#OTD in 1798.
Elizabeth Inchbald's Lovers' Vows (adapted from Kotzebue's Das Kind der Liebe – 1780; literally "Love Child," or "Natural Son," as it is often translated) is first performed at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London.
It was likewise successful as a print publication, though it also aroused controversy about its "levelling" politics and moral ambiguity.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovers%27_Vows
Lovers' Vows at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4554
#OTD in 1923.
A production of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus at The Old Vic, directed by Robert Atkins, is the first in London since 1857. It is also the first to restore the full original text since the playwright's time.
It is often seen as his attempt to emulate the violent & bloody revenge plays of his contemporaries, which were extremely popular with audiences throughout the 16th century.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titus_Andronicus
Titus Andronicus at PG
https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/1507
#OTD in 1905.
The English actor-manager Sir Henry Irving collapses in his hotel, while playing Thomas Becket on tour in Bradford, dying soon afterwards. 'Into thy hands, O Lord, into thy hands', and though he lived for an hour or so longer he never spoke again" were his last words.
Becket and other plays by Baron Alfred Tennyson at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/9162
#OTD in 1858.
The farce Our American Cousin by the English playwright Tom Taylor is first performed at Laura Keene's Theatre in New York City, with the American Joe Jefferson in the title rôle and the English actor Edward Askew Sothern as Lord Dundreary.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_American_Cousin
Our American Cousin at PG:
https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/3158
#OTD in 1902
Leo Tolstoy's drama The Power of Darkness (written in 1886) has its Russian-language première at the Moscow Art Theatre by Konstantin Stanislavski with some success, although Stanislavski is self-critical.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_of_Darkness
The Power of Darkness at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26661
#OTD in 1856.
British actress Laura Keene opens her own theatre in New York City. She is most famous for being the lead actress in the play Our American Cousin, which was attended by President Abraham Lincoln on the evening of his assassination.
#OTD in 1906.
Frank Wedekind's play Spring Awakening: A Children's Tragedy (Frühlings Erwachen), completed 1901, receives its first staging, directed by Max Reinhardt.
The Awakening of Spring at PG:
https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/35242
#OTD in 1902.
J. M. Barrie's comedy The Admirable Crichton is first performed, at the Duke of York's Theatre in London, starring H. B. Irving, Henry Kemble and Irene Vanbrugh.
#OTD in 1900.
August Strindberg's To Damascus (Till Damaskus, first two parts) receives its première at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm with August Palme and Harriet Bosse, Strindberg's future wife, in the leading rôles.
#OTD in 1878.
Henry Irving's production of Hamlet, with himself in the title rôle playing opposite Ellen Terry as Ophelia, opens at the Lyceum Theatre, London (of which they have taken over the management). The tendency of actor-managers to emphasise the importance of their own central character did not always meet with the critics' approval.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet
Hamlet at PG:
https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/1524
#OTD in 1891.
Maurice Maeterlinck's play The Blind (written in 1890) is premièred. Les Aveugles is, along with L'Intruse, one of Maurice Maeterlinck's first two plays.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blind_(play)
Les Aveugles is available at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48368
#OTD in 1899.
William Gillette's play Sherlock Holmes, based (with authorisation) on the writings of Arthur Conan Doyle, opens in New York City with himself in the title rôle.
#OTD in 1952.
Agatha Christie's murder-mystery play The Mousetrap opens at the Ambassadors Theatre in London's West End after a premiere in Nottingham, UK. It will become the longest continuously running play in history.
#OTD in 1919.
The Großes Schauspielhaus opens as a theater in Berlin, with an interior designed by Hans Poelzig. It begins with the director Max Reinhardt's production of the Oresteia.
The House of Atreus at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/8604
#OTD in 1892.
George Bernard Shaw's first play Widowers' Houses has its first performance, at the Royalty Theatre in London under the auspices of the Independent Theatre Society. The author is booed.
This is one of three plays Shaw published as Plays Unpleasant in 1898. The other plays in the group are The Philanderer and Mrs. Warren's Profession.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widowers%27_Houses
Books by Bernard Shaw at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/467
#OTD in 1898.
Moscow Art Theatre's first season opens with a double bill of Emilia Matthai's Greta's Happiness and Carlo Goldoni's The Mistress of the Inn. The successful and influential Moscow Art Theatre production of The Seagull by Chekhov (its Moscow première), would open on 29 December 1898.
"Nothing is stranger to man than his own image."
#OTD in 1921.
World premiere of the science fiction play R.U.R. (Rossumovi Univerzální Roboti) by the Czech writer Karel Čapek in a theater in Hradec Králové. It introduced the word "robot" to the English language and to science fiction as a whole.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.U.R.
R.U.R. at PG:
https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/59112
#OTD in 1895.
The première of Oscar Wilde's comedy An Ideal Husband takes place at the Haymarket Theatre in London. In April, on the last day of the Haymarket run, Wilde was arrested for gross indecency; his name was removed from the playbills and programmes when the production transferred to the Criterion Theatre, where it ran for a further 13 performances, from 13 to 27 April.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Ideal_Husband
An Ideal Husband at PG:
https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/885
"There can be no freedom or beauty about a home life that depends on borrowing and debt."
Torvald Helmer, Act I
#OTD in 1879.
The first production of Henrik Ibsen's controversial "modern drama" A Doll's House takes place at the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen, after publication there on December 4.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Doll%27s_House
A Doll's House at PG:
https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/2542
"We thought we believed in trial marriage. Nothing of the sort—trial separation! What marriage put asunder divorce has joined together."
#OTD in 1917.
Jesse Lynch Williams' Why Marry?, the first drama to win a Pulitzer Prize, opens at the Astor Theatre (New York).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_Marry%3F
Why Marry? at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35389
"If there's any illness for which people offer many remedies, you may be sure that particular illness is incurable, I think."
#OTD in 1904.
Anton Chekhov's last play, The Cherry Orchard, opens at the Moscow Art Theatre directed by Constantin Stanislavski.
Written in 1903, it was first published by Znaniye, and came out as a separate edition later that year in Saint Petersburg, via A.F. Marks Publishers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cherry_Orchard
Cherry Orchard at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7986
"Nothing can come of nothing: speak again."
#OTD in 1838.
William Macready opens a performance of King Lear at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, London, restoring most of Shakespeare's original text, including the character of the Fool.
The restored character of the Fool was played by Priscilla Horton. And Helen Faucit's final appearance as Cordelia, dead in her father's arms, became one of the most iconic of Victorian images.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Lear
"What seems to us serious, significant and important will, in future times, be forgotten or won’t seem important at all."
#OTD in 1901.
Anton Chekhov's Three Sisters premieres at Moscow Art Theatre in Russia under the direction of Konstantin Stanislavski and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Sisters_(play)
Three Sisters at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7986
#OTD in 1904.
J. M. Synge's tragedy Riders to the Sea is first performed at Molesworth Hall, Dublin, by the Irish National Theatre Society, with Helen Laird playing Maurya.
Synge's use of phrasing from the Irish language is part of the Irish Literary Revival, a period when Irish literature looked to encourage pride and nationalism in Ireland.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riders_to_the_Sea
Riders to the Sea at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/994
"Hvad skal manden være? Sig selv, det er mit korte svar."
"What ought a man to be? Well, my short answer is ‘himself’."
Act IV
#OTD in 1876.
The stage première of the verse-play Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen (published 1867) with incidental music by Edvard Grieg, takes place in Christiania, Norway.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peer_Gynt
Peer Gynt at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66239
In Norwegian at @runeberg-org.bsky.social
https://runeberg.org/peergynt/
