Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

Connections

Connections Author name Excerpt
Performance of text Elizabeth Margravine of Anspach
Elizabeth (Berkeley), Lady Craven (later Margravine of Anspach), defied social convention by having her comedyThe Miniature Picture (Larpent MS 525) acted at Drury Lane , with a prologue by Richard Brinsley Sheridan , and...
Performance of text Frances Burney
FB 's tragedy Edwy and Elgiva, the only one of her plays to reach the stage in her lifetime, had its single performance at Drury Lane , starring Sarah Siddons .
The London Stage 1660-1800. Southern Illinois University Press, 1960–1968, 5 vols.
Performance of text Mary Russell Mitford
MRM 's tragedy Rienzi opened at Drury Lane Theatre ; it ran for thirty-four nights, making her reputation as a dramatist.
Sullivan dates the opening 11 October, but MRM herself, as edited by L'Estrange, suggests...
Performance of text Anne Plumptre
AP was paid £25 for the use by Sheridan and the Drury Lane Theatre of her translation of Kotzebue 's Die Spanier in Peru.
The London Stage 1660-1800. Southern Illinois University Press, 1960–1968, 5 vols.
5: 2178
Performance of text Eliza Haywood
EH 's comedy A Wife to be Lett opened at Drury Lane. Haywood took the leading comic role of Mrs Graspall (owing to someone else's illness), and also spoke an epilogue.
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.
Spedding, Patrick. A Bibliography of Eliza Haywood. Pickering and Chatto, 2003.
128
Performance of text Joanna Baillie
De Monfort, JB 's tragedy about hatred, one of her first Plays on the Passions, had its opening at Drury Lane Theatre , London.
Library catalogues also list this play as De Montfort.
Carhart, Margaret S. The Life and Work of Joanna Baillie. Reprint of 1923, Archon Books, 1970.
110
Performance of text Catharine Trotter
CT 's only comedy, the didactic Love at a Loss; or, Most Votes Carry It, probably opened on this day at Drury Lane .
Kelley, Anne. Catharine Trotter: An Early Modern Writer in the Vanguard of Feminism. Ashgate, 2002.
256
The London Stage 1660-1800. Southern Illinois University Press, 1960–1968, 5 vols.
2: 5
Performance of text Dorothea Celesia
DC 's Almide, an adaptation of Tancrede by Voltaire , opened at Drury Lane in London. It proved a success, and ran for ten nights.
The London Stage 1660-1800. Southern Illinois University Press, 1960–1968, 5 vols.
Performance of text Mary Pix
The play had opened at Drury Lane about a month previously.
Greer, Germaine et al., editors. Kissing the Rod. Virago, 1988.
413
The London Stage 1660-1800. Southern Illinois University Press, 1960–1968, 5 vols.
1: 464
It was printed with MP 's name, a dedication, and brief preface apologising for the misnumbering of her emperor or sultan.
Performance of text Hannah Cowley
HC 's first play, the comedy The Runaway, opened at Drury Lane , as the only new mainpiece of David Garrick 's final season; it had the successful run of seventeen nights.
The London Stage 1660-1800. Southern Illinois University Press, 1960–1968, 5 vols.
4: 1952
Link, Frederick M., and Hannah Cowley. “Introduction”. The Plays of Hannah Cowley, Vol.
1
, Garland, 1979, p. v - xlxx.
vii, x
Performance of text Elizabeth Inchbald
The Wedding Day, a comedy by EI , opened at Drury Lane .
The London Stage 1660-1800. Southern Illinois University Press, 1960–1968, 5 vols.
5: 1700
Performance of text Joanna Baillie
Henriquez, by JB , was first staged at Drury Lane , London.
Carhart, Margaret S. The Life and Work of Joanna Baillie. Reprint of 1923, Archon Books, 1970.
164
Performance of text Catharine Trotter
CT 's fourth play and third verse tragedy, The Unhappy Penitent, probably opened on this day at Drury Lane . It bore her name as Mrs. Trotter.
Kelley, Anne. Catharine Trotter: An Early Modern Writer in the Vanguard of Feminism. Ashgate, 2002.
257
The London Stage 1660-1800. Southern Illinois University Press, 1960–1968, 5 vols.
2: 7
Performance of text Susanna Centlivre
SC 's first play, The Perjur'd Husband; or, The Adventures of Venice, was performed at Drury Lane .
Its precise date seems to be unknown.
The London Stage 1660-1800. Southern Illinois University Press, 1960–1968, 5 vols.
2: xlv, 4
Bowyer, John Wilson. The Celebrated Mrs Centlivre. Duke University Press, 1952.
33
Performance of text Mary Pix
It had been given at Drury Lane , probably during August, with songs set by Daniel Purcell , Henry 's brother. Next year MP , like Catharine Trotter , transferred her allegiance to the new...

Timeline

6 September 1817: Drury Lane Theatre installed gas lighting...

National or international item

6 September 1817

Drury Lane Theatre installed gas lighting in the auditorium and on stage.
Booth, Michael R. et al. Three Tragic Actresses: Siddons, Rachel, Ristori. Cambridge University Press, 1996.
83

By September 1819: Facing debts of £90,000, Drury Lane Theatre...

