ANDRÉ
André represents the tragedy of American history. It was not the first historical tragedy, but its predecessors were either school pieces like Breckenridge's Battle of Bunker Hill or else, like John Burk's dramatization of the same conflict, were of little worth.
William Dunlap was born February 19, 1766, at Perth Amboy, New Jersey. He grew up with a fondness for the theatre, and saw many of the productions of the British soldiers in New York City during the Revolution. From 1784 to 1787, he spent in England and there saw the best actors of that period. Returning to New York, he was inspired by the success of The Contrast to write plays. His first play to be performed, The Father or American Shandyism, was played by the American Company at the John Street Theatre, New York, September 7, 1789, and was a comedy of manners. His career as a playwright, which lasted until 1828, his activity as the manager of the American Company from 1796 to 1805, and his invaluable History of the American Theatre, make him the most important figure in our early dramatic history. He was connected with the theatre again from 1810 to 1811, but his most important work was done before 1805. He became Assistant Paymaster General of New York State from 1813 to 1816. Dunlap died in 1839.
Dunlap wrote or adapted more than sixty plays. Of the various fields in which he worked, the most significant were first, his plays based on native material, and second, his adaptations from the German and from the French. To the first group belong beside The Father, Darty's Return, played November 24, 1789, and printed in 1789, interesting on account of its association with Washington; André; The Glory of Columbia; and Yankee Chronology, an account of the fight between the Constitution and the Guerrière, played September 9, 1812, nine days after the battle, and printed in the same year. His last play, A Trip to Niagara, performed November 28, 1828, and printed in 1830, was upon a native theme.
The Stranger, his first adaptation from the German of Kotzebue, was played December 10, 1798. It was made from an English version, but its success encouraged him to study German, and he adapted at least thirteen plays of Kotzebue, the best being False Shame, or the American Orphan in Germany, a domestic comedy played December 11, 1799, and printed in 1800; The Virgin of the Sun, a play laid in Peru, performed March 12, 1800, and printed the same year, and Fraternal Discord, a domestic drama, played October 24, 1800,
81
