Thomas Otway, Venice Preserv'd

Neil Forsyth (Université de Lausanne)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.04: English Writing and Culture of the Seventeenth Century, 1625-1688.
Vol. editors: Jennifer Brady (Rhodes College), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Neil Forsyth (Université de Lausanne), Claire Preston (Queen Mary, University of London), J A Roe (University of York), Virginia Mason Vaughan (Clark University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1682

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Play

Resources

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The full title of Thomas Otway’s play is

Venice Preserv’d; or A Plot Discovered, a Tragedy.

It is written in a mixture of blank verse and prose.

It was first performed in 1682 in Dorset Gardens, and then at the Duke’s Theatre, with famous and popular actors such as Thomas Betterton (1635 –1710) and Elizabeth Barry (1658 –1713) in the leading roles. The title page tells us it was “printed for

Jos. Hindmarsh

at the Sign of the Black Bull, over against the Royal Exchange in Cornhill.1682”. The play was often staged up to the 1830s, but it then fell out of favour along with much Restoration theatre. In 2019, the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) put on an adaptation at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon.

The play is dedicated to “Her Grace the Dutchess of Portsmouth”, who

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2296 words

Citation: Forsyth, Neil. "Venice Preserv'd". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 December 2020 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=8600, accessed 24 November 2024.]

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Thomas Otway, Venice Preserv'd

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