Prison culture, an urban folk-hero, and a failed pantomime: Harlequin Sheppard (Drury Lane, 1724)

The first new pantomime Drury Lane management mounted following the
phenomenal success of Harlequin Doctor Faustus in the 1723-24 season was a piece
called Harlequin Sheppard, which premiered 28 November 1724. It had an initial
run of just seven performances, and was never revived. In a very recent book I
have briefly touched on this pantomime, noting how it resonated with the theme
of prison culture at the time. In this talk I propose to examine some components
of the production, and to consider the character who inspired it in a little greater
detail. What must have been a fairly hasty decision to produce and prepare the
new pantomime seems to have been something of an imperative for Drury Lane
management, for the title role of the show, John Sheppard (1702-24), was based
in a real-life personality who had been executed at Tyburn just twelve days
before the show’s premiere. The pantomime sought to tap into a craze for John
(or Jack) Sheppard that had swept through London in the Fall of 1724, and Drury
Lane hoped to capitalize.