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Francis Beaumont (1584-1616) was an English playwright, mainly remembered for his successful collaboration with John Fletcher. Beaumont's most famous plays include The Woman Hater and The Knight of the Burning Pestle. He began to collaborate with Fletcher in about 1606-08, and their first success came in 1609 with Philaster, followed a year later by The Maid's Tragedy and A King and No King. Together, they wrote at least six plays; in a further seven or eight cases the attribution is probable but not certain. Suzanne Gossett (Ph.D. Princeton) is Professor Emerita of English at Loyola University Chicago. She is a General Editor of Arden Early Modern Drama and has recently served as president of the Shakespeare Association of America. John Fletcher (1579-1625) was an English dramatist who collaborated with Francis Beaumont on at least six plays. They began working together in about 1607 and had their first success in 1609 with Philaster; or Love Lies Bleeding.
After Beaumont's retirement in 1613, Fletcher became chief playwright for the King's Men; in addition to writing his own plays, he apparently collaborated with Shakespeare on three works: Two Noble Kinsmen, Henry VIII, and a lost play, The History of Cardenio. He also collaborated with Nathan Field, William Rowley and Philip Massinger, who succeeded him to the post of the King's Men's playwright in 1625.
His own plays include the pastoral The Faithful Shepherdess (1608), the tragedy Bonduca (1613), and the comedies Wit Without Money (1614), The Wild Goose Chase (1621), and The Chances (1625), which was revived at the Chichester Festival Theatre in 1962. His work remained enormously popular until the end of the 17th century. |
