| Town and Country | |
|---|---|
 Illustration from 1860 printing, Cumberland's British Theatre series | |
| Written by | Thomas Morton |
| Date premiered | 10 March 1807 |
| Place premiered | Royal Opera House, London |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | Comedy |
Town and Country, or Which is Best? is an 1807 play by English playwright Thomas Morton. It was regularly performed in England and America during the 19th century.
The play debuted at Covent Garden in London on 10 March 1807. Morton obtained a payment of £1,000 from theatre manager Thomas Harris for the script regardless of whether the play was a success, which was a notable sum for its time. John Philip Kemble played the role of Reuben Glenroy and Charles Kemble filled the role of Plastic. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] Edmund Kean later played the lead role of Reuben Glenroy to great success. [7]
The play was first performed in the United States in New York City on 2 November 1807 at the Park Theatre, with Thomas A. Cooper as Reuben Glenroy and Ellen Darley as Rosalie Somers. [8] [9]
After Morton's death in 1838, The Gentleman's Magazine commented "Mr. Harris was well regarded for his liberality" in paying Morton £1,000 for the play, because "it is one of the stock pieces of every theatre in the kingdom." [10] However, it has also been said that Town and Country was "among the least successful productions" of Morton, but that John Kemble's acting in the role of Reuben Glenroy "is supposed to have saved the piece." [11] T. Allston Brown's 1902 history of the New York stage shows the play being performed in the 1850s and 1860s, [12] [13] though it was revived at Wallack's Theatre as late as 1888. [14] [15] [16]
A much later commentator referred to the "long popular" play as "a rather inane play that lived, I believe, because of the fondness of actors of the Kemble school for the character of Reuben Glenroy." [17] In addition to John Kemble and Edmund Kean, well-known actors who played Reuben Glenroy include Thomas Apthorpe Cooper (New York debut in 1807), Charles Kean (son of Edmund), Junius Brutus Booth, Thomas S. Hamblin, James William Wallack, Lester Wallack, James Edward Murdoch, and George Vandenhoff. [14]
James William Wallack, commonly referred to as J. W. Wallack, was an Anglo-American actor and manager, born in London, and brother of Henry John Wallack.
Charles Kemble was a Welsh-born English actor of a prominent theatre family.
George Stephen Kemble was a successful English theatre manager, actor, and writer, and a member of the famous Kemble family. He was described as "the best Sir John Falstaff which the British stage ever saw" though he also played title roles in Hamlet and King Lear among others. He published plays, poetry and non-fiction.
John Philip Kemble was a British actor. He was born into a theatrical family as the eldest son of Roger Kemble, actor-manager of a touring troupe. His elder sister Sarah Siddons achieved fame with him on the stage of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. His other siblings, Charles Kemble, Stephen Kemble, Ann Hatton, and Elizabeth Whitlock, also enjoyed success on the stage.
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