The first performance of the play was at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, on 31 January 1805.
Robert William Elliston played Aranza, with Miss Duncan (Maria Rebecca Davison) as Juliana.
[3] It was revived at Drury Lane on 30 June 1827, with James Warde as the Duke and Frances Eleanor Jarman as his wife.
The Duke of Aranza, pretending to be a peasant who has tricked his new bride, Juliana, into marriage, takes her to their supposed new home, a modest country cottage.
When she submits to his will, he reveals his true identity and installs her in her rightful place in his palace.