Recollections of the Life of John O'Keeffe
Written by Himself

A two-volume memoir published in 1826 by an Irish playwright renowned for his comic operas and farces.

John O'Keeffe (Author)

9781108034883, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 10 November 2011

426 pages, 1 b/w illus.
21.6 x 14 x 2.4 cm, 0.54 kg

John O'Keeffe (1747–1833) was an Irish playwright who began his career as an actor in 1764. His first significant success as a writer was the play The Son-in-Law in 1779, and he was later called 'our English Molière' by essayist William Hazlitt. He moved to London in 1781 - around the same time that his marriage broke down - and wrote a string of successful comic operas and dramatic works, including Wild Oats (1791). However, he suffered from failing eyesight and was nearly blind at the height of his fame. He dictated this memoir, published in two volumes in 1826, to his daughter, Adelaide (1776–1865). In Volume 1, O'Keeffe recounts his childhood in Ireland, his first trip to London in 1762, where he saw the legendary actor and theatre producer David Garrick (1717–79) on stage, and the beginning of his own dramatic career upon returning to Dublin.

Preface
1. Birth
2. The Franchises of Dublin
3. August 12, 1762
4. Return to Dublin
5. Limerick
6. Kilkenny
7. Lord Taaffe
8. Youthful parties in Dublin
9. English actors in Dublin
10. Marriage.

Subject Areas: Theatre studies [AN]