Group 1: Liz Martin Matthew Kauffmann Chelsea McMahon Laura Bradford Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s

BRITISHTIMES BRITISH TIMES Restoration Period: 1660, English monarchy restored under King Charles II after English Civil War King Charles II and most high society of the time represented a complete contrast to the restrictive rule of Cromwell. Theatres reopened after having been closed during the Puritan times of Oliver Cromwell Puritanism lost its momentum Public stage performances had been banned for 18 years by the Puritan regime Sexual explicitness, a quality encouraged by King Charles II, personally and his fellow aristocrats Audiences were socially diverse First time professional actresses enter the scene Celebrity actors Audiences wanted multi-plot action and fast pace comedies Restoration Comedy: King Charles II

GEORGIAN THEATRE Plots are busy, with many mini stories Characters have a fundamental good humor beneath their eccentricity Proper, gentile language Absence of sexual suggestion “ The Georgian public expected in their plays a certain piquancy which should remind them of their social or domestic life” “Drawing room diplomacy” “As society set a value on delicate attentions, sympathetic and discerning compliments, subtle turns of phrase and gracefulness of manner, these arts were cultivated as an accomplishment in order to maintain social supremacy”

RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN Born Oct 30, 1751 in Dublin to Thomas and Mary Sheridan Dad was in theatre and mom was a writer In 1772, elopes with famous singer Elizabeth Linley Involved in a duel over Elizabeth with Captain Thomas Matthews, which he wins Second duel, in which he is badly injured On January 17, 1775 The Rivals performed at Covent Garden, he is only 23 First son, Thomas, born in November In 1776, Becomes manager of Drury Lane

RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN In 1780, Elected to the House of Commons as MP for Stafford in September Elizabeth dies in June Drury Lane reopens after three years of reconstruction work that increases the capacity of the theatre to Marries Hester Jane Ogle (known as 'Hecca'), daughter of the Dean of Winchester, in April Second son, Charles Brinsley, born in January

RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN 1809 Drury Lane burnt to the ground by a fire in February 1812 After thirty-two years in parliament, RBS loses his seat after defeat in the Stafford election Now without the parliamentary immunity, imprisoned for debt 1816 Dies on 7th July, aged sixty-five. Buried in Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey.

Drury Lane 1776 buys ought Garrick’s shares, complete takeover 2 years later 1791 demolished and reconstructed, reopening 12 march 1794 New theatre massive, stage was 83 ft wide by 92 ft deep, seated 3611, but seen as too big by many contemporaries, complaints you couldn’t hear actors, tallest building in London at the time save churches Took on huge debt to reconstruct, original estimate 80,000 pounds was eventually doubled, Sheridan paid for it all himself Lent to spectacular shows including ability to have a mini lake big enough for a boat to row. So expensive were the productions that he wasn’t making a lot of money 1809 burns down, ruins Sheridan

Quotes “To sum up the character of Mr. Sheridan, he was a man of wit, a lively and elegant dramatist, a winning and powerful orator, a sound politician, a lover of real freedom, a careless liver; an Irishman, in short, with much of the worst, and more of the best, of his naturally light-hearted but unfortunate countrymen. His worst can affect but few; his best will redound to the good of his country, and be the delight of thousands to come.” -Hunt Obit

“Sheridan saw himself as a parliamentarian first, a playwright second, but posterity has never agreed: when he was buried in Westminster Abbey it was not upon the spot he would have chosen, but in the Poet’s Corner” Quotes “A political radical whose career personified the rapidly developing revolutionary ethos of his time, the development of liberal thought and the birth of modern concepts of universal human rights and international law” “An Irish nationalist whose political consciousness was formed by the ideals of the American Revolution”

Quotes “Surpassed all the eloquence of ancient and modern times;” and that “it possessed every thing that genius or art could furnish to agitate and controul the known mind.” - Pitt On Sheridan’s impeachment speech: