ABSTRACT
Why dramatick opera, which had languished for the most part in obscurity throughout much of the previous decade, should suddenly burst into prominence again at the beginning of the 1690s is not entirely clear. If we take the mid-1680s productions of the through-composed Albion and Albanius and Cadmus et Hermione as indicative of a new, more absolutist trend in spectacular musical drama, then the abrupt political changes of 1688–89, and hence the desire to return to a more nativist cultural mode, may provide one explanation. Another factor may have to do with United Company management, specifically the company’s gradual financial recovery following the loss brought on by Albion’s premature closure, 1 as well as changes in the role of its leading creative figure, Thomas Betterton. Despite the disappointment engendered by the failure of his grand theatrical project of 1683–85, Betterton may still have had plans in mind for an eventual renewal of operatic endeavors: it is possible that he embarked on yet another scouting trip to Paris in the summer or autumn of 1685, as a pass was issued to him on 25 July, 2 and in November 1687 he and William Smith (who had succeeded Henry Harris as co-manager in 1681) accepted a financially advantageous buyout from the chief shareholder Alexander Davenant whereby Alexander’s younger brother Thomas would take over formal managerial duties, subject to Betterton’s and Smith’s training and mentoring. 3 This arrangement presumably freed Betterton up to focus on his acting, to control company affairs unofficially (it would later be noted in testimony that “all things were done as Mr. Betterton would have it” 4 ), and ultimately to undertake the adaptation of one or more old plays into the kinds of spectacular productions in which he was now so well-versed.
