Sir William Davenant

Alan Bedford on 29 Jun 2003   Link to this

William Davenant (1606-1668) was an English poet and dramatist. There is a biographical article in the 1911 Brittanica on this page: http://58.1911encyclopedia.org/D/DA/DAVENPORT_E...

Davenant introduced the opera into Britain in 1656 (evidently, the Puritans did not figure out what an 'opera' was,) and he continued with these presentations through the Restoration.

He was the co-writer, along with Dryden, of the 'updated' version of Shakespeare's Tempest of which kvk noted on 18 March 2003: Pepys only saw Dryden and Davenant

David Quidnunc on 12 Dec 2003   Link to this

"On 21 August 1660 Charles II granted Thomas Killigrew and Davenant a warrant to '...erect two companies of players...and to purchase, build, and erect...two houses or theatres with all convenient rooms and other necessaries thereunto appertaining, for the representation of tragedies, comedies, plays, operas, and all other entertainments of that nature..."

On 12 December 1660, William Davenant received exclusive rights to perform in England nine of Shakespeare's plays: The Tempest, Macbeth, Measure for Measure, Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, King Lear and Henry VIII, as well as Davenant's own works.
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~www_se/murray/Rest...

"[T]he patent granted to Davenant by the Lord Chamberlain on December 12, 1660, ... ordered [Davenant] 'to peruse all playes that have been formerly written, and to expunge all Prophanesse and Scurrility from the same, before they be represented or Acted'"
http://www.indiana.edu/~ias/chartier.html

Davenant edited Hamlet before presenting the play in August 1661 (with Pepys in the audience). A general description of the changes in the play as Davenant presented it are in the second Web link above, which also has an extensive discussion about plays in written form and how uncomfortable playwrights were in publishing their works that way.

The Bishop on 13 Feb 2004   Link to this

The reason Davenant started making changes to Shakespeare's plays was that the rival company, Killigrew's, had obtained the rights to the popular Shakesepearean plays and Davenant was left with the unpopular ones (except for Hamlet, which was a popular play).

vicente on 4 Jul 2004   Link to this

It appears SP was one of his first clients.
"moved to Lisle's Tennis Court in Lincoln's Inn Fields; the theater there, which became known as the Duke's Playhouse, opened in late June 1661. His company became known by a patent of 1663 as the Duke of York's Players, Killigrew's more elegantly as His Majesty's Players. "
http://oldpoetry.com/author/Sir%20William%20Dav...

dirk on 5 Jul 2004   Link to this

Davenant's warrant

The warrant King Charles gave to Davenant gave him the permission to "erect two companies of players

Glyn on 15 Sep 2004   Link to this

The famous painting of Pepys shows him holding a piece of music that he composed for some poetry of Davenant (presumably this Davenant). So Pepys was a fan of his.

Pauline on 2 Mar 2005   Link to this

Romeo and Juliet
The first officially recorded production of Romeo and Juliet took place after the Restoration (1660). On 1st March 1662 at Lincoln's Inn Fields the Duke's Company performed the play under the direction of Sir William Davenant (1606-68), a poet and playwright who claimed to be Shakespeare's illegitimate son. Davenant's text was never published so we do not now how close or removed it was from Shakespeare's but Jill L. Levenson tells us in her introduction to the Oxford Shakespeare edition that when Davenant received exclusive rights to nine Shakespeare plays, he resolved to reform them and make them 'fit' for performance. It seems likely, therefore, that there were some differences between Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and Davenant's. His cast included Henry Harris as Romeo, Mary Saunderson as Juliet and Thomas Betterton in the role of Mercutio.

from http://www.rsc.org.uk/romeo/about/stage.html

Stolzi on 23 Jul 2006   Link to this

The link in the first annotation is incorrect, it should be

http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Davenant

This article again mentions the gossip (which Davenant himself fostered) that he was the child of an amour of a greater dramatic William, Shaxper that is.

Michael Robinson on 11 Dec 2006   Link to this

The Pepysian Library contains the following:-

The works of Sr William D'avenant Kt consisting of those which were formerly printed, and those which he design'd for the press: now published out of the authors originall copies
London: printed by T[homas]. N[ewcomb]. for Henry Herringman, at the signe of the Blew Anchor in the lower walk of the New Exchange, 1673
[8], 402, [4], 68, 71-486, 111, [1] p., [1] leaf of plates: port.; 2⁰. Wing D320