It was licensed for performance by Sir Henry Herbert, the Master of the Revels, on 19 January 1634; it was staged by the King's Men at the Blackfriars Theatre.
"[1] Herbert was initially unhappy with The Wits, particularly on account of its oaths and explicit language; the influential courtier Endymion Porter interceded with King Charles I to tolerate and allow the play, which then proved popular at Court.
"[4] When Davenant became manager of the newly organized Duke's Company at the beginning of the Restoration era, one of the first plays he produced was The Wits (1661), with Thomas Betterton in the lead role and Hester Davenport as Lady Ample.
The older fancies himself a "wit;" he controls the family fortune through the rules of primogeniture, and denies his younger relative any funds.
Both are wealthy landowners from the north of England, who have developed an absurd plan; outfitting themselves in flashy clothes, they have come to London to live by their wits.
The play's two sides are now drawn: Lady Ample and her followers, and young Pallatine and his, are united in the goal of humiliating the two self-styled wits and cheating them of their money.
In the end, the conspirators are rewarded with ample funds; the Elder Pallatine graciously concedes that his younger brother is his superior in wit, and endows him with one of his country estates.