The Welsh Opera

The Welsh Opera is a play by Henry Fielding. First performed on 22 April 1731 in Haymarket, the play replaced The Letter Writers and became the companion piece to The Tragedy of Tragedies. It was also later expanded into The Grub-Street Opera. The play's purported author is Scriblerus Secundus who is also a character in the play. This play is about Secundus' role in writing two (Fielding) plays: The Tragedy of Tragedies and The Welsh Opera.

The play served as a tribute to Scriblerians (satirists and members of the informal Scriblerus Club), as such it allowed Fielding to satirise politics. As a political allegory that satirised the government of the time, the play was subject to attacks and a ban. Critics agree that the play was bold in both its writing and its message.

The first mention of The Welsh Opera in production comes from a Daily Post announcement on 6 April 1731 that the play would be postponed. It first ran on 22 April 1731 with three shows following in April and another in May. These performances were in the position of companion piece to The Tragedy of Tragedies as a replacement for The Letter Writers in that position. It later ran five times with The Fall of Mortimer during the summer and four times on its own before it was expanded into The Grub-Street Opera. The expansion was put in place to capitalise on the concept that was deemed popular by the public.

The expanded version of the play, The Grub-Street Opera, was not put on for an audience, which provoked E. Rayner to print The Welsh Opera without Fielding's consent. On 26 June 1731, the Daily Journal announced that E. Rayner and H. Cook published an edition of The Welsh Opera, which was followed by an announcement in the 28 June 1731 Daily Post:

Wheras one Rayner hath publish'd a strange Medley of Nonsense, under the Title of the Welch Opera, said to be written by the Author of the Tragedy of Tragedies; and also hath impudently affirm'd that this was a great Part of the Grub-Street Opera, which he attempts to insinuate was stopt by the Authority: This is to assure the Town, that what he hath publish'd is a very incorrect and spurious Edition of the Welch Opera, a very small Part of which was originally written by the said Author; and that it contains scarce any thing of the Grub-street Opera, excepting the Names of some of the Characters and a few of the Songs: This later Piece hath in it above fifty entire new Songs; and is so far from having been stopt by Authority (for which there could be no manner of Reason) that it is only postponed to a proper Time, when it is not doubted but the Town will be convinced how little that Performance agrees with the intolerable and scandalous Nonsense of this notorious Paper Pyrate.

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