Edward Ravenscroft · aftercurtain

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Dame Dobson

Writer · Play · 1683

Dame Dobson; or, The Cunning Woman (1683) is a satirical play featuring a fraudulent "cunning woman" who runs a deceptive business, using tricks and illusions to fool desperate clients from various social classes. The plot follows her comedic interactions with customers, including those seeking physical invulnerability, the death of a spouse, physical enhancement, or a gender transformation, all of which she handles through staged, farcical enchantments. The Vulnerable Citizen: A young man approaches her seeking a magical charm that will make him entirely invulnerable to physical harm. The Scheming Wife: A lady requests a prophecy predicting exactly when her husband will die so that she can freely marry a handsome colonel. The Vain Country Girl: A young country girl visits the Dame wishing for a spell to enlarge her breasts. The Eccentric Welshwoman: A Welsh country woman demands to be transformed into a man so she can enjoy more freedom and successfully woo a wealthy lady. The play exposes human gullibility and greed in 17th-century London through these episodes, highlighted by the Dame’s use of a fake, rigged version of Friar Bacon's Brazen Head to deliver false prophecies. This farcical, episodic structure highlights the booming market for fraudulent spiritualism.

King Edgar and Alfreda

Writer · Play · 1677

King Edgar and Alfreda is a 1677 tragedy by the English writer Edward Ravenscroft. It was first staged by the King's Company at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. It is based on the life of the early English King Edwgar and his wife Alfreda. The original cast included Michael Mohun as Edgar, Cardell Goodman as Ethelwold, Nicholas Burt as Ruthin, Thomas Clark as Aldernold, John Wiltshire as Oswold, Philip Griffin as Durzo, Frances Maria Knight as The Queen and Elizabeth Boutell as Matilda.

The Canterbury Guests

Writer · Play · 1694

The Canterbury Guests; or, A Bargain Broken is a 1694 comedy play by the English writer Edward Ravenscroft. It was the only new work performed by the United Company that autumn, amidst tensions that eventually led to a split. The original cast included Cave Underhill as Sir Barnaby Buffler, William Bowen as Justice Greedy, John Verbruggen as Lovell, George Powell as Carless, Thomas Dogget as Dash, William Pinkethman as Jack Sawce, Thomas Kent as Toby, George Bright as Durzo, Jane Rogers as Jacinta, Susanna Verbruggen as Hillaria, Abigail Lawson as Mrs Dazie, Frances Maria Knight as Arabella and Mary Kent as Mrs Breeder. The incidental music was composed by Henry Purcell.

The Careless Lovers

Writer · Play · 1673

The Careless Lovers follows the tyrannical London Alderman Mr. Muchworth, who is determined to block his daughter Jacinta from marrying her true love, Lovell. Instead, he plans to force her into a highly profitable arranged marriage with Lord De Boastado, an insufferably pompous and easily fooled nobleman. Muchworth is also tasked with managing his cynical, fiercely independent niece, Hillaria. Rather than helping her cousin, Hillaria is locked in a savage, rapid-fire war of wits with a fellow libertine named Careless; both loudly despise the traditional concept of marriage and spend their time trading insults. To stop the forced wedding, Jacinta, Lovell, and their highly proactive servants launch a series of chaotic, retaliatory scams to utterly ruin Lord De Boastado’s reputation. In the play's most famous farcical highlight, they hire two heavily pregnant tavern wenches to ambush De Boastado in public. The women scream and aggressively claim that the fop is the father of their unborn children, thoroughly embarrassing him in front of the Alderman. Meanwhile, the clever maidservant Beatrice decides to look out for her own financial future; she puts on an elaborate aristocratic disguise, seduces the clueless De Boastado, and successfully tricks him into legally marrying her instead of Jacinta. With De Boastado accidentally married to a maid and his social ambitions completely shattered, Muchworth has no choice but to capitulate and allow Jacinta and Lovell to wed. The final comedic victory belongs to the sub-plot: realizing they are intellectual and rakish equals, Careless and Hillaria finally agree to marry. However, they do so with a radically subversive twist, explicitly vowing that they will completely disregard traditional marital fidelity and remain "careless lovers" who are free to sleep with other people

The Citizen Turned Gentleman

Writer · Play · 1672

The story centers on Mr. Jorden, a prosperous but deeply naive London draper who is utterly obsessed with shedding his middle-class roots to become an aristocratic gentleman. To achieve this, he foolishly hires a small army of expensive, bickering tutors in music, dance, fencing, and philosophy. They happily drain his bank account while privately mocking his complete lack of rhythm, coordination, and intellect. Jorden’s desperate vanity makes him an easy target for a bankrupt courtier named Dorant, who extravagantly flatters the merchant to borrow massive sums of money. Dorant promises to use the cash to woo a wealthy widow on Jorden's behalf, but secretly pockets the money and courts the lady for himself. The plot takes a farcical turn when Jorden’s daughter, Lucia, wants to marry Cleverwit, a witty young man of humble status. Because Jorden refuses to let his daughter marry anyone below the rank of nobility, Cleverwit and his servant launch a wild, low-budget hoax. Cleverwit disguises himself as the wealthy son of the Grand Signior of Turkey. He dazzles the starstruck Jorden by "ennobling" him in an absurd, entirely fake, grand backyard ceremony, complete with a chorus of chanting, fake Turkish paladins, bestowing upon the ecstatic merchant the completely fictional, nonsensical title of "Mamamouchi". Totally blinded by his ridiculous new "aristocratic" status, Jorden eagerly grants the fake Turkish prince his daughter’s hand in marriage, completely unaware that he has been swindled by his own family.

The Italian Husband

Writer · Play · 1697

The Italian Husband is a 1697 tragedy by the English writer Edward Ravenscroft. It was first staged by Thomas Betterton's company at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre in London. The original cast included John Verbruggen as Frederico, Elizabeth Bowman as Alouisia, John Hodgson as Alfonso, John Thurmond as Rodrigo, Marmaduke Watson as Fidalbo and John Bowman as Haynes.

The London Cuckolds

Writer · Play · 1681

The London Cuckolds is a 1681 comedy play by the English writer Edward Ravenscroft. It was performed at the Dorset Garden Theatre by the Duke's Company. The original cast included Cave Underhill as Wiseacre, James Nokes as Doodle, Joseph Williams as Townly, John Wiltshire as Loveday, William Smith as Ramble, Anthony Leigh as Dashwell, John Richards as Tom, Elizabeth Currer as Eugenia, Elizabeth Barry as Arabella, Elinor Leigh as Engine and Margaret Osborne as Jane.

The Wrangling Lovers

Writer · Play · 1676

The Wrangling Lovers; Or, The Invisible Mistress is a 1676 comedy play by the English writer Edward Ravenscroft. It premiered at the Dorset Garden Theatre, performed by the Duke's Company with a cast that included Anthony Leigh as Count de Benevent, William Smith as Don Diego de Sluniga, Matthew Medbourne as Don Ruis de Moncado, Henry Harris as Don Gusmun, Cave Underhill as Sanco, Thomas Percival as Ordgano, Margaret Hughes as Octavia, Elizabeth Barry as Elvira and Anne Shadwell as Beatrice.

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