HAPPY BIRTHDAY – John Gay, born 30 June 1685
John Gay
“Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I understand.”
I have never read any of Gay’s plays (I’d rather see plays than read them), but I have seen two performances of his The Beggar’s Opera and they were great fun. If it ever comes on at a theatre near you, do go and see it. It was a hugely famous play in its day, and created a great interest in crime, especially in highwaymen. I refer to it in my book Jane Austen and Crime, and perhaps seeing the play helped spark my interest in Georgian crime.
John Gay was a poet as well as a dramatist. He knew everyone in the literary London of his day – Pope, Swift, Congreve and Arbuthnot. He was a member of the famed Scriblerus Club. A recent novel, The Fatal Tree by Jake Arnott, has John Gay as a character.
I’d be most interested to know what you think of his work? Tell me in the comment area below.
The Beggar’s Opera by John Gay
Jane Austen and Crime by Susannah Fullerton
The Fatal Tree by Jake Arnott
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