Building item

By September 1819

Facing debts of £90,000, Drury Lane Theatre was forced to close.
Roose-Evans, James. London Theatre from the Globe to the National. Phaidon, 1977.
76, 78
Dobbs, Brian. Drury Lane: Three Centuries of the Theatre Royal, 1663-1971. Cassell, 1972.
141-3

19 February 1820: Madame Vestris starred in a comic opera at...

Building item

19 February 1820

Madame Vestris starred in a comic opera at Drury Lane Theatre to mixed reviews; she did not achieve fame until she started playing male roles.
Appleton, William Worthen. Madame Vestris and the London Stage. Columbia University Press, 1974.
16-19, 29, 33

1822: Drury Lane Theatre was closed for a complete...

Building item

1822

Drury Lane Theatre was closed for a complete internal overhaul.
Roose-Evans, James. London Theatre from the Globe to the National. Phaidon, 1977.
79
Mander, Raymond, and Joe Mitchenson. The Theatres of London. Rupert Hart-Davis, 1963.
67, 282
Dobbs, Brian. Drury Lane: Three Centuries of the Theatre Royal, 1663-1971. Cassell, 1972.
143

1825: Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin published his...

Writing climate item

1825

Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin published his historical drama Boris Godunov.
Weinstock, Herbert, and Wallace Brockway. The World of Opera: The Story of its Origins and the Lore of its Performance. Pantheon Books, 1962.
283, 446
Vickery, Walter N. Alexander Pushkin. Revised ed., Twayne, 1992.
52
Drabble, Margaret, editor. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 5th ed., Oxford University Press, 1985.

27 June 1828: Joseph Grimaldi, famous clown of English...

Building item

27 June 1828

Joseph Grimaldi , famous clown of English pantomime, gave a farewell performance at Drury Lane , aged forty-eight.
Roose-Evans, James. London Theatre from the Globe to the National. Phaidon, 1977.
98
Roose-Evans, James. London Theatre from the Globe to the National. Phaidon, 1977.
98
Dobbs, Brian. Drury Lane: Three Centuries of the Theatre Royal, 1663-1971. Cassell, 1972.
129

8 June 1829: Douglas William Jerrold's play Black-Ey'd...

Writing climate item

8 June 1829

Douglas William Jerrold 's play Black-Ey'd Susan premiered at the Surrey Theatre in London.
Stephen, Sir Leslie, and Sidney Lee, editors. The Dictionary of National Biography. Smith, Elder, 1908–2024, 22 vols. plus supplements.
Drabble, Margaret, editor. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 5th ed., Oxford University Press, 1985.
Sutherland, John, b. 1938. The Stanford Companion to Victorian Fiction. Stanford University Press, 1989.
333
Cox, Michael, editor. The Oxford Chronology of English Literature. Oxford University Press, 2002, 2 vols.

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

1843: Parliament deregulated the London stage by...

Building item

1843

Parliament deregulated the London stage by removing the restriction which had limited the number of patent or fully licensed theatres in the capital to no more than two, Covent Garden and Drury Lane .
Hume, Robert D. “Jeremy Collier and the Future of the London Theatre in 1698”. British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (BSECS) Conference, Oxford, 3 Jan. 1998.

12 June 1843: Queen Victoria and Prince Albert became part...

Building item

12 June 1843

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert became part of the theatre-going public when they visited the Drury Lane Theatre in state.
Mander, Raymond, and Joe Mitchenson. The Theatres of London. Rupert Hart-Davis, 1963.
68
Dobbs, Brian. Drury Lane: Three Centuries of the Theatre Royal, 1663-1971. Cassell, 1972.
124

22 August 1843: The Theatres Regulation Act made it legal...

Writing climate item

22 August 1843

The Theatres Regulation Act made it legal for any theatre to become licensed for drama (thus expanding its repertoire) and required all new commercial plays to be approved by the Lord Chamberlain seven days before...

26 February 1851: William Macready made his famous farewell...

Building item

26 February 1851

William Macready made his famous farewell performance at the Drury Lane Theatre wearing the black suit of a gentleman in place of his costume as Macbeth.
Booth, Michael R. Theatre in the Victorian Age. Cambridge University Press, 1991.
22, 99

June 1851: Ingomar the Barbarian; or, the Son of the...

Women writers item

June 1851

Ingomar the Barbarian; or, the Son of the Wilderness, adapted from German by Maria Lovell , premiered at Drury Lane .
Mullin, Donald C. Victorian Plays: A Record of Significant Productions on the London Stage, 1837-1901. Greenwood Press, 1987.
166
Powell, Kerry. Women and Victorian Theatre. Cambridge University Press, 1997.
132

2 October 1862: Dion Boucicault wrote to The Times pointing...

Writing climate item

2 October 1862

Dion Boucicault wrote to The Times pointing out the widely varying rents for West End theatres.
Booth, Michael R. Theatre in the Victorian Age. Cambridge University Press, 1991.
32, 37

1868: The Drury Lane Theatre offered the sensational...

Writing climate item

1868

The Drury Lane Theatre offered the sensational play The Great City, which featured an actual hansom cab and horse as part of its repertoire of special effects.
Dobbs, Brian. Drury Lane: Three Centuries of the Theatre Royal, 1663-1971. Cassell, 1972.
125

Texts

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