Nell Gwynn is a play by the British playwright Jessica Swale, begun in 2013[1] and premiering at Shakespeare's Globe from 19 September to 17 October 2015.
[3] Hearing Nell Gwynn heckle at the playhouse, Charles Hart decides to train her as an actress, just before women are first allowed on the London stage—the pair also become lovers.
A French diplomatic party arrives and Arlington orchestrates Charles into taking Louise de Kéroualle as his mistress.
As she is out of practice, she gives the lead role to Kynaston, but insists on speaking an epilogue which she writes; it closes both Dryden's and Swale's plays.
[10] The premiere production transferred to the Apollo Theatre, where it played from 4 February to 30 April 2016, with the lead role taken over by Gemma Arterton.
[12][13] Original director Christopher Luscombe helmed the US premiere of the play at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater from 20 September to 4 November 2018.
[14] In 2019, Robert Richmond directed the East Coast premiere at Folger Theatre (January 29 - March 10) in a production that featured Broadway's Alison Luff as Nell Gwynn, Quinn Franzen as Charles Hart, and R. J.