Author: Jacob Jones

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2015-06-26

Total Pages: 104

ISBN-13: 9781330232071

Excerpt from Regulus, the Noblest Roman of Them All: A Tragedy in Five Acts I had resolved not to print any more of my Tragedies, unless they were previously represented, when the acceptance of Mr. Troughton's published Tragedy of Nina Sforza, by the lessee of the Haymarket Theatre, caused me to alter my determination, since such acceptance showed, among other rapidly accumulating symptoms of dramatic progress, that the unaccountable prejudice in the minds of managers, against Plays which had been previously printed, was passing, if it had not altogether passed, away. A printed Play must ever be preferable to a MS. one, not only for the purposes of untripping perusal, and re-perusal, on the part of those who have to decide on its pretensions , but also for the facilities it affords of presenting all parties to be engaged in its manifestation with a copy of that whole, which they can never sufficiently understand, nor, therefore, do adequate justice to, from a mere study of their prompt parts, after a single green-room reading. This was amply proved in the case of my Tragedy of "Spartacus, the Roman Gladiator," which, having been performed at three different Houses; viz. at the Theatre Royal, Bath; and at the Surrey, and Victoria Theatres; was, in every instance, better comprehended, and therefore better acted, in consequence of the copies of the Play which were placed in the hands of the individuals employed in its representation. "Regulus" is written with a view to the same stage-illustration as "Spartacus" has received; and, from the change of tactics above initiated, I hope that the fact of its being published, will, now, add to its chance of being produced. Like that Tragedy, it is too long to be placed before the public without considerable abridgement, but when I state, as a specimen of its being constructed with a view to adaptation for such a purpose, that the business on the stage might commence with the 3rd Scene of the 1st Act, I think I have said enough to show that I could understand, and would comply with, any real necessity of Stage-development. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.