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John Rich (producer)

John Rich, as shown in the catalogue raisonné of William Hogarth
John Rich, as shown in the catalogue raisonné of William Hogarth
John Rich, from a print produced in 1750
Rich as Harlequin, c. 1720

John Rich (1692–1761) was an important director and theatre manager in 18th-century London. He opened The New Theatre at Lincoln's Inn Fields in 1714, which he managed until he built the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in 1732. He managed Covent Garden until 1761, putting on ever more lavish productions. He popularised pantomime on the English stage and played a dancing and mute Harlequin himself from 1717 to 1760 under the stage name of "Lun."[1][2] Rich's version of the servant character, Arlecchino, moved away from the poor, dishevelled, loud, and crude character, to a colourfully-dressed, silent Harlequin, performing fanciful tricks, dances and magic.[3] Rich's decision to be a silent character was influenced by his unappealing voice, of which he was well aware,[2] and the British idea of the Harlequin character was heavily inspired by Rich's performances.

  1. ^ "John Rich – Harlequin in England". Archived from the original on 2 July 2007. Retrieved 25 April 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link), PeoplePlayUK Theatre Museum, retrieved 2 July 2007
  2. ^ a b Grantham, Barry (2001). Playing Commedia. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. ISBN 0-325-00346-7.
  3. ^ Wilson, Matthew R. (2015). The Rutledge Companion to Commedia dell'Arte. New York: Routledge. pp. 359–60. ISBN 978-0-415-74506-2.

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