Modern Acting Drama Vol 1

Author : UNKNOWN. AUTHOR
Publisher : Forgotten Books
ISBN 13 : 9781330213506
Total Pages : 330 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (135 download)

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Download or read book Modern Acting Drama, Vol. 1 written by UNKNOWN. AUTHOR and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2015-06-26 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Modern Acting Drama, Vol. 1: Consisting of the Most Popular Pieces Produced at the London Theatres, Subject to the Provisions of the Dramatic Copyright Act; Containing Nell Gwynne, the Housekeeper, the Wedding Gown, the King's Fool, Fra Diavolo Whilst we may safely reject as unfounded gossip many of the stories associated with the name of Nell Gwynne, we cannot refuse belief to the various proofs of kind-heartedness, liberality, and - taking into consideration her subsequent power to do - harm absolute goodness of a woman mingling - (if we may believe a passage in Pepys,) from her earliest years in the most depraved scenes of a most dissolute age. The life of Nell Gwynne, from the time of her connexion with Charles the Second, to that of her death, proved that error had been forced upon her by circumstances, rather than indulged from choice. It was under this impression that the present little comedy was undertaken: under this conviction an attempt has been made to shew some glimpses of die silver lining of a character, to whose influence over an unprincipled voluptuary, we owe a national asylum for veteran soldiers, and whose brightness shines with the most amiable lustre in many actions of her life, and in the last disposal of her worldly effects. The following lines of Rochester are a conclusive proof that Nell Gwynne first attended the theatre as an orange-girl. Whether she assumed the calling, in order to attract the notice of Betterton, - who, it is said, on having heard her recite and sing, discouraged her hopes of theatrical eminence; - or whether her love of the stage grew from her original trade of play-house fruit-girl, has not yet been clearly shewn. Indeed, nothing certain can be gathered of her parentage or place of birth: even her name has, lately, been disputed. That, from the pit she mounted to the stage, is, however, on the poetic testimony of Rochester, indisputable: - "The orange-basket her fair arm did suit, Laden with pippins and Hesperian fruit; This first step raised, to the wond'ring pit she sold The lovely fruit, smiling with streaks of gold. Fate now for her did its whole force engage. And from the pit she mounted to the stage; There in full lustre did her glories shine, And, long eclips'd, spread forth their light divine; There Hart and Rowley's soul she did ensnare, And made a king a rival to a player." She spoke a new prologue to Beaumont and Fletcher's Knight of the Burning Pestle: she afterwards played Queen Almakide, in Dryden's Conquest of Grenada, besides speaking the prologue in a broad-brimmed hat and waste belt." About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.