Theatre Royal Drury Lane Gallery

Old Batchelor benefit performance for Joe Miller

The Old Batchelor, benefit performance for Joe Miller at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London. Joseph Miller (1684-1738) was an English actor who first played Sir Joseph Whittol in William Congreve's Old Batchelor in 1717. Tickets for this performance carried William Hogarth's engraving showing the scene where Whittol's friend Captain Bluffe is kicked by Sharper whilst his friend Bellmour tries to pull him away. This same design was used for Joe Miller's benefit performance on 13 April 1738 -- his final performance, a few months before his death.
1738

© Mary Evans Picture Library

Aaron Hill - English dramatist, writer and opera manager

Aaron Hill (1685-1750) - An English dramatist and miscellaneous writer. He was the author of 17 plays, some of them, such as his versions of "Voltaire's Zaire" and "M?pe", being adaptations. He also wrote poetry. In addition to his literary pursuits, Hill was involved in many commercial schemes, usually unsuccessful. Hill was the manager of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane when he was 24 years old, and before being summarily fired for reasons unknown, he staged the premier of George Frideric "Handel's Rinaldo", the first Italian opera designed for a London audience. The composer was very involved in the production, and Hill collaborated on the libretto, although it is disputed what his actual contributions were. Date: 1710

© Mary Evans Picture Library

R. B. Sheridan, (1751-1816), 1830. Creator: Unknown

R. B. Sheridan, (1751-1816), 1830. Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816) Irish satirist, playwright, poet, and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, educated at Harrow School, Whig MP in the House of Commons, he fought two duels with Captain Thomas Mathews for the honour of Elizabeth Ann Linley. From "Biographical Illustrations", by Alfred Howard. [Thomas Tegg, R. Griffin and Co. J. Cumming, London, Glasgow and Dublin, 1830]

© The Print Collector/Heritage Images