he provided the match which fired the cannon responsible for the deed. Marie Stuart (Mary Stuart, 1683). A tragedy. Based on the life of the ill-fated Mary, Queen of Scots. An unsuccessful work, though profitable for the writer. Boursault dedicated the work to François de Beauvilliers, 1st duc de Saint-Aignan. The Duc was sufficiently pleased to pay him a sum of 100 louis. This play was an entry to a long string of epic poems and dramas on the subject, mostly produced in France and Spain. Previous writers which had covered this popular subject were Antoine de Montchrestien (his version was written in 1596, and published in 1601), Tommaso Campanella (1598), Lope de Vega (1627), Charles Regnault (1639), Juan Bautista Diamante (1660), and Manuel de Gallegos (1660). Subsequent ones would include Vittorio Alfieri (1788), Friedrich Schiller (1800), and Gaetano Donizetti (1834). Les Fables d'Ésope, comédie or Ésope à la Ville (English: Aesop's Fables or Aesop in the City, 1690). A moralistic play, where Aesop responds to any question and difficulty by reciting a relevant fable. The "superhuman wisdom and virtue" of the character were derided by later critics, who tended to find the traits wearisome. The initial production was not without its problems. The theatrical company which staged the play insisted on excluding a certain scene of the second act, while Boursault insisted on its inclusion. He only prevailed on the argument by convincing a valet de chambre to intervene on his behalf. On the opening performance, the initial audience reception was hostile. The play consisted of the main character narrating familiar tales, against their expectations. Jean Baptist Raisin, the lead actor, then interrupted the performance to explain why it was necessary. He explained that Aesop reciting his fables preserved the very essence of his character. His speech was met with applause and requests for the performance to continue. The play became a profitable hit. It was translated and revised for the English stage by John Vanbrugh, debuting under the title Aesop: a Comedy (January, 1697). Vanbrugh abandoned the stylish rhyming couplets of Boursault, revising them to a "racier prose-with-songs". His Aesop was more naturalistic than his French counterpart, and spoke in a vernacular form of English. This version of Boursault's work was regularly performed at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane to 1720. The work served at familiarizing Aesop to a wide English audience. Already in 1698, it inspired various pamphlets