The romantic comedy A Bold Stroke for a Wife (1718) is the eighteenth and penultimate play written by the prolific and successful dramatist Susanna Centlivre (1669–1723). It was first performed at Lincoln’s Inn Theatre on 3 February 1718 and ran for a respectable six performances, which brought Centlivre two third-night benefits. Along with The Busy Body (1709) and The Wonder: A Woman Keeps a Secret! (1714), A Bold Stroke for a Wife is among a cluster of Centlivre’s plays that enjoyed an enduring reputation and performance and publication history throughout the eighteenth century. According to Bowyer, it “was acted in London more than eighty times before 1750 and nearly a …
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Citation: Seager, Nicholas. "A Bold Stroke for a Wife". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 24 October 2022 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=7267, accessed 08 September 2024.]