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Sir John Vanbrugh, famous 17/18th century architect and playwright, is buried under St Stephen Walbrook church.
Peter Delaney mentioned at the Lighting Up dinner that a production of one of Vanbrugh's plays will be on a future events calendar.
Both Vanbrugh's plays are Restoration Comedy at its finest, with the sexual explicitness of "Carry On" films and typical stock characters such as Sir John Brute, Heartfree, Loveless and Lady Fancyfull.
But both also relate to a serious social problem - injustice to women - and Vanbrugh used drama to propound surprisingly feminist views.
The plays also refer to contemporary politics, in which Vanbrugh was involved to the extent that he spent some years in the Bastille for subversive activities.
"The Relapse or Virtue in Danger" is satirical farce, written as a sequel to a comedy by another dramatist (Colley Cibber). Although humorous, the play raises questions about married women's rights.
"The Provoked Wife" is about domestic abuse. Vanbrugh shocked his audiences by daring to suggest that, to make her life bearable, a woman could leave her wifebeating husband or take a lover.
Another play, "A Journey to London" was incomplete when Vanbrugh died but Cibber finished it and produced it as "The Provoked Husband". Vanbrugh had planned the finale to be the patriarchal husband demonstrating his full power by throwing his wife out. Cibber thought this too strong for comedy; he made the wife repent and gave the play an "and they lived happily ever after" ending, obscuring Vanbrugh's intended message.
Vanbrugh also adapted some French plays into English. "The Confederacy", which is about social status and "The Country House", another farce about marital problems.
I wonder which play we're going to see at St Stephen Walbrook?

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Replies to This Discussion

Thank you Lynda for sharing these particular facts about Sir John Vanbrugh. He was as you say a social commentator and criticised as such during his lifetime. In fact it is becuse of this that often his plays are not performed. I would like to begin with a reading of one of his plays to explore the text before we decide to take this further both for the Internet Church and the production.
If you are interested in this as a project, or are an actor and would like to become a part of this project let me know?

Peter Delaney
My dear Lynda

It is my hope that some of the Mountview Theatre School and Biggins and Lynda Bellingham will be guiding us throufgh a reading of A Journey to London once their variious professional committments have finished.

Best wishes, Peter
Wow! This is great news as my first love is drama.
I hope that this won't stop at a reading and that we can perform this play at St Stephen Walbrook.
Please let me know WHEN this will happen.
Lynda

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