‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore

Abstract

‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore was written at some time before 1633 by John Ford (1586–C.1640); there is insufficient factual evidence to decide whether it was written well before or near that date. The first evidence of its performance, the quarto published in 1663, says it was ‘Acted by the Queen’s Majesty’s Servants, at the Phoenix in Drury Lane’ (a company formed in 1626), and an apology for misprints at the end of the text (which was probably written by Ford himself) refers ambiguously to ‘The general commendation deserved by the actors in their presentment of this tragedy’. The play remained in the repertoire at the Phoenix until the closing of all theatres by the Puritans in 1642. After the Restoration, Pepys saw it at the Salisbury Court Theatre; ‘a simple play and ill-acted’. The actors were probably George Jolly’s company, who later took it to Norwich in 1663. Its subject-matter then kept it from the stage for the next two centuries until 1894, when Maurice Maeterlinck presented a cautious adaptation entitled Anabella at the Théâtre de L’Oeuvre, Paris, but academic and professional companies have since regularly proved its ability to challenge and grip modern audiences.