The Busie Body

The Busie Body
Written bySusanna Centlivre
Date premiered12 May 1709[1]
Place premieredTheatre Royal, Drury Lane, London
Original languageEnglish
GenreComedy

The Busie Body is a Restoration comedy written by Susanna Centlivre and first performed at the Drury Lane Theatre in 1709. It focuses on the legalities of what constitutes a marriage, and how children might subvert parental power over whom they can marry.[2] The Busie Body was the most popular female authored-play of the eighteenth century, and became a stock piece of most anglophone theatres during the period.[2][3]

The original Drury Lane cast featured Robert Wilks as Sir George Airy, Richard Estcourt as Sir Francis Gripe, John Mills as Charles, William Bullock as Sir Jealous Traffick, George Pack as Marplot, Christopher Bullock as Whisper, Jane Rogers as Isabinda, Letitia Cross as Miranda, Margaret Saunders as Patch and Margaret Mills as Scentwell. The prologue was written by Thomas Baker.

  1. ^ Burling p.48
  2. ^ a b Collins, Margo (1999). "Centlivre v. Hardwicke: Susannah Centlivre's Plays and the Marriage Act of 1753". Comparative Drama. 33 (2): 179–198 (p. 179, 193). doi:10.1353/cdr.1999.0029. ISSN 1936-1637.
  3. ^ Maggie Gale (ed.), Jacky Bratton (2001). "Reading the Intertheatrical". Women, theatre and performance : new histories, new historiographies. Manchester University Press. p. 17. ISBN 0719057124. OCLC 614915127. {{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)