The Duchess of Malfi received generally scathing reviews. William Archer, England's chief proponent of Ibsen's new drama, took advantage of the occasion to lambast what he saw as the overestimation of Elizabethan theatre in general. In 1919, the Phoenix Society revived the play in London for the first time in two decades. The production featured Cathleen Nesbitt as the Duchess; Robert Farquharson played Ferdinand. The production was widely disparaged. For many of the newspaper critics, the failure indicated that Webster had become a "curio"; T. S. Eliot, conversely, argued that the production had failed to uncover the elements that made Webster a great dramatist—specifically
John Cunningham (poet and dramatist) 1766 Extract from an Elegy on a pile of Ruins Search where Ambition raged with rigour steeled Where Slaughter like the rapid lightning ran And say, while memory weeps the blood-stained field Where lies the chief? And where the common man? Newcastle Beer – A lyrical poem with classical illusions, aimed at the moneyed class Holiday Gown John Cunningham (poet and dramatist) John Cunningham (1729–1773) was a Dublin born playwright, poet and actor, who spent much of his life in, and according to Allan, "whose name and fame will for ever be identified with Newcastle." John Cunningham was born in