The Banishment of Cicero is a 1761 tragedy play by the British writer Richard Cumberland. It follows the downfall and death of the Roman orator Marcus Tullius Cicero. David Garrick declined to stage the play, so Cumberland instead had it published. After this Cumberland switched to writing generally much lighter works, mostly comedy.
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. A sentimental comedy, it follows the adventures of Augusta Aubrey after she leaves her ward's house and is nearly seduced by the villainous Lord Abberville.
The Walloons is a comedy play by the British writer Richard Cumberland. It was first staged at the Covent Garden Theatre in April 1782. The character of Father O'Sullivan was widely believed to be based on Father Thomas Hussey an Irish-born Priest with whom Cumberland conducted secret talks in an attempt to secure a peace agreement between Britain and Spain during the American War of Independence.
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 Maid of the Oaks is a comedy play by the British playwright and soldier General John Burgoyne, known as Gentleman Johnny. It was originally written in celebration of the forthcoming marriage of Edward Smith-Stanley, heir to the earldom of Derby, and Lady Elizabeth (Betty) Hamilton, daughter of the late James Hamilton, 6th Duke Hamilton and Brandon. Burgoyne was the uncle of the groom and in charge of the lavish masquerade and garden fête, which took place at Lord Stanley's hunting lodge, The Oaks near Epsom, Surrey.
The Heiress is a comedy play by the British playwright and soldier John Burgoyne. The play debuted at the Drury Lane Theatre on 14 January 1786. It concerns the engagement of Lord Gayville to Miss Alscrip, a fashionable woman he believes to be an heiress. Gayville later discovers that the woman who really stands to inherit the fortune is his true love Miss Clifford. The play was an enormous success, running for 31 performances in its initial season and being revived again the following year. The play was initially anonymous, but Burgoyne was soon widely reported to be the author and he acknowledged this after the play's debut.
Richard Coeur de Lion: An historical romance is a 1786 semi-opera with an English text by John Burgoyne set to music by Thomas Linley the Elder. It was first staged at Drury Lane Theatre in October 1786. It was a translation of Michel-Jean Sedaine's opera Richard Coeur-de-lion about the life of the English Monarch Richard I with the ending significantly changed. The work was a major success and ran for 43 performances and was revived seven times before the end of the century. By contrast a rival version staged at the Covent Garden Theatre at the same time was a failure.
False Impressions is a 1797 melodramatic comedy play by the British playwright Richard Cumberland. It was first staged at the Covent Garden Theatre in November 1797. Much of the plot resembles Cumberland's 1795 novel Henry. Algernon has to pretend to be a servant to restore his good name.
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.
Don Pedro is a tragic play by the British writer Richard Cumberland. It was first staged at the Haymarket Theatre in July 1796.
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 Box-Lobby Challenge is a comedy play by the British writer Richard Cumberland. It was first staged at the Haymarket Theatre in February 1794. It is a farcial comedy of manners set amongst the working class.
The Jubilee is a 1769 play by the British playwright and actor-manager David Garrick. It was based on his Shakespeare Pageant which he had originally planned to stage during the Shakespeare Jubilee in Stratford-upon-Avon until heavy rain forced it to be abandoned. It was first performed at the Drury Lane Theatre on 14 October 1769 and proved a major success, running for ninety performances. This allowed Garrick to recoup much of the money he had spent on the Jubilee celebrations.
The Princess of Parma is a 1778 play by the British playwright Richard Cumberland. It was originally staged at Kelmarsh Hall in Northamptonshire. No copy of the work is known to survive.
The Carmelite is a tragic play 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 play enjoyed some success, and was later staged a theatre in Belfast where Wolfe Tone saw it in 1791.
The Country Attorney is a 1787 comic play by the British writer Richard Cumberland. It was first performed at the Haymarket Theatre on 7 July 1787. The play was reworked and much of it used again by Cumberland for the 1789 play The School for Widows.
Clementina is a tragic play by the Irish writer Hugh Kelly. It was first staged at Covent Garden Theatre in February 1771. The plot follows a young Italian woman Clementina's marriage to Rinaldo despite her father's opposition to the wedding as he had wished her to marry Palermo. It ends with Palmero killing Rinaldo, and Clementina committing suicide in her despair.
Canaries Sometimes Sing is a comedy play by the British writer Frederick Lonsdale that was first staged in 1929 at the Globe Theatre in the West End. It represented the breakthrough role as a solo performer of the French comedienne Yvonne Arnaud.
