Levy, Andrea. “Back to my Own Country”. British Library Windrush Stories, 2018.
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Connections
| Connections Sort descending | Author name | Excerpt |
|---|---|---|
| Education | Elizabeth Grant | While the family resided in London, theatre-going provided another much-welcomed form of education and entertainment. EG
once attended a production of The Caravan, featuring John Kemble
, in which Carlo, the famous Newfoundland... |
| Employer | Andrea Levy | During her early, drifting years AL
worked designing woven textiles, but realised in about ten minutes that designing was not for her. |
| Family and Intimate relationships | Susanna Haswell Rowson | Susanna Haswell
married William Rowson
. He was a musician (playing the trumpet for the Royal Horse Guards
) and sometimes an actor with Covent Garden Theatre
, as well as dealing in hardware. He... |
| Family and Intimate relationships | Fanny Kemble | FK
's father, the actor Charles Kemble
, inherited the management of Covent Garden Theatre
in London in 1817 (at a time when it was in financial difficulties) when his brother John Philip Kemble
retired. Marshall, Dorothy. Fanny Kemble. Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1977. 7, 12 |
| Family and Intimate relationships | Sophia Lee | SL
's father, John Lee
, was a quarrelsome and impecunious actor. The year of her birth he acted at Richmond and Covent Garden
, with an interim desertion to Drury Lane
, where, however... |
| Family and Intimate relationships | Sarah Gardner | The young actress Sarah Cheney
married William Gardner
, a journeyman actor at Covent Garden
. Blain, Virginia et al., editors. The Feminist Companion to Literature in English: Women Writers from the Middle Ages to the Present. Yale University Press; Batsford, 1990. |
| Friends, Associates | Dinah Mulock Craik | In London, the young Dinah Mulock was able to attend the theatre regularly, thanks to the offer of a private Covent Garden Theatre
box for her family from Charles James Mathews
and his wife... |
| Friends, Associates | Mary Agnes Hamilton | She describes, without naming names, her friendship with a German singer of Wagnerian roles, first met when he sang Tristan at Covent Garden
in 1923. She met him nine years later in New York, found... |
| Leisure and Society | Mary Brunton | As tourists MB
and her husband were just as interested in cultural events, industries, and industrial and military trade as they were in, for instance, old buildings. On her first visit to London she attended... |
| Literary responses | Claire Luckham | Patrick Sandford
, who directed the first production, found exciting challenges in the play's shift in register from the stylised high comedy of the stage of Covent Garden
, to the raw sometimes violent naturalism... |
| Occupation | Fanny Kemble | FK
, not yet twenty, made a triumphant Covent Garden Theatre
debut as Shakespeare
's Juliet, saving her father
's company from bankruptcy. Blain, Virginia et al., editors. The Feminist Companion to Literature in English: Women Writers from the Middle Ages to the Present. Yale University Press; Batsford, 1990. Marshall, Dorothy. Fanny Kemble. Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1977. 42-3 Stephen, Sir Leslie, and Sidney Lee, editors. The Dictionary of National Biography. Smith, Elder, 1908–2024, 22 vols. plus supplements. Allibone, S. Austin, editor. A Critical Dictionary of English Literature and British and American Authors Living and Deceased. Gale Research, 1965. |
| Occupation | Fanny Kemble | She toured England, Scotland, and Ireland with the Covent Garden Theatre
company, met Walter Scott
, and was feted by Lady Morgan
in Dublin. Marshall, Dorothy. Fanny Kemble. Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1977. 54-6 |
| Occupation | Elizabeth Inchbald | EI
made her London stage debut, at Covent Garden
; she played the breeches role of Bellario in Fletcher
's Philaster. Manvell, Roger. Elizabeth Inchbald: England’s Principal Woman Dramatist and Independent Woman of Letters in 18th Century London. University Press of America, 1987. 23 The London Stage 1660-1800. Southern Illinois University Press, 1960–1968, 5 vols. 5: 376 |
| Occupation | Sarah Gardner | During this time, having changed theatres from Drury Lane, where she had made her debut, she appeared during the winter seasons with her husband's employers at Covent Garden
, but in her initial year there... |
| Occupation | Elizabeth Inchbald | EI
performed in both winter and summer seasons, at Covent Garden and the Little Theatre, Haymarket
(under manager George Colman
). During the season 1780-1781, the Covent Garden
theatre paid her two pounds a week... |
Timeline
22 September 1742: Susannah Cibber made a triumphant comeback...
Building item
22 September 1742
Susannah Cibber
made a triumphant comeback at Covent Garden Theatre
after some years off stage following her highly publicised adultery.
Nash, Mary. The Provoked Wife: The Life and Times of Susannah Cibber. Little, Brown, 1977.
183
1744: The popular actress Kitty Clive argued in...
Women writers item
1744
The popular actress Kitty Clive
argued in The Case of Mrs Clive Submitted to the Publick that she had been unfairly treated by the managers of both London theatres (Drury Lane
and Covent Garden
).
Clive, Kitty. The Case of Mrs. Clive Submitted to the Publick. B. Dod, 1744.
22
1 February 1749: The Behn-Southerne play of Oroonoko had the...
Building item
1 February 1749
The Behn
-Southerne
play of Oroonoko had the single most important performance . . . in its long history—
Basker, James G. “Intimations of Abolitionism in 1759: Johnson, Hawkesworth, and OroonokoThe Age of Johnson, edited by Paul J. Korshin and Jack Lynch, Vol.
12
, AMS Press, 2001, pp. 47-66. 51
Basker, James G. “Intimations of Abolitionism in 1759: Johnson, Hawkesworth, and OroonokoThe Age of Johnson, edited by Paul J. Korshin and Jack Lynch, Vol.
