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.
An Ideal Husband is a four-act play by Oscar Wilde that revolves around blackmail and political corruption, and touches on the themes of public and private honour. It was first produced at the Haymarket Theatre, London in 1895 and ran for 124 performances. It has been revived in many theatre productions and adapted for the cinema, radio and television.
Geoffrey Edward Harvey Grigson was a British poet, writer, editor, critic, exhibition curator, anthologist and naturalist. In the 1930s he was editor of the influential magazine New Verse, and went on to produce 13 collections of his own poetry, as well as compiling numerous anthologies, among many published works on subjects including art, travel and the countryside. Grigson exhibited in the London International Surrealist Exhibition at New Burlington Galleries in 1936, and in 1946 co-founded the Institute of Contemporary Arts. Grigson's autobiography The Crest on the Silver was published in 1950. At various times he was involved in teaching, journalism and broadcasting. Fiercely combative, he made many literary enemies.
John Ramsay Allardyce Nicoll was a British literary scholar and teacher.
Julia Betterton Glover was an Irish-born stage actress well known for her comic roles in the late 18th and 19th centuries.
False Impressions is a 1797 melodramatic comedy play by the British playwright Richard Cumberland. It was first staged at the Covent Garden Theatre in November 1797. Much of the plot resembles Cumberland's 1795 novel Henry. Algernon has to pretend to be a servant to restore his good name.
First Love is a 1795 sentimental comedy play by the British playwright Richard Cumberland. It was first performed at the Drury Lane Theatre in May 1795. Frederick Mowbray becomes the protector of Sabrina Rosny after her abandonment by Lord Sensitive.
A Wife to be Let is a 1723 comedy play by the British writer Eliza Haywood. Better known for her novels, it was Haywood's first theatrical play.
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.
The Coffee House is a 1738 comedy play by the British writer James Miller, written as an afterpiece. After being performed at Drury Lane, it was published later that year with some alterations to the play's original text.
Strafford is an 1837 tragedy by the British writer Robert Browning. It portrays the downfall and execution of Lord Strafford, the advisor to Charles I shortly before the English Civil War.
John Bull is an 1803 comedy play by the British writer George Colman the Younger. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden on 5 March 1803. The original cast included George Frederick Cooke as Peregrine, Henry Erskine Johnston as Frank Rochdale, Charles Klanert as Williams, John Waddy as Lord Fitz-Balaam, William Thomas Lewis as Honourable Tom Shuffleton, John Henry Johnstone as Dennis Brulgruddery, John Fawcett as Job Thornberry, George Davenport as Mr Pennyman, John Emery as Dan, Nannette Johnston as Lady Caroline Braymore, Mary Ann Davenport as Mrs Bulgruddery and Maria Gibbs as Mary Thornberry. The prologue was written by Thomas Dibdin. Its Irish premiere was at Dublin's Crow Street Theatre on 18 May 1803.
Look Before You Leap is an 1846 comedy play by the British writer George William Lovell. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket in London's West End on 29 October 1846. The cast included Henry Howe as Brandon, John Baldwin Buckstone as Tom Tilly, William Farren as Mr. Oddington, Benjamin Nottingham Webster as Jack Spriggs, Julia Glover as Miss Brown, Priscilla Horton as Mary Oddington, Mrs Edwin Yarnold as Elinor Mortimer, Julia Bennett as Fanny Hardman.
The Three Strangers is an 1825 stage melodrama by the British writer Harriet Lee. It was based on one of her own works Kruitzner, co-written as part of The Canterbury Tales with her sister Sophia.
Where to Find a Friend is a comedy play by the British writer Richard Leigh. It premiered on 20 May 1811 at the Lyceum Theatre in London, which was being used the Drury Lane company while their own theatre was being rebuilt after a fire. The original cast included Henry John Wallack as Sir Harry Morden, George Bartley as General Torrington, William Dowton as Heartly, Edward Knight as Jack Bustle, John Henry Johnstone as Barny, William Oxberry as Timothy Scamp, Joseph Ebsworth as Servant to General, Maria Rebecca Davison as Lady Morden, Frances Maria Kelly as Maria and Sarah Sparks as Mrs Bustle. It was Leigh's second play performed by the Drury Lane company following Grieving's a Folly in 1809.
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.
The School for Coquettes is an 1831 comedy play by the British writer Catherine Gore, best known for her silver fork novels, for whom it was her theatrical debut. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket in London on 14 July 1831. The original cast included John Cooper as Lord Marston, William Farren as General Lumley, Frederick Vining as Frederick Lumley, Henry John Wallack as Howard, Benjamin Nottingham Webster as Ralph, Julia Glover as Lady Hampton and Harriette Taylor as Lady Honoria Howard. The play was a great success, running for 37 performances and being revived the following year.
Education is an 1813 comedy play by the British writer Thomas Morton. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London on 27 April 1813. The original cast included Charles Mayne Young as Count Villars, Charles Mathews as Sir Guy Stanch, John Fawcett as Mr. Templeton, Charles Kemble as Vincent Templeton, John Liston as Suckling, William Barrymore as Damper, John Emery as Broadcast, Mary Catherine Bolton as Rosine, Maria Theresa Kemble as Mrs Templeton, Sarah Booth as Ellen and Mary Ann Davenport as Dame Broadcast.
The School of Reform is an 1805 comedy play by the British writer Thomas Morton. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden on 15 January 1805. The original cast included George Frederick Cooke as Lord Avondale, Joseph Shepherd Munden as General Tarragan, John Emery as Tyke, Charles Murray as Old Man, Maria Gibbs as Mrs St. Clair, Harriett Litchfield as Mrs Ferment and Mary Ann Davenport as Mrs Nicely. It was later staged at the Crow Street Theatre in Dublin.
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.
