William Leman Rede
William Leman Rede (31 January 1802 – 3 April 1847), often referred to as simply
Leman Rede, was one of the many prolific and successful playwrights who composed
farces,
melodramas,
burlettas (light musical and comedies) and
travesties, primarily for theatres such as the
Olympic,
Strand, and
Adelphi, in the early nineteenth century. He proudly proclaimed himself a follower of
Thomas Frognall Dibdin, W. T. Moncrieff,
James Robinson Planché,
Douglas William Jerrold and
John Baldwin Buckstone—writers who established the "minor drama". This term referred to plays that were produced at venues other than
Covent Garden,
Drury Lane and the
Haymarket, the "
patent theatres" that had a legal monopoly on the presentation of serious, non-musical productions. The minor dramas did so well, however, that the patent theatres soon augmented their own bills with the same type of fare.
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