The King's Company was one of two enterprises granted the rights to mount theatrical productions in London at the start of the English Restoration. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. The English Restoration, or simply The Restoration began in 1660 when the English monarchy, Scottish monarchy and Irish monarchy were restored It existed from 1660 to 1682.
Contents |
History
On August 21, 1660, King Charles II granted Thomas Killigrew and Sir William Davenant each official permission in the form of a temporary "privilege" to form acting companies. Charles II (Charles Stuart 29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685 was the King of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Thomas Killigrew (7 February 1612 &ndash 19 March 1683 was an English Dramatist and theatre manager Sir William Davenant (baptised 3 March, 1606 &ndash April 7, 1668) also spelled D'Avenant, was an English Poet Killigrew's King's Company fell under the sponsorship of Charles himself; Davenant's Duke's Company under that of Charles's brother, then the Duke of York, later James II of England. The Duke's Company was one of the two theatre companies (the other being the King's Company) that were chartered by King Charles II at the start of the English For the nursery rhyme see The Grand Old Duke of York. The title Duke of York is a title of Nobility in the British Peerage James II of England and Ireland James VII of Scotland (14 October 1633 &ndash 16 September 1701 was King of England, King of Scots, Later that same year James The temporary privileges would be followed later by letters patent, issued on April 25, 1662 in Killigrew's case, cementing a hereditary monopoly on theatre for the patent-holders. Letters patent are a type of Legal instrument in the form of an Open letter issued by a Monarch or Government, granting an office right [1]
The first permanent venue for the King's Company was Gibbon's Tennis Court; in 1663, responding to competition from the Duke's Company's more advanced theatre in Lisle's Tennis Court, Killigrew built and opened the King's Playhouse, today's Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Gibbon's Tennis Court was a building off Vere Street and Clare Market, near Lincoln's Inn Fields in London, England. Lisle's Tennis Court was a building off Portugal Street in Lincoln's Inn Fields in London. The Theatre Royal Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. This burned down in 1672 and was rebuilt and reopened in 1674. Killigrew sold most of his interests in the company by the early 1670s and management was in his son Charles' hands after 1671. In 1682, the King's Company and the Duke's Company merged to become the so-called United Company, under the leadership of the Duke's Company's people. The United Company was a theatre company formed in 1682 from the merger of the King's Company and the Duke's Company.
Company members
Among its senior actors, the early King's Company counted many of the more experienced actors still working at the time: Michael Mohun, Charles Hart, John Lacy, Edward Kynaston, Walter Clun, and Thomas Betterton were part of the initial group. Michael Mohun (1616?—buried 11 October 1684 was a leading British actor both before and after the 1642—60 closing of the theatres Charles Hart may refer to Charles Hart (17th-century actor (1625–1683 British actor Charles Hart (lyricist (born 1962 British John Lacy (c 1615? &ndash September 17, 1681) was an English comic actor and playwright during the Restoration era Edward Kynaston (c1640 - January 1712 was an English Actor, one of the last Restoration " Boy players " young male actors who played Thomas Patrick Betterton (ca 1635 &ndash 28 April 1710) English Actor, son of an under-cook to King Charles I, was born in Betterton would be "seduced" away to the Duke's Company by November 5 of the same year, not long before the Lord Chamberlain issued orders forbidding such transfers from one company to the other. The Lord Chamberlain or Lord Chamberlain of the Household is one of the chief officers of the Royal Household in the United Kingdom, and is to be distinguished Such orders would be encoded into the 1662 letters patent as well. [2]
On January 28, 1661, fifteen members of the new King's Company — Thomas Killigrew, Sir Robert Howard, and thirteen actors — signed a lease with the Earl of Bedford[3] for the sight of a new theatre, an agreement that also defined the sharers in the company. Sir Robert Howard (January 1626 – 3 September 1698) was an English playwright and politician born to Thomas Howard 1st Earl of Berkshire and his wife William Russell 1st Duke of Bedford KG PC (August 1616 &ndash September 7 1700) was a British peer and soldier during the English The thirteen actor/sharers were Hart, Mohun, Lacy, Kinaston, Clun, Theophilus Bird, Nicholas Burt, Robert Shatterell, William Cartwright, William Wintersall, Richard Baxter, Nicholas Blagden, and Thomas Loveday. Theophilus Bird, or Bourne, (1608 &ndash 1663 was a seventeenth-century English actor [4]
Killigrew's motivations for entering into his theatrical enterprise were more monetary than artistic. [5] During most of the 1660s, he seems not to have been a manager in the day-to-day sense; this task was delegated to the senior actors, including Hart, Lacy, and Mohun. [6] Killigrew did not exert — and probably could not have exerted — strong control over the artistic direction of the company.
See also
Notes
- ^ Milhous, p. George Jolly or Joliffe (in Germany Joris Joliphus or Jollifous) ( fl John Rhodes ( fl 1624 &ndash 1665 was a theatrical figure of the early and middle seventeenth century 4.
- ^ Milhous, p. 8.
- ^ William Russell, 5th Earl, later 1st Duke of Bedford.
- ^ Fitzgerald, pp. 27-8.
- ^ Milhous, p. 4.
- ^ Milhous, p. 12.
References
- Holland, Peter (1995). "Killigrew, Thomas", in Banham, Martin: The Cambridge Guide to Theatre. Cambridge University Press, p. 600. ISBN 0-521-43437-8.
- Fitzgerald, Percy Hetherington. A New History of the English Stage. London, Tinsley Brothers, 1882.
- Milhous, Judith. Thomas Betterton and the Management of Lincoln's Inn Fields, 1696–1708. Carbondale, IL, Southern Illinois University Press, 1979.
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic