This "Afterpiece" - a short play to follow a main production - was first produced in 1746. It was based on Regnard's five-act comedy le Legetaire Universel (1707), which is itself a composite of Italian comedy with echoes of Molière, moving from scene to scene with little effort at logical consistency or structure but treating each scene autonomously for its own comic value.
The rather long Prologue to A WILL AND NO WILL (11 pages of manuscript) makes fun of the convention of the eighteenth century prologues by the familiar dodge of having actors chatting as though they were in the Pit waiting for the actors in the preceding main play to dress for the afterpiece. - Summary from Introduction
Cast list:
Prolog
Rattle:
Beth ThomasSmart:
Larry WilsonDullman:
NewgatenovelistIrishman:
alanmapstoneSnarlewit:
TriciaGActs 1 & 2
SIR ISAAC SKINFLINT:
Larry WilsonBELLAIR and SERVANT:
ToddHWDOCTOR LEATHERHEAD:
Beth ThomasCOUNCELLOUR CORMORANT:
alanmapstoneMR. LITTLEWIT:
Zames CurranMONSIEUR DU MAIGRE:
Carol Eades KingMR. DEATH:
alanmapstoneSHARK:
Kristin GjerløwLADY LOVEWEALTH:
AvailleHARRIET:
Elizabeth KlettLUCY:
TriciaGStage Directions By:
MaryAnnEdited and Coordinated By:
ToddHW
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