Colley Cibber :
Born November 6th, 1671 on Southampton Street near present day Bloomsbury, a “suburb” of London, this man, noted as restless, impulsive, and gifted, he began acting at the Theatre Royal on Drury Lane around the age of 18. He started out as a spear carrier and with a couple years of work inched his way to more prominent roles within the theater. His first play, Love’s Last Shift, premiered at the Theatre Royal in January 1969. He also acted in his own written work along with his wife and mentors of years past.
Later on in his life, Cibber became a popular comedian, he continued to wrote and adapt plays, and became a successful businessman. He also gained the title of Poet Laureate, a position appointed by government where the bearer is expected to write poetry for government events. He was a bit of a gambler and was often suspected by his peers and enemies of being involved in shady business deals. He died in London around December of 1757.
Summary:
Loves Last Shift begins with Loveless, who has just returned to Town after 10 years, talking to Young Worthy about his travels. Loveless originally left because he got bored of his wife, Amanda, whom he now believes dead. In the meantime, Hillaria and Narcissa discuss their wedding plans with Amanda. They both plan to marry one of the Worthy brothers, but not the one Sir William, Narcissa’s father and Hillaria’s uncle, intends for them. Upon hearing of her husbands return, Amanda plots to seduce him as a mistress in order to prove to him that he still loves her. Older and Younger Worthy also plan their weddings to the women of Sir William’s household, being obstructed by Sir Novelty Fashion, a flirtatious man of the Town who has an angry mistress of his own. Everything works out however, with all the young lovers marrying their love. Sir William is unhappy at first, since his daughter marries Young Worthy, who does not inherit his father’s estate, but he soon is talked down. He did not agree for them to marry, but was tricked into it with the help of the lawyer. Loveless realizes he does indeed love his wife, and agrees to go back to her. Sir Novelty ends up alone, and Young Worthy’s servant, who compromised a maid in Amanda’s household, marries the maid. Everything works out with much comedy in the meantime.
Dramatis persona
Loveless: Married but then grew tired of his wife, Amanda, and left to wander about and squander his money for 10 years, leaving him poor, and starving, causing him to have returned home to England at the opening of the play.
Snap: Loveless’ servant, tells it like it is, having put up with Loveless’ antics for a long time, and tends to behave much like his master.
Young Worthy: An old friend of Loveless’, who Snap used to work for, wooer of Narcissa, but considered unworthy to wed her by Sir William.
Elder Worthy: brother to Young Worthy, wooer of Hillaria, inheritor of his father’s estate, the man Sir William wants to marry Narcissa.
Hillaria: Niece of Sir William, wooed by Elder Worthy, friend of Amanda and cousin of Narcissa, has a sharp tongue that she uses on Elder Worthy to hide her feelings.
Narcissa: Daughter of Sir William, wooed by Young Worthy and Sir Novelty, inheritor of her father’s estate, friend of Amanda and cousin of Hillaria.
Amanda: Wife of Loveless, still mourning his abandonment, recent inheritor of her uncle’s estate, has a plan to woo her husband back to her arms.
Sir Novelty Fashion: A flirtatious man in Town who dresses over the top in the latest fashions and flirts shamelessly with Narcissa despite having a long-term mistress.
Sir William Wisewoud: the knight Loveless mortgaged his estate to, father of Narcissa and uncle of Hillaria. He has offered the future husband of Narcissa quite a dowery, and intends for her to marry Elder Worthy.
Mrs. Flariet: A long-time mistress of Sir Novelty, jealous of his affections for Narcissa.
Sly: Servant to Young Worthy who assists in Amanda’s plan to woo back Loveless.
A lawyer, assorted footmen, servants, porters, maids, etc. to the various aforementioned characters
English Restoration
There was a Civil War in England in the year 1642. As a result, King Charles I was decapitated and Charles II was exiled to France. Oliver Cromwell successfully toppled the English monarchy, and he ruled England for the next 11 years. England was then referred to as the Commonwealth, and Oliver wanted to hand the kingdom over to his son Richard Cromwell. When Richard Cromwell proved that he could not bring the various factions in England together peacefully, he was forced to abdicate his position, and Charles II was asked to come back and rule England in 1660. Charles II reinstated the monarchy.
When Oliver Cromwell ruled, the nation was under heavy Puritan rule. Theater was outlawed during this time. However, Charles II became accustomed to French theater while he was in France. Thus, he reinstated theater when he regained the throne. English Restoration started around 1660 and ended around 1694.
During this period, women started acting. Previously, little boys played the roles of boys because acting was so sinful that it defiled women. However, Charles II enjoyed watching French actresses, and women were allowed to act in England. Each actor or actress mastered acting as only one stock character. Stock characters were stereotypes of the day like rich woman, rake (player), and fop (flamboyant man). Rehearsals for each play lasted for two weeks.
