Tunbridge Wells (play)

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Tunbridge Wells
Dorset Gardens riverfront.jpg
The play premiered at the Dorset Gardens Theatre
Written by Thomas Rawlins
Date premieredMarch 1678
Place premiered Dorset Garden Theatre, London
Original languageEnglish
Genre Restoration comedy
Setting Tunbridge Wells, present day

Tunbridge Wells; Or, A Day's Courtship is a 1678 comedy play generally attributed to the English writer Thomas Rawlins. It was originally staged at the Dorset Garden Theatre in London by the Duke's Company. The names of the original actors are not known. [1] It did not enjoy the same success as Rawlins' earlier work Tom Essence .

It takes place in the spa town Tunbridge Wells. There a man-about-town Owmuch sets up a couple of London prostitutes posing as a rich widow and her maid, in the hope of collecting the courtship gifts offer by gentleman suitors. However, he sees a larger scam in tricking a foppish and idiotic baronet Sir Lofty Vainman into marrying her. [2]

A later work Tunbridge Walks staged in the 1700s was also set in the town. [3]

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References

  1. Van Lennep p.268
  2. Canfield p.70
  3. Hembry p.82

Bibliography