The Impostors (play)

Last updated

The Impostors
Bodleian Libraries, Playbill of Theatre, Monday, May 18th, 1789, announcing Impostors &c..jpg
Written by Richard Cumberland
Date premiered26 January 1789 [1]
Place premiered Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London
Original languageEnglish
GenreComedy

The Impostors is a comedy play by Richard Cumberland. It was first performed at the Drury Lane Theatre in January 1789. [2] The plot closely resembled that of The Beaux' Stratagem by George Farquhar.

The original Drury Lane Cast included John Palmer as Lord Janus, Robert Baddeley as Sir Solomon Sapient, James Aickin as Captain George Sapient, William Barrymore as Sir Charles Freemantle, Richard Suett as Oliver and Richard Wroughton as Polycarp, Jane Pope as Mrs Dorothy and Dorothea Jordan as Eleanor.

Related Research Articles

<i>The Runaway</i> (play) 1776 play

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.

<i>The Natural Son</i> 1785 comedy play by the British writer Richard Cumberland

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.

<i>The Battle of Hastings</i> (play) 1778 play

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.

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.

<i>The Last of the Family</i> 1797 play

The Last of the Family is a comedy play by the British writer Richard Cumberland. It was first staged at Drury Lane Theatre on 8 May 1797 as a benefit performance for the actor John Bannister. The original cast included William Dowton as Sir John Manfred, John Bannister as Sir Adam ap Origen, Ralph Wewitzer as Squire Abel, Charles Kemble as Peregrine, Richard Suett as Beau Tiffany, Robert Palmer as Ned Flexible, Thomas Caulfield as George Ivey, John Hayman Packer as David Duncan, Jane Pope as Lady Manfred, Charlotte Tidswell as Lucy and Dorothea Jordan as Letitia Manfred.

<i>The Carmelite</i> 1784 play

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 School for Vanity is a 1783 comedy play by the British writer Samuel Jackson Pratt. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London on 29 January 1783. The original Drury Lane cast included Thomas King as Sir Hercules Caustic, John Palmer as Sighwell, James William Dodd as Lord Frolic, William Brereton as Valentine Onslow, Robert Baddeley as Secondhand, William Parsons as Alderman Ingot, Elizabeth Hopkins as Lady Blaze, Mary Bulkley as Widow Wherett and Elizabeth Farren as Ophelia Wyndham.

<i>Zenobia</i> (play)

Zenobia is a 1768 tragedy by the Irish writer Arthur Murphy. It is based on the life of Zenobia, ruler of the Palmyrene Empire in Syria and her defiance of Ancient Rome.

<i>Braganza</i> (play) 1775 play by Robert Jephson

Braganza is a 1775 tragedy by the Irish writer Robert Jephson. It portrays the overthrow of Spanish rule in Portugal during the seventeenth century, leading to the establishment of the Braganza Dynasty. The original Drury Lane cast included Mary Ann Yates as Duchess, William Smith as Velasquez, John Palmer as Ribiro, James Aickin as Almada, John Hayman Packer as Ramirez, William Brereton as Mendoza, Howard Usher as Lemos, Richard Hurst as Corea, James Wrighten as Antonio and Samuel Reddish as Duke. The prologue was written by Arthur Murphy.

<i>The Law of Lombardy</i> 1779 tragedy written by Robert Jephson

The Law of Lombardy is a 1779 tragedy by the Irish writer Robert Jephson. The original Drury Lane cast included William Smith as Paladore, Robert Bensley as King, John Hayman Packer as Rinaldo, Richard Hurst as Asciano, James Wrighten as Forester, John Henderson as Bireno, Mary Robinson as Alinda and Elizabeth Younge as Princess. It was dedicated by Jephson to George III.

<i>Sethona</i> 1774 play

Sethona is a 1774 tragedy by the British writer Alexander Dow. It is set in Ancient Egypt at a time when Menes is heir to the crown. The original Drury Lane cast included Spranger Barry as Serapis, Samuel Reddish as Menes, Francis Aickin as Amasis, James Aickin as Orus, John Hayman Packer as Otanes and Ann Street Barry as Sethona. The prologue was written by Richard Cumberland.

A Word for Nature is a 1798 comedy play by the British writer Richard Cumberland. It is also known by the alternative title of The Passive Husband.

The Man of Ten Thousand is a 1796 comedy play by the British writer Thomas Holcroft.

Knave or Not? is a 1798 comedy play by the British writer Thomas Holcroft.

The Metamorphosis is a 1783 comedy play by the Irish writer William Jackson.

Marcella is a 1789 tragedy by the British writer William Hayley.

<i>The Maid of Kent</i> 1773 play

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.

<i>The Dupe</i> (play) 1763 play

The Dupe is a 1763 comedy play by the Irish writer Frances Sheridan. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London on 10 December 1763. The original cast included Richard Yates as Sir John Woodall, William Havard as Friendly, John Hayman Packer as Wellford, Thomas King as Sharply and Hannah Pritchard as Mrs Etherdown, Kitty Clive as Mrs Friendly. It was one of only two new mainpieces debuting at Drury Lane that year along with a clutch of afterpieces. Sheridan, the mother of the playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan, was best known for her novel Memoirs of Miss Sidney Bidulph but had enjoyed success with the play The Discovery earlier in the year.

<i>The Iron Chest</i> 1796 play

The Iron Chest is a 1796 play by the British writer George Colman the Younger, with music by the composer Stephen Storace. Inspired by the novel Things as They Are by William Godwin, it premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London on 12 March 1796. The original cast included John Philip Kemble as Sir Edward Mortimer, Richard Wroughton as Fitzharding, John Bannister as Wilford, James William Dodd as Adam Winterton, William Barrymore as Rawbold, Richard Suett as Samson Rawbold, Robert Palmer as Orson, Charles Bannister as Third Robert, Elizabeth Farren as Lady Helen, Maria Gibbs as Blanch, Charlotte Tidswell as Dame Rawbold, Nancy Storace as Barbara and Maria Theresa Kemble as Judith. The Irish premiere took place at the Crow Street Theatre in Dublin on 6 March 1797.

The Dependent is a 1795 comedy play by the British writer Richard Cumberland. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London on 20 October 1795. The original cast included Thomas King as Lord Leverington, Richard Suett as Sir Clement Canteser, John Philip Kemble as Edmund D'Alincourt, James Aickin as Carrington, John Bannister as Gabriel Wrinkle, George Wathen as Isaac, John Phillimore as Thomas, Walter Maddocks as Harry, Jane Pope as Mrs Margaret and Elizabeth Farren as Jane.

References

  1. Hogan p.1125
  2. Nicoll p.127

Bibliography