William Abbot or Abbott was an English actor, and a theatrical manager, both in England and the United States.
William Charles Macready was an English stage actor.
Charles Kemble was a Welsh-born English actor of a prominent theatre family.
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.
James Sheridan Knowles was an Irish dramatist and actor. A relative of Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Knowles enjoyed success writing plays for the leading West End theatres. Later in his career he also produced several novels.
Charles Mayne Young was an English actor. He was born to a respected London surgeon (doctor). His first stage appearance was in Liverpool on 20 September 1798, where he played a Young Norval in Home's blank verse tragedy Douglas. Young's first London appearance was in 1807, as Hamlet with his friend Charles Mathews playing Polonius. "With the decline of John Philip Kemble, and until the coming of Kean and Macready, he was the leading English tragedian". He retired in 1832 in a farewell performance playing Hamlet with, as a special honour to him, Mathews as Polonius and Macready as the Ghost.
William Creswick was an English actor. A popular tragedian on the London stage, he appeared with many leading actors of his day, including William Charles Macready, Edwin Booth and Fanny Kemble and was well known for his Shakespearean and melodrama roles in Britain, the U.S. and Australia.
Ellen Kean was an English actress. She was known as Ellen Tree until her marriage in 1842, after which she was known both privately and professionally as Mrs Charles Kean and always appeared in productions together with her husband.
Daniel Egerton (1772–1835) was an English actor.
The Grecian Daughter is a 1772 tragedy by the Irish writer Arthur Murphy. It was widely performed for nearly sixty years, through the 1830s. For many British actresses in the eighteenth century, playing the role of the central heroine, Euphrasia, was an important part of gaining fame.
The Captives is a 1786 tragedy by the British writer John Delap.
James Faucett Cathcart, generally referred to as J. F. Cathcart, was an English actor, whose late career was in Australia. He was a brother of Fanny Cathcart.
Virginius is an 1820 tragedy by the Irish writer James Sheridan Knowles. It was part of a crop of plays set during the Roman Republic, part of a revival of interest in the period. The original cast featured William Macready as Virginius and also included Maria Foote as Virginia, Harriet Faucit as Servia, William Abbot as Appius Claudius, Charles Connor as Caius Claudius, John Faucit as Titus, Daniel Egerton as Numitorious, Thomas Comer as Lucius, Charles Kemble as Icilius and Daniel Terry as Dentatus.
The Beggar's Daughter of Bethnal Green is a five-act comedy play by the Irish writer James Sheridan Knowles. It was first staged at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in 1828 in London. It takes its name from a traditional popular song of the same name. On its opening night the audience began heckling in the second act, and by the third act, their dissatisfaction had become so tumultuous that the stage manager "implored a patient hearing, pledging himself that if the opinion of the audience was so decidedly against the piece at its conclusion, it should be withdrawn". The play was harshly criticised by the press for its weakness, lack of action, thinly sketched characters and lack of originality. In 1834 a revised version entitled The Beggar of Bethnal Green was staged at the Victoria Theatre. The action takes place in London and Romford, then in Essex.
Old Maids is an 1841 comedy play by the Irish writer James Sheridan Knowles. It was first staged at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London on 12 October 1841. The cast included John Harley as John Blount, George Vandenhoff as Thomas Blount, Walter Lacy as Robert, Robert William Honner as Harris, William Payne as Stephen, Alfred Wigan as Jacob, Lucia Elizabeth Vestris as Lady Blance and Louisa Nisbett as Lady Anne. It was produced towards the end of the theatrical career of Sheridan Knowles, before he turned to novel-writing.
Woman's Wit; or, Loves Disguises is an 1838 comedy play by the Irish writer James Sheridan Knowles. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden on the 23 June 1838 with a cast that included James Warde as Lord Athunree, George Bartley as Sir William Sutton, William Macready as Walsingham, John Langford Pritchard as Felton, John Pritt Harley as Clever and Helena Faucit as Hero. Knowles dedicated the play to the writer Samuel Rogers.
The Maid of Mariendorpt is an 1838 play by the Irish writer James Sheridan Knowles. It was inspired by the 1821 novel The Village of Mariendorpt by Anna Maria Porter. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket in London on 8 October 1838. The original cast included Sheridan Knowles as Muldenhau, Robert Strickland as General Kleiner, Walter Lacy as Baron Idenstein, Benjamin Nottingham Webster as Joseph, John Buckstone as Hans, Fanny Cooper as Adolpha, Emma Elphinstone as Meeta, Julia Glover as Esther. The same year it appeared at the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia.
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"
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, comparied it to Richard Brinsley Sheridan's 1799 hit Pizarro.