12
, AMS Press, 2001, pp. 47-66. 51-3 and n15, 20
10 July 1764: A new play, The True-born Scotsman, a caricature...
Writing climate item
10 July 1764
A new play, The True-born Scotsman, a caricature of Scottishness by the Irishman Charles Macklin
, opened at Smock Alley Theatre
(or the Theatre Royal) in Dublin.
Colley, Linda. Britons: Forging the Nation, 1707-1837. Yale University Press, 1992.
122
Highfill, Philip H. et al. A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800. Southern Illinois University Press, 1973–1993.
10: 17
The London Stage 1660-1800. Southern Illinois University Press, 1960–1968, 5 vols.
5: 430
29 January 1768: The earlier of Oliver Goldsmith's two comedies,...
Writing climate item
29 January 1768
The earlier of Oliver Goldsmith
's two comedies, The Good Natur'd Man, opened at Covent Garden Theatre
, where it ran long enough for three author's benefit nights. It was printed the same year.
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.
November 1802: Thomas Holcroft's "A Tale of Mystery", produced...
Building item
November 1802
Thomas Holcroft
's "A Tale of Mystery", produced at Covent Garden
, formally introduced melodrama to the English stage.
Emeljanow, Victor. Victorian Popular Dramatists. Twayne, 1987.
2-3
20 September 1808: The Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, was completely...
Building item
20 September 1808
The Theatre Royal, Covent Garden
, was completely destroyed by fire.
Mander, Raymond, and Joe Mitchenson. The Theatres of London. Rupert Hart-Davis, 1963.
54
Wyndham, Henry Saxe. The Annals of Covent Garden Theatre From 1732 to 1897. Chatto and Windus, 1906, 2 vols.
324-6
18 September 1809: The new Covent Garden Theatre was opened,...
Building item
18 September 1809
The new Covent Garden Theatre
was opened, only to become the scene of massive riots.
Mander, Raymond, and Joe Mitchenson. The Theatres of London. Rupert Hart-Davis, 1963.
52, 55
Dobbs, Brian. Drury Lane: Three Centuries of the Theatre Royal, 1663-1971. Cassell, 1972.
123
Wyndham, Henry Saxe. The Annals of Covent Garden Theatre From 1732 to 1897. Chatto and Windus, 1906, 2 vols.
330-48
Historians disagree on the exact figures for the cost of building and the number seated. Henry Saxe Wyndham
15 December 1809: The Old Price Riots at the new Covent Garden...
Building item
15 December 1809
The Old Price Riots at the new Covent Garden Theatre
, which had raged since 18 September, ended with a formal apology from manager Charles Kemble
to the audience.
Dobbs, Brian. Drury Lane: Three Centuries of the Theatre Royal, 1663-1971. Cassell, 1972.
123
Wyndham, Henry Saxe. The Annals of Covent Garden Theatre From 1732 to 1897. Chatto and Windus, 1906, 2 vols.
330-48
7 June 1810: William Charles Macready (son of an actress...
Building item
7 June 1810
William Charles Macready
(son of an actress and an actor-manager) began his successful acting career as Romeo in a performance in Birmingham; he became a specialist in Shakespeare
an roles.
“William Charles Macready (1793-1873)”. Theatre Database.
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.
29 June 1812: Sarah Siddons, the famous actress, now aged...
Building item
29 June 1812
Sarah Siddons
, the famous actress, now aged fifty-six, played her last night (as Lady Macbeth) at the Covent Garden Theatre
.
Wyndham, Henry Saxe. The Annals of Covent Garden Theatre From 1732 to 1897. Chatto and Windus, 1906, 2 vols.
355-8, 373
Booth, Michael R. et al. Three Tragic Actresses: Siddons, Rachel, Ristori. Cambridge University Press, 1996.
47
Macqueen-Pope, Walter James. Ladies First: The Story of Woman’s Conquest of the British Stage. W. H. Allen, 1952.
328
1823: Stage costuming underwent a radical change...
Building item
1823
Stage costuming underwent a radical change after Planché
was commissioned by Charles Kemble
to design new dresses for the production of King John at the Covent Garden Theatre
.
Mander, Raymond, and Joe Mitchenson. The Theatres of London. Rupert Hart-Davis, 1963.
55
6 December 1830: Lucia Vestris became the first long-term...
Building item
6 December 1830
Lucia Vestris
became the first long-term female theatre manager of the century, when she reopened the Olympic Theatre
.
Appleton, William Worthen. Madame Vestris and the London Stage. Columbia University Press, 1974.
51
Booth, Michael R. et al. Three Tragic Actresses: Siddons, Rachel, Ristori. Cambridge University Press, 1996.
44-5
May 1833: Drury Lane Theatre and Covent Garden Theatre...
Building item
May 1833
Drury Lane Theatre
and Covent Garden Theatre
came under the same management, with bizarre results for the acting companies.
Wyndham, Henry Saxe. The Annals of Covent Garden Theatre From 1732 to 1897. Chatto and Windus, 1906, 2 vols.
2: 81
Booth, Michael R. Theatre in the Victorian Age. Cambridge University Press, 1991.
99
Dobbs, Brian. Drury Lane: Three Centuries of the Theatre Royal, 1663-1971. Cassell, 1972.
145
1835: Helen Faucit made her first important acting...
Building item
1835
Helen Faucit
made her first important acting appearance at the Covent Garden
Theatre, aged eighteen.
Macqueen-Pope, Walter James. Ladies First: The Story of Woman’s Conquest of the British Stage. W. H. Allen, 1952.
331-4
Texts
No bibliographical results available.