# Fatal Extravagance

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{{Short description|Play by Aaron Hill}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox play
| name              = Fatal Extravagance
| image             =
| image_size        =
| caption           = 
| writer            = [Aaron Hill](/source/Aaron_Hill_(writer))
| setting           = 
| date of premiere  = 21 April 1721<ref>Burling p.91</ref>
| original language = English
| place             = [Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre](/source/Lincoln's_Inn_Fields_Theatre)
| series            = 
| subject           = 
| genre             = Tragedy
}}
'''''Fatal Extravagance''''' is a 1721 [tragedy](/source/tragedy) by the British writer [Aaron Hill](/source/Aaron_Hill_(writer)). It was presented by another writer Joseph Mitchell, a friend of Hill, at the [Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre](/source/Lincoln's_Inn_Fields_Theatre) in London.<ref>Gerrard p.9</ref> The original cast included [James Quin](/source/James_Quin) as Bellmour, [Anthony Boheme](/source/Anthony_Boheme) as Courtney, [John Ogden](/source/John_Ogden_(actor)) as Bargrave and [Anna Maria Seymour](/source/Anna_Maria_Seymour) as Louisa. It was printed with the slightly longer title '''''The Fatal Extravagance'''''.

Hill was inspired by the recent [South Sea Bubble](/source/South_Sea_Bubble) where speculative investment had led to a massive crash, ruining backers of the company. In the play this takes the former a out-of-control [gambler](/source/gambler) who ends up killing a [creditor](/source/creditor) and planning to commit suicide.<ref>Gerrard p.54</ref>

In 1793 a version of the play retitled ''The Prodigal'' by [Francis Godolphin Waldron](/source/Francis_Godolphin_Waldron) was staged at the [Haymarket Theatre](/source/Haymarket_Theatre), with a [happy ending](/source/happy_ending) added.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* Burling, William J. ''A Checklist of New Plays and Entertainments on the London Stage, 1700-1737''. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1992.
* Gerrard, Christine. ''Aaron Hill: The Muses' Projector, 1685-1750''. Oxford University Press, 2003.

{{Authority control}}

Category:1721 plays
Category:Plays by Aaron Hill
Category:West End plays
Category:British tragedy plays

{{1720s-play-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Fatal Extravagance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatal_Extravagance) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatal_Extravagance?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.