John Gay, The What D'Ye Call It

Ian Gordon (Anglia Ruskin University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.05: English Writing and Culture from the Glorious Revolution to the French Revolution, 1689-1789.
Vol. editors: Paul Baines (University of Liverpool), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Pat Rogers (University of South Florida), Nicholas Seager (University of Keele)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1715

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Comedy
Farce
Pastoral
Play

Resources

The What D'Ye Call It, described by Gay as a “tragic-comi-pastoral farce” [sic], received its first performance at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, on 23 February 1715. It was Gay's most successful play after The Beggar's Opera [see separate entry], receiving twenty one successive performances and going on to be published in six different editions in his lifetime. In his “Preface” Gay claims to be the “first who have introduced this kind of dramatic entertainment upon the stage,” and argues that the whole art of the play “lies in interweaving the several kinds of the drama into each other, so that they cannot be distinguished or separated.” The play is a farce, containing a play-within-a-play, spoofing …

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1795 words

Citation: Gordon, Ian. "The What D'Ye Call It". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 05 February 2004 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=8131, accessed 24 November 2024.]

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