Badass photo of actor Alycia Adame in "Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show" at City Lights Theater Company, San Jose, California. Company photographer Christian Pizzirani is a treasure, as is costume designer Lonie Fullerton.
theatre
#OTD in 1598.
William Shakespeare's play, The Merchant of Venice (under the title "the Marchaunt of Venyce or otherwise called the Jewe of Venyce") is entered on the Stationers' Register. By decree of Queen Elizabeth, the Stationers' Register licensed printed works, giving the Crown tight control over all published material.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Merchant_of_Venice
The Merchant of Venice at PG:
https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/1515
"The time is out of joint: O cursed spite,
That ever I was born to set it right!"
Hamlet, Act I, scene v.
#OTD in 1759.
The earliest known professional performance of Shakespeare's Hamlet in North America (in Garrick's version) is given by the American Company in Philadelphia, with Lewis Hallam Jr. as Hamlet.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet
Hamlet at PG:
https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/1524
#OTD in 1920.
The Salzburg Festival in Austria is inaugurated with a performance of Hugo von Hofmannsthal's play Jedermann (Everyman, 1911) in front of Salzburg Cathedral, directed by Max Reinhardt.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jedermann_(play)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salzburg_Festival
Jedermann: Das Spiel vom Sterben des reichen Mannes by Hugo von Hofmannsthal at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28949
Edited 2y ago
#OTD in 1921.
The Cervantes Theatre (Buenos Aires) opens with a production of Lope de Vega's La dama boba (The Foolish Lady, 1613). It is one of the earliest examples of the "comedia palatina" subgenre. De Vega completed it on 28 April 1613, as shown by a surviving manuscript copy in his own hand.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_dama_boba
Books by Lope Vega at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/25752
American poet and playwright Georgia Douglas Johnson was born #OTD in 1880.
Her first collection of poetry, "The Heart of a Woman" (1918), was one of the earliest books of poetry published by a Black woman in the United States. Her second volume, "Bronze" (1922), focuses more explicitly on racial issues, delving into the experiences of Black Americans and the injustices they faced in society.
"What we chang'd
Was innocence for innocence; we knew not
The doctrine of ill-doing, nor dream'd
That any did."
Polixenes, scene ii
#OTD in 1912.
Harley Granville-Barker's production of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale opens at the Savoy Theatre, London, with simplified scenery, ensemble acting and naturalistic verse-speaking. It is replaced in November by his production of Twelfth Night.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Winter%27s_Tale
Winter's Tale at PG:
https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/1539
![An illustration by John Opie, engraved by Jean Pierre Simon, for Act II, Scene III of Shakespeare's [The] Winter's Tale LEONTES: [To ANTIGONUS.] You, sir, come you hither: You that have been so tenderly officious With Lady Margery, your midwife, there, To save this bastard's life,—for 'tis a bastard, So sure as this beard's grey,—what will you adventure To save this brat's life? ANTIGONUS. Anything, my lord, That my ability may undergo, And nobleness impose: at least, thus much; I'll pawn the little blood which I have left To save the innocent:—anything possible. LEONTES. It shall be possible. Swear by this sword Thou wilt perform my bidding. ANTIGONUS. I will, my lord. LEONTES. Mark, and perform it; (seest thou?) for the fail Of any point in't shall not only be Death to thyself, but to thy lewd-tongu'd wife; Whom for this time, we pardon.](/proxy/post_attachment/381954/02f5e2f993.jpg "An illustration by John Opie, engraved by Jean Pierre Simon, for Act II, Scene III of Shakespeare's [The] Winter's Tale LEONTES: [To ANTIGONUS.] You, sir, come you hither: You that have been so tenderly officious With Lady Margery, your midwife, there, To save this bastard's life,—for 'tis a bastard, So sure as this beard's grey,—what will you adventure To save this brat's life? ANTIGONUS. Anything, my lord, That my ability may undergo, And nobleness impose: at least, thus much; I'll pawn the little blood which I have left To save the innocent:—anything possible. LEONTES. It shall be possible. Swear by this sword Thou wilt perform my bidding. ANTIGONUS. I will, my lord. LEONTES. Mark, and perform it; (seest thou?) for the fail Of any point in't shall not only be Death to thyself, but to thy lewd-tongu'd wife; Whom for this time, we pardon.")
Edited 1y ago
"...beneath the rule of men entirely great, the pen is mightier than the sword..."
#OTD in 1856.
English actor Henry Irving makes his stage début at Sunderland as Gaston, Duke of Orleans, in Bulwer Lytton's play Richelieu.
The play has become best known for its line "The pen is mightier than the sword", spoken by the Cardinal in Act II, Scene II.
Books by Edward Bulwer Lytton at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/761
#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
SAILMAKER by Alan Spence
March/April 2026, multiple venues
Presented by The Gaiety Theatre in association with the Beacon Arts Centre
A poignant, poetic, & deeply human play that explores themes of family, grief, masculinity, & working-class life in Glasgow.
#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
Cultural Round-up -11 July ‘26 - Zuhur News #341 on: #Syria #Cinema #Lebanon #Sudan #Music #Turkiye #Art #Kouatly #Luxor #Egypt #Cairo #Papyri #Archaeology #Fiction #Algeria #Theatre #Palestine #Tunisia #Photography #Mexico - #Khamenei Please subscribe! #press
https://www.patreon.com/posts/163529652?utm_campaign=postshare_creator
#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.
Lochhead’s Mary
26 March, Perth. £7.50/£5
Liz Lochhead’s Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off is one of the most iconic plays in modern Scottish theatre. This special event will reflect on Lochhead’s enduring influence on Scottish writing & identity
https://www.culturepk.org.uk/event/lochheads-mary/
#Scottish #literature #theatre #drama #LizLochhead #MaryQueenofScots #history #identity #ScottishIdentity
#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
