Offstage Drama on Stage, 1685: James II, the Duke of Monmouth and 'Albion and Albanius'

In June 1685 Dorset Garden theatre staged the Dryden/Grabu opera Albion and Albanius. It had been intended as a performance at Court, but the death of Charles II in February had made that impossible while the court was in mourning. Dryden had written the play text as the story of two brothers who defended their country and the welfare of their subjects against the incursions of sectarianism and commercial greed. As such it had been intended as a fictionalised homage to Charles II and his brother James Duke of York (who in 1685 succeeded as James II), but the opera survived for only six performances before being brought to a halt by the Duke of Monmouth’s rebellion. Some of the dancing in the work included new scenes obliquely depicting the religious and political strife that intensified after James II’s accession and became the background to Monmouth’s rebellion. This paper looks at the structure of the opera and the ways in which the danced elements reflected the religious and political drama which ultimately engulfed it.