| Ralph Roister Doister | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Nicholas Udall |
| Characters | Ralph Roister Doister; Matthew Merrygreeke; Dobinet Doughty; Harpax; Christian Custance; Madge Mumblecrust; Tibet Talkapace; Annot Alyface; Trupenny; Gawyn Goodluck; Tristram Trustie; Sym Suresby; Scrivener |
| Date premiered | 1550s |
| Place premiered | London |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | Comedy |
| Setting | London |
Ralph Roister Doister is a sixteenth-century play by Nicholas Udall, which was once regarded as the first comedy to be written in the English language.[1]
The date of its composition is disputed, but the balance of opinion suggests that it was written in about 1552, when Udall was a schoolmaster in London, and some theorise the play was intended for public performance by his pupils—who were all male, as were most actors in that period. The work was not published until 1567, 11 years after its author's death.
- ^ O'Brien (2004). As Glynne Wickham has shown, there is a rich tradition of medieval comic drama before this play, the earliest of which to survive is the secular farce The Interlude of the Student and the Girl (c. 1300); see Wickham (1976, 195–203) and (1981, 173–218).