The Gamester (UNABRIDGED)

The Gamester is Edward Moore's most famous work, and while it has fallen into relative obscurity in the last century, at the time it marked an important shift in the staging of eighteenth century tragedy. More specifically, it was one of the first plays to depict bourgeois suffering through the valence of moral values, moving the genre away from the lofty depiction of kings and empires toward something much closer to home for middle-class audiences. As such, the play depicts the trials and tribulations of Beverley, a dissolute gambler whose uncontrollable addiction has endangered the financial security of his household. Unbeknownst to him, however, is the fact that his money is being pocketed by a cadre of villainous sharpers led by the Machiavellian Stukely, who has designs on Beverley's wife and pretends to be his concerned friend. What follows is a drama that, while not possessing the greatest artistic merit, nevertheless affects us as keenly as it did the people who saw its first performance at the Drury Lane Theater on February 7, 1753.