British Playwright Colley Cibber's "Papal Tyranny" opens in London - 1745

On February 15, 1745, Colley Cibber’s Papal Tyranny premieres in London. British playwright and Poet Laureate Colley Cibber was born on November 6, 1671 in Southampton, London, England. He wrote 25 plays for his own company at Drury Lane, half of which were adapted from various sources. Cibber's brash, extroverted personality did not sit well with his contemporaries, and he was frequently accused of tasteless theatrical productions, shady business methods, and a social and political opportunism that was thought to have gained him the laureateship over far better poets. He rose to ignominious fame when he became the chief target, the head Dunce, of Alexander Pope's satirical poem Duncaid. His importance in British theater history rests on his being one of the first in a long line of actor-managers, on the interest of two of his comedies as documents of evolving early 18th-century taste and ideology, and on the value of his autobiography as a historical source. He died suddenly at his home in London on December 11, 1757.  

Michael Thomas Barry is the author of Great Britain’s Literary Legends. The book can be pre-ordered from Amazon through the following links: 

Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Great-Britains-Literary-Legends-Writers/dp/0764344382/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_3 

Amazon UK - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Britains-Literary-Legends-Writers/dp/0764344382/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1