Samuel Foote was a Cornish dramatist, actor and theatre manager. He was known for his comedic acting and writing, and for turning the loss of a leg in a riding accident in 1766 to comedic opportunity.
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.
In theater and music history, a burletta is a brief comic opera. In eighteenth-century Italy, a burletta was the comic intermezzo between the acts of an opera seria. The extended work Pergolesi's La serva padrona was also designated a "burletta" at its London premiere in 1758.
Crow Street Theatre was a theatre in Dublin, Ireland, originally opened in 1758 by the actor Spranger Barry. From 1788 until 1818 it was a patent theatre.
Adelaide is an 1814 tragedy by the Irish writer Richard Lalor Sheil. It premiered at the Crow Street Theatre in Dublin on 19 February 1814. The Dublin cast included Elizabeth O'Neill in the title role and Charles Connor as Count Luneburg. On 23 May 1816 it appeared for the first time in London's West End at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden. The first London cast featured Elizabeth O'Neill reprising her Dublin role as Adelaide, Charles Mayne Young as Count St. Evermont, Charles Kemble as Count Lunenburg, William Abbot as Albert, Charles Murray as Godfrey, Daniel Egerton as Colbert, Sarah Egerton as Madame St. Evermont and Maria Foote as Julia. It takes place in Germany amidst emigres who have fled from the French Revolution.
The Mouth of the Nile; Or, The Glorious First of August is a 1798 patriotic musical written by the British author Thomas John Dibdin with music composed by Thomas Attwood. It celebrated the recent naval victory of Horatio Nelson over the French at the Battle of the Nile. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden on 25 October 1798 as an afterpiece. The original cast included Edward Townsend as Jack Junk, John Fawcett as William, Dibdin as Pat, Charles Incledon as Michael and Sarah Sims as Susan. The prologue was written by Richard Cumberland. The Irish premiere took place at the Crow Street Theatre in Dublin on 18 December 1799.
The Birth Day or The Birth-day is a 1799 comedy play by the British author Thomas John Dibdin. It was based on the work Die Versöhnung by the German author August von Kotzebue, which Dibdin translated and rewrote for the English stage. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden on 8 April 1799. The Covent Garden cast included Joseph Shepherd Munden as Captain Bertram, John Fawcett as Jack Junk, John Henry Johnstone as Harry Bertram, Charles Murray as Mr. Bertram, John Waddy as Lawyer Circuit, Jane Pope as Emma and Mary Ann Davenport as Mrs Moral. Fawcett's character Jack Junk, a sailor, was a reprisal from the popular 1798 musical The Mouth of the Nile by Dibdin. The Irish premiere took place at the Crow Street Theatre in Dublin on 25 November 1799.
Fashionable Levities is a 1785 comedy play by the Irish writer Leonard MacNally. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London on 7 April 1785. The original cast included William Thomas Lewis as Welford, John Quick as Sir Buzzard Savage, Richard Wroughton as Captain Douglas, Ralph Wewitzer as Colonel Staff, John Edwin as Nicholas, John Henderson as Mr Ordeal, Margaret Martyr as Clara, Sarah Maria Wilson as Grace and Mrs Webb as Honour. MacNally dedicated the play to the Anglo-Irish aristocrat the Countess of Salisbury. The Dublin premiere took place at the Crow Street Theatre on 5 April 1786.
Know Your Own Mind is a 1777 comedy play by the Irish writer Arthur Murphy. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden on 22 February 1777. The original Covent Garden cast included William Thomas Lewis as Millamour, Charles Lee Lewes as Dashwould, Richard Wroughton as Malvil, Francis Aickin as Bygrove, Cockran Joseph Booth as Captain Bygrave, James Fearon as Sir John Millamour, John Whitfield as Sir Harry Lovewith, Ralph Wewitzer as Charles, Servant of Millamour, Isabella Mattocks as Lady Bell, Mary Dayes as Lady Jane and Elizabeth Hartley as Miss Neville. The Irish premiere was at the Crow Street Theatre in Dublin on 13 August 1778. It was acted nineteen times at Covent Garden and in 1789 was revived at Drury Lane, with Dorothea Jordan in the cast, and remained a standard work well into the nineteenth century.
Laugh When You Can is a 1798 comedy play by the British writer Frederick Reynolds. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London on 8 December 1798. The original cast included William Thomas Lewis as Gossamer, Joseph Shepherd Munden as Bonus, Joseph George Holman as Mortimer, John Fawcett as Sambo, John Whitfield as Delville, Edward Townsend as Costly, James Thompson as Farmer Blackbrook, Samuel Simmons as Waiter, Mary Ann Pope as Mrs. Mortimer, Maria Gibbs as Dorothy and Isabella Mattocks as Mrs Gloomly. The Irish premiere was at the Crow Street Theatre in Dublin on Dublin on 17 April 1799.
