The Belle's Stratagem

Newspaper Reviews: Belle’s Stratagem (1780)

Gazetteer and New Daily Advertiser, Feb. 26, 1780

Theatrical Intelligence.

We purposely avoid giving an account of the performers in the new comedy of The Belle’s Stratagem, till the second night; from a wish to do justice to so excellent a performance, in which so many of the principal actors are engaged. The first night of a new play ought generally to be considered as the last rehearsal, rather than the first finished performance, from the number of little awkward circumstances which intervene, and destroy the intended effect; especially in a play of so much variety, bustle, and business, as the present.

From The Belle's Stratagem

Carrington Bowles, Mr. Mattocks and Mr. Quick

Carrington Bowles, Mr. Mattocks and Mr. Quick in the Characters of Don Ferdinand and Isaac Mendoza in the Duenna. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

From The Belle's Stratagem

James Fittler (after Richard Cosway)

James Fittler (after Richard Cosway), Mrs. Cowley, stipple etching and engraving, 1785. Trustees of the British Museum.

From The Belle's Stratagem