ABSTRACT
The brilliant, beautiful Irish actress Peg Woffington bewitched audiences playing dissolute young men as well as saucy chambermaids. David Garrick found her irresistible, both as an acting partner and as a woman. While London’s playhouses were closed during the 1742 summer season, Garrick and Woffington were invited to perform at Dublin’s Smock Alley theatre, which had a lively and sophisticated theatrical scene. They played opposite each other in King Lear, Hamlet, and Richard III, as well as in several Restoration and contemporary comedies. When they returned to London, their love affair was the talk of the town, ending only when he declined to marry her.
