Rape Upon Rape - Background

Background

Rape upon Rape, or Rape upon Rape; or, The Justice Caught in His Own Trap was a five act comedic play that was written early 1730. It was advertised to start on 15 June 1730, but, after a delay, it first ran on 23 June 1730 at the Little Theatre for eight nights until 21 July 1730. It was originally shown at the Haymarket theatre without a companion play. However, it was later shown with Tom Thumb on 1 July 1730 and with Jack the Giant Killer on 10 July 1730. The play was shown four more times at the Lincoln's Inn Fields theatre during that December under a new title, The Coffee-House Politician. The first printing of the play coincided with its opening night, 23 June 1730.

It was later altered, retitled The Coffee-House Politician, and featured at Lincoln's Inn Fields during the autumn. There is little information known as to why Fielding retitled the play, although Cross and Dudden both speculate that it was based on objections to the title. The play was advertised on 3 December and 4 December 1730 Daily Post as a revised version, but there are no surviving manuscripts reflecting any major revisions to the play. If the play was altered by Fielding, then the changes would exist within the humour that would have become outdated. It is known that another act was added to the play, titled The Battle of the Poets, on 30 November 1730, but its author is unknown. Fielding did not like the addition and made it clear in an announcement about the play's production in the 30 November 1730 Daily Journal. During the 20th century, the play was turned into a musical titled Lock Up Your Daughters (1959), enjoying success, and the original play was later performed for 20 nights at the Soho Rep Theatre during 1983.