Charles Kemble was a Welsh actor of a prominent theatre family.
A libertine is a person questioning and challenging most moral principles, such as responsibility or sexual restraints, and will often declare these traits as unnecessary or undesirable. A libertine is especially someone who ignores or even spurns accepted morals and forms of behaviour observed by the larger society. The values and practices of libertines are known collectively as libertinism or libertinage and are described as an extreme form of hedonism. Libertines put value on physical pleasures, meaning those experienced through the senses. As a philosophy, libertinism gained new-found adherents in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, particularly in France and Great Britain. Notable among these were John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, and the Marquis de Sade.
John Mitchell Kemble, English scholar and historian, was the eldest son of Charles Kemble the actor and Maria Theresa Kemble. He is known for his major contribution to the history of the Anglo-Saxons and philology of the Old English language, including one of the first translations of Beowulf.
The Battle of La Marfée, also known as the Battle of Sedan, took place on 6 July 1641, during the 1635 to 1659 Franco-Spanish War, a related conflict of the Thirty Years War.
Cardinal Richelieu is a 1935 American historical film directed by Rowland V. Lee and starring George Arliss, Maureen O'Sullivan, Edward Arnold and Cesar Romero. It was based on the 1839 play Richelieu by Edward Bulwer-Lytton depicting the life of the great seventeenth century French statesman Cardinal Richelieu and his dealings with Louis XIII.
Don Pedro is a tragic play by the British writer Richard Cumberland. It was first staged at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket in London on 23 July 1796. The original cast included James Aickin as Count Valdesoto, Charles Kemble as Henrique, John Palmer as Pedro De Rascifiria, John Bannister as Basco de Robeldondo, Richard Suett as Nicolas Sassenigo, Thomas Caulfield as Tayo, George Wathen as Roca, Robert Palmer as Cerbero and Elizabeth Kemble as Celestina, Sarah Harlowe as Mariguita, Maria Kemble as Cattania and Elizabeth Hopkins as Benedicta. The epilogue was written by George Colman the Younger.
Richelieu; Or the Conspiracy is an 1839 historical play by the British writer Edward Bulwer-Lytton. It portrays the life of the Seventeenth Century French statesman Cardinal Richelieu. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden on 7 March 1839. The original cast featured William Macready as Richelieu, Edward William Elton as Louis XIII, James Prescott Warde as Baradas, Frederick Vining as Sieur De Beringhen, Samuel Phelps as Joseph, George John Bennett as Huguet, Henry Howe as Francois and Helena Faucit as Julie De Mortemar.
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 Unhappy Penitent is a 1701 tragedy by the English writer Catherine Trotter. It is set at the French court of the late fifteenth century where Charles VIII plans to break his marriage agreement with Margaret of Austria so that he can make a dynastic union with Anne of Brittany acquiring the Duchy of Brittany for France.
Hear Both Sides is an 1803 comedy play by the British writer Thomas Holcroft.
Fazio is a tragedy by the British writer Henry Hart Milman. It was first published in 1815. An unauthorised adaptation was performed at the Surrey Theatre under the title The Italian Wife. Another unauthorised version was performed at the Theatre Royal, Bath. In 1818 Milman granted permission for the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden to stage the play. It premiered there on 5 February 1818. It starred Charles Kemble as Giraldi Fazio, Elizabeth O'Neill as Bianca, Daniel Egerton as the Duke of Florence, Charles Mathews as Gonsalvo, William Blanchard as Bartolo, Harriet Faucit as Aldabella and Charles Connor as Falsetto. A first Dublin performance took place at the Crow Street Theatre on 6 April 1818. Fanny Kemble later played Bianca in Britain and America, where she appeared at the Park Theatre in 1832. It was revived on both sides of the Atlantic over the following decades.
Francis the First is an 1832 historical tragedy written by the British actress Fanny Kemble. It is based on the reign of Francis I of France in the sixteenth century. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London on 15 March 1832. The original cast included Kemble herself as Louisa of Savoy, Mason as Francis the First, Charles Kemble as Charles of Bourbon, Daniel Egerton as Chabannes, George Bennett as Laval, William Abbot as Clement Marot, Robert Keeley as Triboulet, John Duruset as Bonnivet, James Prescott Warde as Gonzales, Harriette Taylor as Margaret Valois and Ellen Kean as Francois de Foix. Kemble had originally conceived it as a historical novel before converting it into a stage play. Kemble was paid a large sum for the rights by publisher John Murray, and it enjoyed brief success on stage, although she herself was later critical of its "stilted declamation"
Foscari is an 1826 historical tragedy by the British writer Mary Russell Mitford. The plot revolves around Francesco Foscari, the son of the Doge of Venice, who is wrongly accused of murder and has to go into exile. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden on 4 November 1826. The original cast included Charles Mayne Young as Foscari, Doge of Venice, Charles Kemble as Francesco Foscari, James Prescott Warde as Count Erizzo, and Daniel Egerton as Donato.
