Frederic Reynolds
Encyclopedia
Frederic Reynolds was a British playwright and theatrical producer in the later eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
He was educated at Westminster School
and entered the Middle Temple
to study law; but he left the law for drama and show business. He was highly prolific as a playwright, authoring over 100 comedies and tragedies during his long career. His evocatively-titled comedy The Dramatist, or Stop Him Who Can! was acted at Covent Garden
in May 1789; his adaptation of August von Kotzebue
's play The Virgin of the Sun, with music by Sir Henry Bishop, was on stage in early 1812.
He is now best remembered by theatre historians for his Shakespearean adaptations staged at Covent Garden. In the period from 1816 to 1828 he staged "operatic" or "operatized" productions based on the plays of William Shakespeare
, with texts adapted by himself, and usually with music composed by Bishop. (The term "opera" is used here in a loose sense, just as it is for many of Bishop's works.) "Reynolds...laced his adaptations with a cornucopia of crowd-pleasing ploys: low comedy, disguise, spectacular entrances, musical numbers, pageants and flying...," plus "processions, tableaux, and highly spectacular act endings...."
As was common with Shakespearean adaptations of the era, Reynolds mixed and matched bits and pieces of different literary works and different musical compositions. His version of The Comedy of Errors
incorporated the songs "Come, thou monarch of the vine" from Antony and Cleopatra
, II,vii,113-18 and "When icicles hang by the wall" from Love's Labor's Lost, V,ii,912-29; Bishop's music was supplemented with Mozart
and Arne
. Reynolds placed the masque
from The Tempest into Twelfth Night.
He was educated at Westminster School
Westminster School
The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...
and entered the Middle Temple
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...
to study law; but he left the law for drama and show business. He was highly prolific as a playwright, authoring over 100 comedies and tragedies during his long career. His evocatively-titled comedy The Dramatist, or Stop Him Who Can! was acted at Covent Garden
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
in May 1789; his adaptation of August von Kotzebue
August von Kotzebue
August Friedrich Ferdinand von Kotzebue was a German dramatist.One of Kotzebue's books was burned during the Wartburg festival in 1817. He was murdered in 1819 by Karl Ludwig Sand, a militant member of the Burschenschaften...
's play The Virgin of the Sun, with music by Sir Henry Bishop, was on stage in early 1812.
He is now best remembered by theatre historians for his Shakespearean adaptations staged at Covent Garden. In the period from 1816 to 1828 he staged "operatic" or "operatized" productions based on the plays of William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
, with texts adapted by himself, and usually with music composed by Bishop. (The term "opera" is used here in a loose sense, just as it is for many of Bishop's works.) "Reynolds...laced his adaptations with a cornucopia of crowd-pleasing ploys: low comedy, disguise, spectacular entrances, musical numbers, pageants and flying...," plus "processions, tableaux, and highly spectacular act endings...."
As was common with Shakespearean adaptations of the era, Reynolds mixed and matched bits and pieces of different literary works and different musical compositions. His version of The Comedy of Errors
The Comedy of Errors
The Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeare's earliest plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. The Comedy of Errors is one of only two of Shakespeare's...
incorporated the songs "Come, thou monarch of the vine" from Antony and Cleopatra
Antony and Cleopatra
Antony and Cleopatra is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607. It was first printed in the First Folio of 1623. The plot is based on Thomas North's translation of Plutarch's Lives and follows the relationship between Cleopatra and Mark Antony...
, II,vii,113-18 and "When icicles hang by the wall" from Love's Labor's Lost, V,ii,912-29; Bishop's music was supplemented with Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
and Arne
Thomas Augustine Arne
Thomas Augustine Arne was a British composer, best known for the patriotic song Rule, Britannia!. He also wrote a version of God Save the King, which was to become the British national anthem, and the song A-Hunting We Will Go...
. Reynolds placed the masque
Masque
The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment which flourished in 16th and early 17th century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio...
from The Tempest into Twelfth Night.
The Shakespearean "Operas"
- A Midsummer Night's DreamA Midsummer Night's DreamA Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
, 1816 - The Comedy of ErrorsThe Comedy of ErrorsThe Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeare's earliest plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. The Comedy of Errors is one of only two of Shakespeare's...
, 1819 - Twelfth Night, 1820
- The Two Gentlemen of VeronaThe Two Gentlemen of VeronaThe Two Gentlemen of Verona is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1590 or 1591. It is considered by some to be Shakespeare's first play, and is often seen as his first tentative steps in laying out some of the themes and tropes with which he would later deal in more...
, 1821 - The TempestThe TempestThe Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place,...
, 1821 - As You Like ItAs You Like ItAs You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...
, 1824 - The Merry Wives of WindsorThe Merry Wives of WindsorThe Merry Wives of Windsor is a comedy by William Shakespeare, first published in 1602, though believed to have been written prior to 1597. It features the fat knight Sir John Falstaff, and is Shakespeare's only play to deal exclusively with contemporary Elizabethan era English middle class life...
, 1824 - The Taming of the ShrewThe Taming of the ShrewThe Taming of the Shrew is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1591.The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the Induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken tinker named Sly into believing he is actually a nobleman himself...
, 1828