A recent issue of The Coleridge Bulletin contained an article shedding light on William Linley, the brother-in-law of Richard Brinsley Sheridan who ineffectively intervened to try to get S.T. Coleridge's play Osorio staged at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
According to Cheshire's article, Sheridan was asking for recommendations for "any young man of poetical genius who would furnish a good Tragedy for Drury Lane." The poet William Lisle Bowles claimed he suggested Coleridge, in spite of never having met the author, simply on the strength of his verses, which were not yet well known to the public.
Bowles, Linley, and Coleridge then met at Donhead St. Mary, a "cottage" Bowles owned which was actually a sizable property. The musically gifted Linley sang a song and Coleridge read aloud his draft of the tragedy Osorio. Everything seemed to go well, and Coleridge even wrote a sonnet about hearing Linley sing. This all went down in September of 1797, though it took quite a bit of time after that for Coleridge to get his play staged.
In October, Coleridge forwarded his completed script to Sheridan, who was unimpressed. Linley apparently showed a draft to the actor John Philip Kemble, who as the leading actor at Drury Lane, would have likely appeared in the piece. Linley's efforts to try to drum up interest in the tragedy might have backfired, though. Sheridan didn't always get along with his brother-in-law. He later commissioned Linley to compose music for his play Pizarro, but then had the singer Michael Kelly write the music instead.
Poor Linley didn't seem to be able to catch a break. Cheshire writes about how he composed an opera called The Honey Moon that opened in January of 1797 and closed after one night. Apparently, partisans in the audience had vocally expressed their disapproval of the piece. Eventually, Linley returned to India, where he had previously worked at a colonial post secured for him by Sheridan.
As for Coleridge, he was disappointed by the rejection of Osorio, but as Cheshire points out, it might have been a blessing in disguise. When he later rewrote the play as Remorse, it became the hit of the 1813 season.
Coleridge's birthday is tomorrow. If you've never read Remorse, it might be a good time to do so. You can find the text online here.
