Colley Cibber was an English actor-manager, playwright and Poet Laureate. His colourful memoir An Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber (1740) describes his life in a personal, anecdotal and even rambling style. He wrote 25 plays for his own company at Drury Lane, half of which were adapted from various sources, which led Robert Lowe and Alexander Pope, among others, to criticise his "miserable mutilation" of "crucified Molière [and] hapless Shakespeare".
Robert Wilks was a British actor and theatrical manager who was one of the leading managers of Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in its heyday of the 1710s. He was, with Colley Cibber and Thomas Doggett, one of the "triumvirate" of actor-managers that was denounced by Alexander Pope and caricatured by William Hogarth as leaders of the decline in theatrical standards and degradation of the stage's literary tradition.
The Drummer is a 1716 comedy play by the British writer Joseph Addison, also known as The Drummer, or, The Haunted House.
The Spartan Dame is a 1719 tragedy by the Irish writer Thomas Southerne. It was inspired by a story from Plutarch's Life of Aegis and was originally written as early 1687, but faced a long period of censorship and revision. The Drury Lane managers chose to revive it at a time of tension with the Stanhope-led government Whigs over licensing issues, and may have selected it because its plot subtly allowed them to demonstrate sympathy with the opposition Whigs led by Robert Walpole following the recent Whig Split.
A Wife to be Lett is a 1723 comedy play by the British writer Eliza Haywood. Better known for her novels, it was Haywood's first theatrical play.
Caelia, or, The Perjur'd Lover is a 1732 comedy play by the British writer Charles Johnson. The play's epilogue was written by Henry Fielding.
The Refusal, Or, The Ladies Philosophy is a 1721 comedy play by the British writer Colley Cibber. It is a reworking of the 1672 farce Les Femmes Savantes by Molière, with reference to the recent South Sea Bubble.
Caesar in Egypt is a 1724 tragedy by the British writer Colley Cibber. It is inspired by Pierre Corneille's 1642 French play The Death of Pompey about Julius Caesar's intervention in the Egyptian Civil War between Cleopatra and her brother. Cibber also incorporated elements of Plutarch and John Fletcher's The False One. The Drury Lane company invested lots of resources to make it a particularly extravagant production in the traditional style of a Restoration heroic drama.
The Modish Couple is a 1732 comedy play by the British writer James Miller, under the pen name Charles Boaden. A virtuous wife reforms her rakish husband.
The Provoked Husband is a 1728 comedy play by the British writer and actor Colley Cibber, based on a fragment of play written by John Vanbrugh. It is also known by the longer title The Provok'd Husband: or, a Journey to London.
The Universal Passion is a 1737 comedy play by the British writer James Miller. It is a reworking of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing.
Love in a Riddle is a 1729 ballad opera by the British actor-manager Colley Cibber. It was part of a boom in ballad operas inspired by the enormous success of John Gay's The Beggar's Opera the previous year.
The Rival Modes is a 1727 comedy play by the British writer James Moore Smythe.
Love in a Forest is a 1723 comedy play by Charles Johnson. It is a substantial reworking of Shakespeare's As You Like It cutting out characters and passages, while borrowing from other Shakespeare plays amongst other things.
Zara is a 1736 tragedy by the British writer Aaron Hill, based on the 1732 French play Zaïre by Voltaire.
The False Friend is a 1702 comedy play by the English writer John Vanbrugh. It was inspired by Francisco de Rojas Zorrilla's Spanish play La traición busca el castigo.
The Old Mode and the New is a 1703 comedy play by the English writer Thomas d'Urfey.
The Rival Fools is a 1709 comedy play by the British writer Colley Cibber. It drew inspiration from the earlier play Wit at Several Weapons. Despite Cibber's previous record of turning out hits, it was not a great success.
The Lying Lover; Or, The Lady's Friendship is a 1703 comedy play by the Irish writer Richard Steele. It was his second play, written while he was an army office doing garrison duty in Harwich during the War of the Spanish Succession. It is described as being both a restoration comedy and a sentimental comedy, and marked the transition between the two.
Woman's Wit is a 1697 comedy play by the English writer Colley Cibber. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Cibber had originally written the play for the performers of Thomas Betterton's company at Lincoln's Inn Fields and he partly attributed the work's failure to the differing qualities styles of the rival Drury Lane company. The original Drury Lane cast included Cibber as Longville, William Pinkethman as Major Rakish, George Powell as Jack Rakish, Thomas Doggett as Johnny, Mary Powell as Lady Manlove, Jane Rogers as Emilia, Catherine Cibber as Olivia and Mary Kent as Lettice.
