Richard Cumberland (dramatist)

Richard Cumberland 1732-1811, English dramatist; great-grandson of the 17th-century philosopher Richard Cumberland. His family connections earned him a clerical position with the British board of trade. The author of over 40 plays, he was most successful with his sentimental comedies, the best of which are The Brothers (1769) and The West Indian (1771). He also wrote two seldom-read novels, Arundel (1789) and Henry (1795), and an autobiography (1806-7).

Cumberland, Richard (1732–1811), prolific English dramatist. He wrote a number of poor tragedies, including an adaptation of Timon of Athens with a new fifth act (1771), and new versions of Massinger's The Bondman and The Duke of Milan (both 1779), which have not survived. His best plays were sentimental domestic comedies such as The Brothers (1769) and The West Indian (1771), the latter proving his most successful work when produced by Garrick at Drury Lane. The only later play of interest was The Jew (1794), one of the first to plead the cause of Jewry on stage. It was frequently revived and translated into several languages. Cumberland, who was extremely sensitive to criticism, figures in Sheridan's The Critic (1779) as Sir Fretful Plagiary.

Cumberland, Richard (1732–1811), author of a number of sentimental comedies, of which The Brothers (1769) and The West Indian (1771) are the most interesting. He also wrote tragedies; two novels, Arundel (1789) and Henry (1795); a translation of the Clouds of Aristophanes; and an autobiography. Cumberland is caricatured by Sheridan as Sir Fretful Plagiary in The Critic.