A tale of love, honour and merry confusion...
THE ADVENTURES OF SIR SAMUEL TUKE
By Paul M.S. Hopkins

ISBN 9780953643042. Paperback, 148pp
£9.99
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When soldier-courtier Sir Samuel Tuke turned playwright to please King Charles II, he produced Restoration theatre's first smash hit. The Adventures of Five Hours stayed popular for more than a century - and then disappeared from the theatre repertory.

Paul M.S. Hopkins tells the story of this little known gem of the theatre and its improbable author.

Tuke's was the ultimate amateur triumph. With no apparent interest in building on his success, he married, cultivated court life and wrote no other play, although he has an obscure article on oyster-gathering in Essex to his credit.

Set in Spain of the Golden Age and inspired by the Spanish master Calderon, The Adventures of Five Hours is a romp full of love, honour and merry confusion. The diarist Samuel Pepys pronounced it "better than Othello".

Author Hopkins calls this a "curious" judgement, but argues in an extended introduction that Restoration theatre is about more than Congreve, Wycherley and Etherege. It is time Tuke's play is restored to the repertory where it belongs. This book makes that easier - it includes the full authentic play text and suggestions for staging.

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