Gyfford, John Phillimore as Fitzallan and John Fawcett as Raymond. The play enjoyed some success, and was later staged at a theatre in Belfast where Wolfe Tone saw it in 1791.
William Burnaby (1673-1706) was an English writer, primarily known for authoring several plays in the early eighteenth century. Three of his works were late entries into the Restoration Comedy tradition.
The Law of Lombardy is a 1779 tragedy by the Irish writer Robert Jephson. The original Drury Lane cast included William Smith as Paladore, Robert Bensley as King, John Hayman Packer as Rinaldo, Richard Hurst as Asciano, James Wrighten as Forester, John Henderson as Bireno, Mary Robinson as Alinda and Elizabeth Younge as Princess. It was dedicated by Jephson to George III.
The Campaign: or, Love in the East Indies is a 1784 comedy play with songs by the Irish writer Robert Jephson.
The School for Arrogance is a 1791 comedy play by the British writer Thomas Holcroft.
A Bold Stroke for a Husband is a 1783 comedy play by the British writer Hannah Cowley. The title is a variation on Susanna Centlivre's A Bold Stroke for a Wife. The original Covent Garden cast included William Thomas Lewis as Don Julio, Richard Wroughton as Don Carlos, John Quick as Don Caesar, John Edwin as Don Vincentio, Richard Wilson as Gasper, John Whitfield as Don Garcia, James Fearon as Vasquez, Mary Robinson as Victoria, Sarah Maria Wilson as Minette, Mary Whitfield as Laura, Harriet Pitt as Sancha and Isabella Mattocks as Olivia. The epilogue was written by John O'Keeffe. The play is in five acts and is set in Madrid.
The Duellist is a 1773 comedy play by the British writer William Kenrick. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden on 20 November 1773. The original Covent Garden cast included Henry Woodward as General Gantlet, William 'Gentleman' Smith as Captain Boothby, Edward Shuter as Sir Solomon Bauble, John Quick as Serjant Nonplus, William Thomas Lewis as Counsellor Witmore, Richard Wroughton as Lord Lovemore, John Cushing as Mactotum and Jane Green as Lady Bauble.
The Count of Narbonne is a 1781 tragedy by the Irish writer Robert Jephson. It was inspired by Horace Walpole's novel The Castle of Otranto.
The Cobbler of Preston is a 1716 comedy play by Christopher Bullock, although a separate play of the same title was written by Charles Johnson the same year. A one-act afterpiece is the origin of the phrase "Tis impossible to be sure of anything but Death and Taxes". In the preface to the published version Bullock suggested that he had begun writing the play just four days before its premiere. It takes inspiration from The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare and is set in Preston, Lancashire. The town had recently been scene of fighting during the 1715 Jacobite Rebellion at the Battle of Preston. Bullock's play does not overtly reference the rebellion, but has undertones supportive of the Hanoverian Dynasty.
The Adventures of Five Hours is a 1663 comedy play by the English writer Sir Samuel Tuke, 1st Baronet. Based on the play Los empenos de seis horas by Antonio Coello, It is an early example of the developing Restoration comedy tradition. Its success led to a series of sentimental plays in the Spanish style about love and honour, very different to the more sophisticated and cynical comedies which the Restoration era became known for.
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.
Marmaduke Watson was an English stage actor of the seventeenth century. Part of the King's Company based at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, he was one of the actors who sided with Charles Killigrew during a dispute in the company in 1677. In 1682 when the United Company was formed he left and went to Dublin to join the Smock Alley Theatre. He later returned to London where his final known performances were with Thomas Betterton's company at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre.
The Curfew is a historical tragedy by the British writer John Tobin which was first published in 1807, three years after the author's death. It was staged by Richard Brinsley Sheridan at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London premiering on 19 February 1807. The cast included William Barrymore as Hugh de Tracy, John Bannister as Robert, Henry Siddons as Bertrand, William Penley as Walter, Robert William Elliston as Fitzharding, Edmund John Eyre as Philip, Jane Powell as Matilda and Maria Duncan as Florence. It appeared at the Crow Street Theatre in Dublin on 1 April the same year. It is set during the Norman era.
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.
Zorinski is a 1795 historical tragedy by the British writer Thomas Morton. It first appeared at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket in London with a cast that included William Barrymore as Zorinski, James Aickin as Casimir, King of Poland, Robert Bensley as Rodomsko, Charles Kemble as Radanzo, John Bannister as Zarno, John Henry Johnstone as O'Curragh, Richard Suett as Amalekite, John Fawcett as Witski, Thomas Caulfield as Naclo, Elizabeth Kemble as Rosolia and Maria Bland as Winifred. It included music composed by Samuel Arnold. The Irish premiere was at the Crow Street Theatre in Dublin on 28 November 1795. It is also known by the alternative title Casimir, King of Poland
The Surrender of Calais is a 1791 historical play by the British playwright George Colman the Younger with elements of tragedy and comedy. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket in London on 30 July 1791. The original cast included James Brown Williamson as King Edward, George Bland as Harcourt, Howard Usher as Sir William Manny, John Bannister as La Gloire, John Powell as Arundel, James Aickin as John de Vienne, William Farren as Ribaumont, Robert Bensley as St. Pierre, John Henry Johnstone as O'Carroll, Henry Erskine Johnston as Old Man, Elizabeth Kemble as Julia, Maria Bland as Madelon and Charlotte Goodall as the Queen. It is set against the backdrop of the Siege of Calais (1346-47) by Edward III during the Hundred Years War.
The Bank Note: Or Lessons for Ladies is a 1795 comedy play by the Irish writer and actor William Macready the Elder. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London on 1 May 1795. The original cast included Macready as Lieutenant Selby, Joseph George Holman as Sir Charles Leslie, James Middleton as Bloomfield, Thomas Hull as Father, John Fawcett as Ned Dash, John Quick as Hale, John Henry Johnstone as Killeavy, Edward Townsend as Tim, Elizabeth Hopkins as Miss Emma Hale, Isabella Mattocks as Mrs Bloomfield, Mary Ann Davenport as Lady Supple and Tryphosa Jane Wallis as Miss Russel. The Irish premiere took at the Crow Street Theatre in Dublin on 22 April 1796 Its plot draws inspiration from William Taverner's The Artful Husband as well as other earlier plays.
Who's the Dupe? is a 1779 comedy play by the British writer Hannah Cowley. A two-act farcical afterpiece, it premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London on 10 April 1779. The original cast included William Parsons as Doiley, James Aickin as Sandford, John Palmer as Granger, Thomas King as Gradus, Priscilla Brereton as Elizabeth and Mary Ann Wrighten as Charlotte. The Irish premiere was at the Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin on 8 February 1791. Cowley had enjoyed success with her debut play The Runaway and followed it with the tragedy Albina and this farce. It became one of her most popular works.
A Day in Turkey is a 1791 comedy by the English author Hannah Cowley. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London on 3 December 1791. The original cast included Joseph George Holman as Ibrahim, William Farren as Orloff, John Fawcett as A La Greque, Joseph Shepherd Munden as Mustapha, William Cubitt as Azim, Charles Incledon as Selim, William Macready as Muley, Charles Farley as Ismael, James Thompson as Old Man, Jane Pope as Alexina, Harriet Pye Esten as Paulina, Isabella Mattocks as Lauretta and Margaret Martyr as Fatima. The Irish premiere took place at the Crow Street Theatre in Dublin on 16 May 1792
