The Runaway is a 1776 comedy play by the British writer Hannah Cowley. It premiered at London's Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on 15 February 1776. The original cast included Richard Yates as Mr Hargrave, William Smith as George Hargrave, Robert Bensley as Mr Drummond, William Brereton as Sir Charles Seymour, James Aickin as Mr Morley, William Parsons as Justice, John Palmer as Jarvis, Charles Bannister as First Hunter, Elizabeth Hopkins as Lady Dinah, Elizabeth Younge as Bella, Priscilla Hopkins as Harriet, Sarah Siddons as Emily and Mary Ann Wrighten as Susan. Cowley dedicated the play to David Garrick, the actor-manager of Drury Lane, who wrote the prologue. The action revolves around a country house in England.
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 Fashionable Lover is a comedy play by the British writer Richard Cumberland. It was first staged at the Drury Lane Theatre in London in January 1772. The original Drury Lane cast included James William Dodd as Lord Aberville, Thomas King as Mortimer, Spranger Barry as Aubrey, Samuel Reddish as Tyrrel, Astley Bransby as Bridgemore, Robert Baddeley as Doctor Druid, Francis Godolphin Waldron as Napthali, John Burton as La Jeunesse, John Moody as Colin Macleod, Ann Street Barry as Augusta Aubrey and Elizabeth Hopkins as Mrs. Bridgemore.
The Impostors is a comedy play by Richard Cumberland. It was first performed at the Drury Lane Theatre in January 1789. The plot closely resembled that of The Beaux' Stratagem by George Farquhar.
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 Note of Hand, or Trip to Newmarket is a 1774 comedy play by the British writer Richard Cumberland. A farce it was the final play performed by David Garrick at the Drury Lane Theatre before his retirement. The play mocked some of the leading Whig politicians of the era such as Charles Fox and the Duke of Devonshire. This may have been the cause of Cumberland's dispute with Richard Brinsley Sheridan who was a Whig. Sheridan went on to create a character closely based on Cumberland in the 1779 play The Critic.
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.
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.
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 School for Friends is an 1805 comedy play by the British writer Marianne Chambers. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London on 10 December 1805. The Drury Lane cast featured Robert William Elliston as Lord Belmour, Richard Wroughton as Sir Felix Mordant, William Barrymore as Sir Edward Epworth, William Dowton as Mr. Hardy, Charles Mathews as Matthew Daw, Walter Maddocks as Landlord, Jane Pope as Lady Courtland, Dorothea Jordan as Mrs. Hamilton, Harriet Siddons as Miss Emily, Harriet Mellon as Lucy and Charlotte Tidswell as Sarah. The prologue was written by James Kenney. It appeared for 25 performances on its initial run.
Ourselves is an 1811 comedy play by the British writer Marianne Chambers. It premiered at the Lyceum Theatre in London on 2 March 1811. The Lyceum was at the time hosting the company of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane while it was rebuilt following damage by an 1809 fire. It was Chambers' second staged work following the successful The School for Friends in 1805. The cast included William Dowton as Sir John Rainsford, Benjamin Wrench as Sir Sydney Beaufort, Charles Holland as Fitzaubin, John Henry Johnstone as O'Shanauhan, Vincent De Camp as Darlington, William Penley as Cuff, Maria Rebecca Davison as Miss Beaufort, Julia Glover as the Unknown Lady and Sarah Harlowe as Mrs O'Shanauhan. It was performed sixteen times on its original run.
The Loyal Brother; Or, The Persian Prince is a 1682 tragedy by the Irish writer Thomas Southerne. It was first performed by the King's Company at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London. The prologue was written by John Dryden. It was Southerne's first play and was written in the context of the recent Exclusion Crisis and the Popish Plot from a Tory viewpoint. Two characters are thinly disguised versions of contemporary figures, the heroic Tachmas is James, Duke of York and the villain is the Whig politician the Earl of Shaftesbury. It was staged at a time when the growing Tory Reaction had swung power away from the Whigs trying to exclude the Catholic York from the throne.
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.
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.
The Rival Sisters is a 1793 tragedy by the Irish writer Arthur Murphy. His final play, it premiered at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket in London on 18 March 1793. It had been first written in 1783 and then published in 1786. It was staged by the company of the Drury Lane company under Richard Brinsley Sheridan who were at the Haymarket while their own theatre was rebuilt. The London cast included Sarah Siddons as Ariadne, Jane Powell as Phaedra, John Philip Kemble as Perithous, Richard Wroughton as Periander, King of Naxos, Robert Palmer as Theseus, John Hayman Packer as Archon and Thomas Caulfield as Aletes. It ran for around nine performances.
Know Your Own Mind is a 1777 comedy play by the Irish writer Arthur Murphy. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden on 22 February 1777. The original Covent Garden cast included William Thomas Lewis as Millamour, Charles Lee Lewes as Dashwould, Richard Wroughton as Malvil, Francis Aickin as Bygrove, Cockran Joseph Booth as Captain Bygrave, James Fearon as Sir John Millamour, John Whitfield as Sir Harry Lovewith, Ralph Wewitzer as Charles, Servant of Millamour, Isabella Mattocks as Lady Bell, Mary Dayes as Lady Jane and Elizabeth Hartley as Miss Neville. The Irish premiere was at the Crow Street Theatre in Dublin on 13 August 1778. It was acted nineteen times at Covent Garden and in 1789 was revived at Drury Lane, with Dorothea Jordan in the cast, and remained a standard work well into the nineteenth century.
The Maid of Kent is a 1773 comedy play by the English writer Francis Godolphin Waldron. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on 17 May 1773. The original cast included William Parsons as Sir Thomas Richacre, John Hayman Packer as Doctor Goodman, Francis Godolphin Waldron as Metre, John Palmer as George, Joseph Vernon as William, John Moody as O'Connor, Robert Baddeley as La Poudre, Richard Griffith as Robert, Elizabeth Younge as Emily, Jane Pope as Patty and Mary Bradshaw as Dame Quickset.
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.
The Choleric Man is a 1774 comedy play by the British author Richard Cumberland. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London on 10 December 1774. The original cast included Thomas King as Andrew Nightshade, James Aickin as Manlove, John Hayman Packer as Stapleton, Samuel Reddish as Charles Manlove, Thomas Weston as Jack Nightshade, Robert Baddeley as Dibble, John Moody as Gregory, Francis Godolphin Waldron as Frampton. Roger Wright as Frederick, Elizabeth Hopkins as Mrs Stapleton, Frances Abington as Laetitia and Jane Pope as Lucy. The play's Irish premiere took place at the Crow Street Theatre in Dublin on 14 April 1777. It also appeared later at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden.
The Double Deception is a 1779 comedy play by the British writer Elizabeth Richardson. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on 28 April 1779, and was her only play. The original cast included James William Dodd as Flippant, William Parsons as Welford, James Aickin as Fairgrove, Robert Baddeley as Rudely, Francis Godolphin Waldron as Robin, John Palmer as Sir Henry Varnish, Elizabeth Farren as Louisa Freemore, Elizabeth Hopkins as Lady Varnish, Priscilla Brereton as Sophia Welford, Jane Pope as Kitty.
