Three Hours After Marriage
Encyclopedia
Three Hours After Marriage was a restoration comedy
, written in 1717 as a collaboration between John Gay
, Alexander Pope
and John Arbuthnot
. It premiered in 1717 and among its satirical targets were Richard Blackmore
.
It received seven sell-out performances, then a record for the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, and influenced The Author's Farce
. Critical reception was less friendly. Charles Johnson
, in the preface to the published version of his The Sultaness called Three Hours "Long-labour'd Nonsense" and it was also attacked in Leonard Welsted
's 1717 Palaemon to Caelia, or, The Triumvirate and in the Poetical Register by Giles Jacob
, who stated that it included scenes that "trespass on Female Modesty". This view of the play as obscene became the majority view, meaning it then remained unperformed until 1996, when Richard Cottrell
directed a Royal Shakespeare Company
production at the Swan Theatre
. This won the 1998 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Set Designer for Tim Goodchild. It was revived again in 2008 at the Union Theatre
in a production by Blanche McIntyre.
Scientist Jacob Bronowski
cites the play in episode 7 of the 1973 BBC television documentary series The Ascent of Man
, which deals with the discoveries of Newton and Einstein: "By the time Newton was in his seventies, England under the Georges was pre-occupied with money, with politics, and with scandal in the coffee houses. Nimble businessmen floated companies, to exploit fictitious inventions. Writers poked fun at scientists, in part from spite, and in part for political motives, because Newton was a big wig in the government establishment. The group of Tories, who later helped John Gay to satirise the government in The Beggar’s Opera, also helped him, in 1717, to write a play Three Hours After Marriage. There the butt of the satire is a pompous ageing scientist, under the name of Dr. Fossil.”
Restoration comedy
Restoration comedy refers to English comedies written and performed in the Restoration period from 1660 to 1710. After public stage performances had been banned for 18 years by the Puritan regime, the re-opening of the theatres in 1660 signalled a renaissance of English drama...
, written in 1717 as a collaboration between John Gay
John Gay
John Gay was an English poet and dramatist and member of the Scriblerus Club. He is best remembered for The Beggar's Opera , set to music by Johann Christoph Pepusch...
, Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope was an 18th-century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. He is the third-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson...
and John Arbuthnot
John Arbuthnot
John Arbuthnot, often known simply as Dr. Arbuthnot, , was a physician, satirist and polymath in London...
. It premiered in 1717 and among its satirical targets were Richard Blackmore
Richard Blackmore
Sir Richard Blackmore , English poet and physician, is remembered primarily as the object of satire and as an example of a dull poet. He was, however, a respected physician and religious writer....
.
It received seven sell-out performances, then a record for the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, and influenced The Author's Farce
The Author's Farce
The Author's Farce and the Pleasures of the Town is a play by the English playwright and novelist Henry Fielding, first performed on 30 March 1730 at the Little Theatre, Haymarket. Written in response to the Theatre Royal's rejection of his earlier plays, The Author's Farce was Fielding's...
. Critical reception was less friendly. Charles Johnson
Charles Johnson (writer)
Charles Johnson was an English playwright, tavern keeper, and enemy of Alexander Pope's. He was a dedicated Whig who allied himself with the Duke of Marlborough, Colley Cibber, and those who rose in opposition to Queen Anne's Tory ministry of 1710 - 1714.Johnson claimed to be trained in the law,...
, in the preface to the published version of his The Sultaness called Three Hours "Long-labour'd Nonsense" and it was also attacked in Leonard Welsted
Leonard Welsted
Leonard Welsted was an English poet and "dunce" in Alexander Pope's writings . Welsted was an accomplished writer who composed in a relaxed, light hearted vein...
's 1717 Palaemon to Caelia, or, The Triumvirate and in the Poetical Register by Giles Jacob
Giles Jacob
Giles Jacob was a British legal writer and literary critic who figures as one of the dunces in Alexander Pope's 1728 Dunciad:Pope's lines single Jacob out for satire primarily for his dogmatism and pettiness...
, who stated that it included scenes that "trespass on Female Modesty". This view of the play as obscene became the majority view, meaning it then remained unperformed until 1996, when Richard Cottrell
Richard Cottrell
Richard Cottrell is an English theatre director. He has been the Director of the Cambridge Theatre Company and the Bristol Old Vic in England, and of the Nimrod Theatre in Sydney, Australia...
directed a Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
production at the Swan Theatre
Swan Theatre (Stratford)
The Swan Theatre is a theatre belonging to the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. It is built on to the side of the larger Royal Shakespeare Theatre, occupying the Victorian Gothic structure that formerly housed the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre that preceded the RST but was...
. This won the 1998 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Set Designer for Tim Goodchild. It was revived again in 2008 at the Union Theatre
Union Theatre
The name Union Theatre can refer to either:*The Union Theatre , a theatre in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada*The Union Theatre , a theatre in London, England*The Union Theatre , a theatre in Melbourne, Australia...
in a production by Blanche McIntyre.
Scientist Jacob Bronowski
Jacob Bronowski
Jacob Bronowski was a Polish-Jewish British mathematician, biologist, historian of science, theatre author, poet and inventor...
cites the play in episode 7 of the 1973 BBC television documentary series The Ascent of Man
The Ascent of Man
The Ascent of Man is a thirteen-part documentary television series produced by the BBC and Time-Life Films first transmitted in 1973, written and presented by Jacob Bronowski...
, which deals with the discoveries of Newton and Einstein: "By the time Newton was in his seventies, England under the Georges was pre-occupied with money, with politics, and with scandal in the coffee houses. Nimble businessmen floated companies, to exploit fictitious inventions. Writers poked fun at scientists, in part from spite, and in part for political motives, because Newton was a big wig in the government establishment. The group of Tories, who later helped John Gay to satirise the government in The Beggar’s Opera, also helped him, in 1717, to write a play Three Hours After Marriage. There the butt of the satire is a pompous ageing scientist, under the name of Dr. Fossil.”
Sources
- Recording of the 1996 production in the Victoria and Albert MuseumVictoria and Albert MuseumThe Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...
Performance Archive