![]() This small format was intended for playgoers, so it’s interesting that they appeared in a period when all the theatres were closed by government order. “Each was published as a single playbook in the quarto format. This edition of Othello is thought to have been produced for theatregoers and probably used in an underground production.ĭouglas said: “There were only three Shakespeare plays published during the interregnum: The Merchant of Venice, King Lear and Othello. It was not until the Restoration in 1660 that theatre returned. ![]() He takes part in Iago’s ambush and attempted murder.” “Then there is Frances Maria Knight, witness to the murder, who gave evidence at the trial and John Verbruggen, under his stage name of Mr Alexander, who went on to later marry Mountfort’s widow, playing Roderigo. In real life, Mountfort became the object of the murderer’s jealousy. ![]() In the play, Cassio is ambushed and almost murdered by Iago. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. For more information see our Privacy Policy. Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. “First, there is Anne Bracegirdle, the central character in the attempted abduction and, of course, William Mountfort, the murdered actor who played the part of Cassio.” skip past newsletter promotion “In this previously unrecorded cast list, we have several individuals involved in the murder case and the trial to follow,” said Douglas. The supporting role of Roderigo, Othello’s rival for Desdemona’s attentions, was taken by John Verbruggen, using the stage name Mr Alexander, while Frances Maria Knight was cast as Emilia, Iago’s wife. The title role of Othello, the troubled Moorish general who is persuaded to murder his beloved wife Desdemona by his malevolent ensign Iago, is taken by Thomas Betterton, the famous actor-manager who afterwards made the role of “the Moor of Venice” his own. The copy of the play was kept until the 1690s, when the cast list of the United Company production was pasted into it. This rare edition of Othello dates from the interregnum – the period in history from the execution of Charles I in 1649 to the restoration of Charles II in 1660 – when all theatre and drama was banned by Oliver Cromwell, who led the parliamentary army in the English civil war. Stage star Anne Bracegirdle was the victim of an attempted abduction that led to a murder. His connections and young age resulted in an acquittal, prompting the arrest of one journalist for writing that the evidence against him was “strong enough to hang a commoner”. Hill fled first to the Isle of Wight to escape justice and then on to France, leaving Mohun to stand trial before the House of Lords. The jealous Hill was convinced Mountfort and Bracegirdle were in a relationship, and as the actor tried to intervene in the abduction, Hill killed him with his sword. She took the role of Othello’s doomed wife, Desdemona, while Mountfort played Cassio, his loyal lieutenant. Mountfort not only knew Bracegirdle well they were actors together in the same company performing Othello on Drury Lane. The plot was foiled when Mountfort stumbled across the scene – but not without bloodshed. With his accomplice Charles Mohun, the 4th Baron Mohun, who was 17, Hill tried to bundle Bracegirdle into a carriage, planning to whisk her away and make her his own. ![]() She had attracted the unwanted attentions of Captain Richard Hill, an army officer at the tender age of 16. The real-life plot began as Anne Bracegirdle, one of the first leading ladies of the English stage, walked home on London’s Strand from a dinner party. The rare 1655 version of Othello with a cast list that includes murdered actor William Mountfort.
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