An Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber: With an Historical View of the Stage During His Own Time

by Colley Cibber, Byrne R.S. Fone

As an actor, manager, and playwright, Colley Cibber was among the most influential members of the London theater in the 18th century. In this book, he not only defended himself against personal attacks from such well-known figures as Johnson, Fielding, and Pope, but also produced one of the most important and indispensable accounts of a vital period in English theatrical history. Cibber accurately chronicles the plays, playwrights, and actors of the day in unstinting detail, affording theater lovers and historians an incomparable glimpse of the beginnings of modern theater.

404 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1938

About the author

Colley Cibber was an English actor-manager, playwright and Poet Laureate. His colourful memoir Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber (1740) describes his life in a personal, anecdotal and even rambling style. He wrote 25 plays for his own company at Drury Lane, half of which were adapted from various sources, which led Robert Lowe and Alexander Pope, among others, to criticise his "miserable mutilation" of "crucified Molière [and] hapless Shakespeare". He regarded himself as first and foremost an actor and had great popular success in comical fop parts, while as a tragic actor he was persistent but much ridiculed. 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 Dunciad.

Cibber's poetical work was derided in his time, and has been remembered only for being poor. His importance in British theatre 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.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I should have read this long ago, as it provides a bit of richness to my personal appreciation of Pope’s Dunciad. I’ve always considered Cibber a celebrity first and an actor/poet second. Nothing in this book leads me to change that view. I would, however, recommend this autobiography to anyone who wants an example of one person’s contemporary view of early Restoration theatre life. The Restoration is an exciting period and Restoration comedy, in particular, is all-too-super-wicked-ultra-marvy-cool. I enjoyed the information I squeezed out of it, but gave it only two stars because of the author’s meandering, icky manner that, at times, made me feel like I was sitting in a huge vat of warm tapioca pudding while wearing an itchy, wool coat. (Guess I’m not kinky enough to appreciate Cibber’s writing style.)