John O'Keeffe

Michael Swanson (Elizabethtown College)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.06: English Writing and Culture of the Romantic Period, 1789-1837.
Vol. editors: Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Daniel Robinson (Widener University)

Dates

Born 24 Jun 1747
Died 4 Feb 1833
Activity 1767-1833

Places

Born in Ireland, Republic of (Eire)
Active in England; Ireland, Republic of (Eire)

Activities

Primary

Playwright / Dramatist

Resources

John O'Keeffe was the most produced playwright on the London stage in the last quarter of the eighteenth century. His fifty-seven plays, representing almost all of the popular genres of the time, saw 2006 performances during that period. Shakespeare's plays had the next largest number of performances, at 1510, while the plays of Richard Brinsley Sheridan received 1090 performances. O'Keeffe's plays are perhaps the best examples of the mingling of humor and sentiment in eighteenth-century comedy. O'Keeffe's afterpieces, burlettas, musical farces, and full-length plays held the stage into the nineteenth century, but eventually fell out of favor due to the rise of melodrama. When the Royal Shakespeare Company revived his best play, …

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2603 words

Citation: Swanson, Michael. "John O'Keeffe". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 10 December 2007 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=11882, accessed 26 November 2024.]

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