The Duchess de la Vallière is an 1837 historical play by the British writer Edward Bulwer-Lytton. It is based on the life of Louise de La Vallière, a French aristocrat and mistress of Louis XIV in the seventeenth century. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden on 4 January 1837. The original cast included Helena Faucit as Louise de la Vallière, William Macready as the Marquis Alphonso de Bragelone, John Vandenhoff as Louis XIV, William Farren as the Duke of Lauzun, John Langford Pritchard as the Count de Grammont, William Harries Tilbury as Bertrand and Sarah West as Madame la Vallière.
Forget and Forgive is a comedy play by the British writer James Kenney. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London on 21 November 1827. The original cast included Henry John Wallack as Charles Sydney, John Liston as Rumbold, John Cooper as Cameron, William Bennett as Sir Gregory Ogle, Maria Rebecca Davison as Lady Ratcliffe and Ellen Kean as Georgiana. Originally of five acts it was later shortened to three. It was revived under the title Frolics in France in 1828.
Wallace is an 1820 historical tragedy by the British writer Charles Edward Walker. It portrays the Scottish leader William Wallace and the events surrounding his capture and execution, due to the betrayal of John de Menteith. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London on 14 November 1820. It starred William Macready as Wallace, Charles Kemble as Douglas, Daniel Egerton as Comyn, William Abbot as Montieth, Thomas Comer as Kierly, William Chapman as Clare, Earl of Gloster, Charles Connor as Lord de Clifford and Margaret Agnes Bunn as Helen. It was performed sixteen times. The critic John Waldie, who saw the play in Newcastle four months after its London premiere, compared it to Richard Brinsley Sheridan's 1799 hit Pizarro.
Charles the Second is an 1824 historical comedy in two acts by the British-based American writer John Howard Payne. It is set at the court of Charles II in Restoration London, and features a series of adventures in the company of his friend Rochester. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden on 27 May 1824. The original cast included Charles Kemble as Charles II, John Duruset as Edward, John Fawcett as Captain Copp, Harriet Faucit as Lady Clara, Maria Tree as Mary. It was performed 14 times in its initial run. An afterpiece, the running time was roughly an hour and fifty minutes. It subsequently performed in the United States at the Park Theatre Olympic Theatre in New York.
Love's Victory is an 1825 comedy play by the British writer George Hyde. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London on 16 November 1825. The original cast included Charles Kemble as Don Cesar, Prince of Naples, John Duruset as Don Luis, Prince of Bearne, Daniel Egerton as Don Diego, Duke of Barcelona, Tyrone Power as Gaston, Prince of Foix, William Farren as Don Pedro, William Blanchard as Lopez and Maria Ann Lacy as Princess Diana. It was inspired by the seventeenth century Golden Age Spanish work El desdén, con el desdén by Agustín Moreto, which was also adapted by Moliere. It published the same year by Hurst, Robinson of Waterloo Place in London and Constable in Edinburgh.
The Gazette Extraordinary is a comedy play by the British writer Joseph George Holman, published and first performed in 1811. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London on 23 April 1811 The original cast included Charles Mayne Young as Lord De Mallory, Joseph Shepherd Munden as Heartworth, William Barrymore as William Clayton, John Fawcett as Doctor Suitall, Charles Murray as Randall, Nannette Johnston as Lady Julia Sandford, Mary Catherine Bolton as Miss Alford, Mary Ann Davenport as Mrs Leech and Sarah Booth as Ellen Meredith. It was acted eleven times during its initial run.
Conscience; or, The Bridal Night is an 1821 tragedy by the Irish writer James Haynes. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London on 21 February 1821. The original cast included Sarah West as Elmira, John Powell as Duke of Venice, John Cooper as Arsenio, James William Wallack as Lorenzo. It was acted five times on its original run. It then appeared at the Anthony Street Theatre in New York in May 1821. Haynes dedicated the play to James Perry. John Genest considered the play's language better than its plot.