The theater itself had a proscenium arch. Sometimes there were backdrops used a wing and shutter system in order to change scenery. The scenery was always painted in perspective. Costumes usually were contemporary clothing. There was no realistic acting. Overall, English Restoration Theater was very similar to Commedia del Arte in style and acting.
Love’s Last Shift premiered in January 1696 at Christopher Rich’s Drury Lane. It was a huge success for the company and the actors involved. Fifteen productions of the play are known from 1700-1710. Since accounting and recording of this time period is unreliable and incomplete, many estimations of production numbers are speculative. For Drury Lane, Love’s Last Shift became a stock comedy piece and was performed once per season for decades. In the period of 1715-1720, rival companies also began to pick up the comedy, producing it a total of 23 times. From 1721-1730, forty six appearances were seen from Drury Lane and Lincoln’s Inn Fields. From 1731-1740 London’s theatres acted Love’s Last Shift sixty nine nights. In 1736, Cibber’s son and daughter starred in a Drury Lane production of the comedy. 227 performances of the play are known, but because record keeping was unreliable, the total is probably higher.
“English Restoration: Theatre Movements.” Web. “English Restoration: Theatre Movements.” 1 May 2011.
ReplyDeleteThere was a Civil war in which Oliver Cromwell took control of England. He renamed England the Commonwealth. English Restoration Theater began once Charles II came back to England. Politically, English Restoration ended with the Glorious Revolution. William and Mary, the daughter of James, were asked to rule England. English Restoration Theater did not end until Mary died in 1694.
During the Commonwealth, Oliver Cromwell outlawed theater. Therefore, actors performed drolls, short comical sketches from well-known Elizabethan plays. When Charles II returned, theater was reinstated. During this time, theater advanced in several ways, women were allowed to act, staged design improved, plays contained suggestive material, and the audiences were mostly upper-class. Charles II set up two companies, the Duke’s Company and the King’s Company. William Davenant was put in charge of the Duke’s Company, and Thomas Killigrew was put in charge of the King’s Company. Actors were hired and paid with a salary. Actors learned to act as a specific stock character. Plays were rehearsed for only two weeks prior to performance.
Inigo Jones came up many innovations for theater during the Restoration period. He invented the wing and shutter system that was used to change scenery. Individual panels could be moved individually, and in order to change all the panels at once, a stage hand usually blew a whistle to signal a scene change. Also, the curtain never closed once open at the beginning of a show. Companies did not worry about historically accurate costumes; actors usually wore contemporary clothing with slight variations occalionally.
Simkin, John. “Charles II.” Spartacus Educational. Web. 1 May 2011. .
Charles II is the son of Charles I, and he was born in 1630. He served in the Civil War in 1642. However, once the Royalists lost the Civil War, Charles II was forced into exile. He spent most of his time in France, but he also spent time in Italy and Scotland, where he was proclaimed king of Scotland for a time. After the Civil War, Oliver ruled England for 11 years. He died September 3, 1658, and his son, Richard Cromwell, ruled after his father died. However, his rule was short and unsuccessful. Therefore, the Parliament was reinstated, and Charles II was asked to come back. He then set up a military unit to exact revenge for his father’s death, and eleven of the members of the House of Commons who signed Charles I’s death warrant were hanged, drawn and quartered. Charles II divided Parliament into the House of Commons and the House of Lords. In 1665, England went to war to Holland, and they were unsuccessful. In the country’s weakened state, Charles II feared an attack from France, and he signed a treaty with France. France would not attack if Charles II would become Catholic. Charles II agreed to the treaty even though the majority of England was Protestant. He kept the fact that he was Catholic secret. In 1678, there were allegations of a Catholic plot against Charles II’s life. Therefore, Catholics were persecuted widely until the claims were disproven. In 1685, Charles II died. Before his death, he announced both he and his brother, James, were Roman Catholic, and named James his rightful successor.
Cibber, Colley, Timothy J. Viator, and William J. Burling. The Plays of Colley Cibber. Madison [N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson UP, 2001. Print.
ReplyDeleteThe Plays of Colley Cibber is an edited version of the classic comedy, along with extended analysis, production history, and details about Colley Cibber's life and successes as both an actor and playwright. This source also details how this comedy revolutionized theatre of its time and became a huge success that would carry through the end of the 18th century. Cibber's play also inspired The Relapse, among other plays that are now performed. However, playwrights often cite Cibber as an inspiration through this piece. This source also tackles why that may be.
ReviewsGate.com :: The Theatre Reviews Site That Covers the UK. Web. 03 May 2011. .
This article details The White Bear Club's revival of Cibber's play. It also explains the productions' strengths and weaknesses and compliments the production team on its successes. The article also provides details about the personnel and the running times of the show.
Koon, Helene. "Colley Cibber, a biography". University of Kentucky. Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth. 1986. Print
ReplyDeleteColley Cibber, a biography, is a culmination or different scholarly works examining Cibber's life meshed into one work in order to get a more clear and concise view of his life.
(This is late due to the surprise photocall for Our Lady last night as well as my whole life apparently being a diabetic seizure. Sorry)