William Charles Macready was an English actor.
James Sheridan Knowles was an Irish dramatist and actor. A relative of Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Knowles enjoyed success writing plays for the leading West End theatres. Later in his career he also produced several novels.
William Blount, 4th Baron Mountjoy, KG, of Barton Blount, Derbyshire, was an extremely influential English courtier, a respected humanistic scholar and patron of learning. He was one of the most influential and perhaps the wealthiest English noble courtier of his time. Mountjoy was known internationally as a humanist writer and scholar and patron of the arts.
Edward Blount (1562–1632) was a London publisher of the Elizabethan, Jacobean, and Caroline eras, noted for his publication, in conjunction with William and Isaac Jaggard, of the First Folio of Shakespeare's plays in 1623.
English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. The English language has developed over the course of more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon invaders in the fifth century, are called Old English. Beowulf is the most famous work in Old English, and has achieved national epic status in England, despite being set in Scandinavia. However, following the Norman conquest of England in 1066, the written form of the Anglo-Saxon language became less common. Under the influence of the new aristocracy, French became the standard language of courts, parliament, and polite society. The English spoken after the Normans came is known as Middle English. This form of English lasted until the 1470s, when the Chancery Standard, a London-based form of English, became widespread. Geoffrey Chaucer, author of The Canterbury Tales, was a significant figure in the development of the legitimacy of vernacular Middle English at a time when the dominant literary languages in England were still French and Latin. The invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in 1439 also helped to standardise the language, as did the King James Bible (1611), and the Great Vowel Shift.
The Natural Son is a comedy play by the British writer Richard Cumberland. It was first staged at the Drury Lane Theatre in London in December 1784. The play is notable for the return of the popular character Major O'Flaherty from Cumberland's 1771 play The West Indian.
The Battle of Hastings is a 1778 play by the English writer Richard Cumberland. It is a tragedy set around the Battle of Hastings in 1066. It was staged at the Drury Lane Theatre in October 1778 by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Sheridan later mocked Cumberland's sensitivity to criticism by modelling the character Sir Fretful Plagiary, in his 1779 play The Critic, after him.
The Fair Circassian is a 1781 tragedy by the British writer Samuel Jackson Pratt. It is an adaptation of the novel Almoran and Hamet by John Hawkesworth. He wrote the lead role for his friend Sarah Siddons, but due to other commitments it ended up being played by Elizabeth Farren.
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 Fine Lady's Airs is a 1708 comedy play by the British writer Thomas Baker.
The Non-Juror is a 1717 comedy play by the British writer Colley Cibber. It is inspired by Molière's 1664 work Tartuffe.
The Beggar's Daughter of Bethnal Green is a five-act comedy play by the Irish writer James Sheridan Knowles. It was first staged at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in 1828 in London. It takes its name from a traditional popular song of the same name. On its opening night the audience began heckling in the second act, and by the third act, their dissatisfaction had become so tumultuous that the stage manager "implored a patient hearing, pledging himself that if the opinion of the audience was so decidedly against the piece at its conclusion, it should be withdrawn". The play was harshly criticised by the press for its weakness, lack of action, thinly sketched characters and lack of originality. In 1834 a revised version entitled The Beggar of Bethnal Green was staged at the Victoria Theatre. The action takes place in London and Romford, then in Essex.
John of Procida: The Bridals of Messina is an 1840 historical tragedy by the Irish writer James Sheridan Knowles. It is based on the life of the thirteenth century Italian physician and diplomat. It premiered at the Covent Garden Theatre in London.
The Love Chase is an 1837 comedy play by the Irish-born writer James Sheridan Knowles. It premiered at the Haymarket Theatre in London on 10 October 1837 with a cast that included Robert Strickland as Sir William Fondlove, Edward William Elton as Waller, Benjamin Nottingham Webster as Wildrake, Julia Glover as Widow Green and Charlotte Vandenhoff as Lydia. Louisa Cranstoun Nisbett's role as Constance became one of her two signature parts. The Haymarket had just come under the management of Benjamin Webster that year.
The Rose of Arragon is an 1842 tragedy by the Irish-born writer James Sheridan Knowles. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket in London on 4 June 1842. The cast included Ellen Kean as Olivia, Charles Kean as Alasco, Henry Howe as the King of Arragon, Samuel Phelps as Almargo and Frederick Vining as Velasquez. It was similar in style to Knowles' earlier work The Wife of Mantua. In 1849 William Creswick opened his actor-management of the Surrey Theatre by playing Alasco in a revival.
The Secretary is a play by the Irish writer James Sheridan Knowles. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on 24 April 1843. The cast included John Ryder as the King, George John Bennett as Duke of Gaveston, Samuel Phelps as Lord Byerdale, William Macready as Colonel Green, Charles Selby as Armstrong, Helena Faucit as Lady Laura Gaveston and Leonora Wigan as Emmeline.
Caius Gracchus is a tragedy by the Irish playwright James Sheridan Knowles. It is based on the life of Gaius Gracchus, a politician in Ancient Rome. The play premiered at the Belfast Theatre in 1815 and enjoyed a good reception. It debuted in London's West End at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on 18 November 1823, following the success of the author's Virginius. The London cast included William Macready as Caius Gracchus, William Penley as Licinius, Alexander Pope as Drusus, Daniel Terry as Titus, Charles Mayne Young as Vettius, George Yarnold as Fulvius Flaccus, Thomas Archer as Opimius, Mrs. West as Licinia and Margaret Bunn as Cornelia.
Love is an 1839 play by the Irish writer James Sheridan Knowles. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden on 4 November 1839 with a cast that included Charles Selby as Prince Frederick, James Vining as Sir Rupert, Alfred Wigan as Sir Conrad, William Payne as Stephen, Ellen Tree as Countess, Emma Brougham as Empress and Lucia Elizabeth Vestris as Catherine. Knowles was paid six hundred pounds for the work by the management of Covent Garden. Mary Shelley praised the play for its "inspiring situations founded on sentiment and passion". It went on to enjoy success in the United States where it became part of the repertoire, being performed at the Broadway Theatre in New York many times in the 1850s. It was celebrated by abolitionists who cheered its anti-slavery theme of a serf falling in love with a countess despite her father's disapproval and the threat of execution.
The Bridal is an 1837 tragedy by the Irish writer James Sheridan Knowles. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket in London's West End on 26 June 1837 with a cast that included William Macready as Melantius, Edward William Elton as Amintor, Charles Selby as Calianaz and Mary Huddart as Evadne. It is inspired by the Jacobean play The Maid's Tragedy by Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher. In 1843 it appeared at the Park Theatre in New York with Macready repising his role.
Woman's Wit; or, Loves Disguises is an 1838 comedy play by the Irish writer James Sheridan Knowles. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden on the 23 June 1838 with a cast that included James Warde as Lord Athunree, George Bartley as Sir William Sutton, William Macready as Walsingham, John Langford Pritchard as Felton, John Pritt Harley as Clever and Helena Faucit as Hero. Knowles dedicated the play to the writer Samuel Rogers.
