Difference between revisions of "The Castle Spectre"

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Apparently based on a previous attempt at a gothic story by the author, inspired by Walpole's The Castle of Otranto, it was reworked  into a play in 1796 and first performed  at the Theatre-Royal, Drury-Lane, on Thursday, December 14, 1797.  
 
Apparently based on a previous attempt at a gothic story by the author, inspired by Walpole's The Castle of Otranto, it was reworked  into a play in 1796 and first performed  at the Theatre-Royal, Drury-Lane, on Thursday, December 14, 1797.  
 
Despite manifold obvious weaknesses the play was a popular success and according to Bertrand Evans (1947, pp 143-44), with its appearance “...Gothic drama assumed a popular position not below that of the Gothic novel. Besides having a very long and eminently successful first run, this concoction went through seven printed editions in 1798 and eleven by 1803. Still popular in 1829..”  
 
Despite manifold obvious weaknesses the play was a popular success and according to Bertrand Evans (1947, pp 143-44), with its appearance “...Gothic drama assumed a popular position not below that of the Gothic novel. Besides having a very long and eminently successful first run, this concoction went through seven printed editions in 1798 and eleven by 1803. Still popular in 1829..”  
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Performed in the [[African Theatre|Cape Town Theatre]], Cape Town by the [[English Theatricals]] on 27 November 1824, with ''[[The Castle Spectre]]'' (Lewis) and ''[[The Poor Soldier]]'' (O'Keeffe).
  
  

Revision as of 10:05, 27 November 2013

A play in five acts by Matthew Gregory Lewis (1775 –1818) Apparently based on a previous attempt at a gothic story by the author, inspired by Walpole's The Castle of Otranto, it was reworked into a play in 1796 and first performed at the Theatre-Royal, Drury-Lane, on Thursday, December 14, 1797. Despite manifold obvious weaknesses the play was a popular success and according to Bertrand Evans (1947, pp 143-44), with its appearance “...Gothic drama assumed a popular position not below that of the Gothic novel. Besides having a very long and eminently successful first run, this concoction went through seven printed editions in 1798 and eleven by 1803. Still popular in 1829..”

Performed in the Cape Town Theatre, Cape Town by the English Theatricals on 27 November 1824, with The Castle Spectre (Lewis) and The Poor Soldier (O'Keeffe).


Bertrand Evans, Gothic Drama from Walpole to Shelley, University of California Publications in English vol. 18, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1947; pp.143-44.[1]

http://omni.sytes.net/lewis.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Lewis_(writer)