Eloisa is a 1786 tragedy by the British author Frederick Reynolds. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London on 20 December 1786. The original Covent Garden cast included Joseph George Holman as Villiers, William Farren as Hainhault, William Macready as Courcy, Alexander Pope as Preux and Ann Brunton Merry as Eloisa. The Irish premiere took place at the Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin on 14 July 1787.
Life is an 1800 comedy play by the British writer Frederick Reynolds. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London on 1 November 1800. The Irish premiere took place at the Crow Street Theatre in Dublin on 20 January 1801. The original Covent Garden cast included William Thomas Lewis as Sir Harry Torpid, Joseph Shepherd Munden as Paul Primitive, John Fawcett as Lackbrain, John Emery as Crafty, Charles Farley as Jack Clifford, Charles Murray as Marchmont, Frances Chapman as Mrs Belford, Catherine St Ledger as Mrs Decoy and Harriet Siddons as Rosa Marchmont.
Begone Dull Care is an 1808 comedy play by the English writer Frederick Reynolds. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London on 9 February 1808. The original Covent Garden cast included Alexander Pope as Sir Arthur St Albyn, Charles Kemble as Algernon St Albyn, William Thomas Lewis as Modern, John Brunton as Danvers, John Fawcett as Lord Blushdale, John Emery as Solace, William Chapman as Trusty, Samuel Simmons as Geoffrey, Sarah Smith as Selina, Mary Ann Davenport as Deborah. The Irish premiere took place at the Crow Street Theatre in Dublin on 30 March 1808.
The Hebrew is an 1820 historical play by the British author George Soane. It was premièred at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London on 2 March 1820. It is inspired by the 1819 novel Ivanhoe by Walter Scott, with a number of the characters and plot elements removed. The original cast included Edmund Kean as Isaac, Alexander Pope as Prince Aymer, Thomas S. Hamblin as Brian de Bois Guilbert, Charles Holland as Cedric, William Penley as Ivanhoe, William Oxberry as Friar Tuck, Margaret Carew as Miriam and Sarah West as Rebecca. He dedicated the published version of the play to his father the architect Sir John Soane. The rival Theatre Royal, Covent Garden put on its own version of the novel, Ivanhoe by Samuel Beazley, the same year.
Tit for Tat is a 1786 comedy play by the British writer George Colman the Elder. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket in London on 29 August 1786. The original Haymarket cast included John Palmer as Villamour, Cockran Joseph Booth as Old Meanwell, William Davies as Young Meanwell, Robert Palmer as Skipwell, Elizabeth Farren as Florinda and Mary Bulkley as Letty. The Irish premiere took place at the Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin on 26 February 1787 It also subsequently appeared at both the Covent Garden and Theatre Royal, Drury Lane theatres.
Animal Magnetism is a 1788 comedy play by the English writer Elizabeth Inchbald. A three-act farce, it premiered as an afterpiece at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London on 22 May 1788. The original cast included John Quick as Doctor, William Blanchard as La Fleur, William Macready the Elder as Marquis De Lancey, Mary Wells as Constance and Isabella Mattocks as Lisette. The Irish premiere took place at the Crow Street Theatre in Dublin on 8 November 1788.
The Toy is a 1789 comedy play by the Irish writer John O'Keeffe. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London on 3 February 1789. The Irish premiere was at the Crow Street Theatre in Dublin on 13 January 1791.
The Midnight Hour is a 1787 comedy play by the British actress and writer Elizabeth Inchbald. A farce, it premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London on 22 May 1787. The original Covent Garden cast included William Thomas Lewis as The Marquis, John Quick as The General, Thomas Ryder as Sebastian, John Edwin as Nicolas, James Fearon as Mathias, James Thompson as Ambrose, Mary Wells as Julia, Lydia Webb as Cecily and Isabella Mattocks as Flora. The Irish premiere took place at the Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin on 17 December 1787.
The Irishman in London is a 1792 comedy play by the Irish writer and actor William Macready the Elder. A farce, it premiered as an afterpiece at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London on the 21 April 1792. The original cast included George Davies Harley as Captain Seymour, Macready as Colloony, Joseph Shepherd Munden as Frost, John Henry Johnstone as Murtoch Delany, John Fawcett as Edward, Thomas Blanchard as Cymon, Isabella Mattocks as Louisa and Charlotte Chapman as Caroline. The Irish premiere took place at the Crow Street Theatre in Dublin on 19 July 1792.
The Doldrum is a 1796 comedy play by the Irish writer John O'Keeffe. A farce, it premiered as an afterpiece at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London on 23 April 1796. The original cast included Joseph Shepherd Munden as Sir Marmaduke, John Quick as Septimus, James Middleton as Captain Septimus, William Macready as Flam, Thomas Knight as Gyp, Samuel Simmons as Looby, Elizabeth Mansell as Emeline and Isabella Mattocks as Mrs. Auburne. The play's prologue made reference to Vortigern and Rowena, a forged play supposedly by Shakespeare, that had recently been staged at the rival Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. The Irish premiere took place at the Crow Street Theatre in Dublin on 11 July 1796.
