The Duenna - Original 1802 Playbill

Birmingham: Knott and Lloyd. [1802]. Original playbill for a July 29, 1802 performance of Thomas Linley's opera The Duenna, starring the English singer and actress Elizabeth Billington. At the Birmingham Theatre, the evening's entertainment also included "A new dance, called The Shipwreck'd Sailor," and "the Farce of The Deaf Lover." Light toning, soiling and some very small splits; overall in fine condition for its age. 8 x 12.25 inches (20.2 x 31.2 cm).

First performed in the Covent Garden Theatre on 21 November 1775, The Duenna was performed seventy-five times in its first season, and was frequently revived in Britain until the 1840s. The Deaf Lover is a farce by Frederick Pilon (1750-1788), first performed at Covent Garden ca. 1780.

"On her death, the Gentleman's Magazine described [Billington] as 'the most celebrated vocal performer that England ever produced’...Her first London stage appearance was as Rosetta in a royal command performance of Love in a Village (February 1786); she was an instant success, commanding high fees and playing only leading roles. She sang Clara in The Duenna, the title role in Rosina and Polly in The Beggar's Opera, and created parts in works by Shield and others. She sang in London concerts, including the Professional Concert, in oratorio seasons and in provincial festivals....The accuracy of her intonation, the brilliance and taste of her ornaments and the high tessitura of her voice dazzled audiences and impressed the connoisseurs. Burney declared: ‘nothing but envy or apathy can hear her without delight’." (Olive Baldwin and Thelma Wilson, Grove Online) (15946)

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