Ann Street Barry aka Ann Dancer later Ann Crawford, was a British singer, dancer and stage actress.
George Colman was an English dramatist and essayist, usually called "the Elder", and sometimes "George the First", to distinguish him from his son, George Colman the Younger. He also owned a theatre.
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1768.
The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a historic opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. The first theatre on the site, the Theatre Royal (1732), served primarily as a playhouse for the first hundred years of its history. In 1734, the first ballet was presented. A year later, the first season of operas, by George Frideric Handel, began. Many of his operas and oratorios were specifically written for Covent Garden and had their premieres there.
Hugh Kelly was an Irish dramatist and poet. From the 1760s he was employed as a propagandist for the British government, attacking members of the Opposition. After arriving in London in 1760 to work as a staymaker, he soon turned to become a writer and made a living as a journalist. In 1766 he published Thespis, a long poem about the acting profession, which gained him wide attention. He followed up this success with the novel Memoirs of a Magdalen in 1767. He ultimately became known for his stage plays such as False Delicacy and A Word to the Wise.
John Rich (1692–1761) was an important director and theatre manager in 18th-century London. He opened The New Theatre at Lincoln's Inn Fields in 1714, which he managed until he built the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in 1732. He managed Covent Garden until 1761, putting on ever more lavish productions. He popularised pantomime on the English stage and played a dancing and mute Harlequin himself from 1717 to 1760 under the stage name of "Lun." Rich's version of the servant character, Arlecchino, moved away from the poor, dishevelled, loud, and crude character, to a colourfully-dressed, silent Harlequin, performing fanciful tricks, dances and magic. Rich's decision to be a silent character was influenced by his unappealing voice, of which he was well aware, and the British idea of the Harlequin character was heavily inspired by Rich's performances.
The Duenna is a three-act comic opera, mostly composed by Thomas Linley the elder and his son, Thomas Linley the younger, to an English-language libretto by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. At the time, it was considered one of the most successful operas ever staged in England, and its admirers included Samuel Johnson, William Hazlitt and George Byron.
Thomas Wignell was an English-born actor and theatre manager in the colonial United States.
John Quick was a British comic actor.
False Delicacy is a 1768 comedy play by the Irish playwright Hugh Kelly, with some assistance by David Garrick. It premiered at the Drury Lane Theatre on 23 January. The play was a major success for Kelly, being performed over twenty times during its first season and selling ten thousand printed copies within a year. It was subsequently translated into German, French and Portuguese.
Thomas King (1730–1805) was an English actor, known also as a theatre manager and dramatist.
Thomas Hull (1728–1808) was an English actor and dramatist.
William Powell (1735–1769) was an English actor.
Thomas Ryder (1735–1790) was a British actor and theatre manager, associated with the Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin. As a player, he was considered at his best in low comedy.
Isabella Mattocks was a British actress and singer.
Mary Bulkley, née Wilford, known professionally as Mrs Bulkley, Miss Bulkley, and later Mrs Barresford, was an English eighteenth-century dancer and comedy stage actress. She performed at various theatres, especially Covent Garden Theatre, the Theatre Royal, Dublin, the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh, the Theatre Royal Haymarket and Shrewsbury Theatre. She performed in all or most of the Shakespearean comedies, and in several tragedies, besides many contemporary comedy plays. She played the part of Hamlet at least twice. She was considered a beauty when young, and her talent was praised. She married George Bulkley and later Captain Ebenezer Barresford, and openly took several lovers. Her early career was successful, but later she was hissed on stage due to her extra-marital affairs, and she died in poverty.
Jane Lessingham née Hemet was a stage actress from 1756 to 1782. Lessingham predominately performed at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, where she was known for both her beauty and her skill as a comedy actress.
Henry Woodward was an English actor, among the most famous in his day for comedy roles.
The Sister is a 1769 comedy play by the British writer Charlotte Lennox. Premiering at the Covent Garden Theatre, it was based on Lennox's own 1758 novel Henrietta. The original Covent Garden cast included William Powell as Courtney, William Smith as Lord Clairville, Mary Bulkley as Miss Autumn, Sarah Ward as Lady Autumn and John Cushing as Will. However the play was received by a hostile, organised element of the crowd and was withdrawn after one night.
James Prescott Warde (1792–1840) was an English actor. He came up as a provincial tragic actor, in the Garrick mould. The Dictionary of National Biography says he was "full of promise at the time of his first appearance in London", in 1818, but did not reach the top ranks of the profession.
