ABSTRACT
In 1781 de Loutherbourg’s permanent contract at Drury Lane came to an end, but he continued to live in England, and indeed did some of his most striking work at Covent Garden. Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg may not have been a true revolutionary himself, but he refined, focused and made concrete scattered ideas and hopes. De Loutherbourg’s conception was the integration of all the visual aspects of the production, and he demanded absolute authority over all relevant areas – scenery, lighting and costume. The somewhat flimsy story was based on Captain Cook’s voyages in the south Pacific, and de Loutherbourg used sketches made on the spot by Cook’s fellow traveller, John Webber, in his designs. Despite some input into The Pygmy at Drury Lane at the end of 1772, de Loutherbourg’s first major work for David Garrick was for the 1773 revival of Mallett and Thomson’s Alfred, the patriotic masque which included ‘Rule Britannia’ among its musical numbers.
