author
Joseph Patrat
1732–1801
An 18th-century French actor and playwright, he built a career onstage before turning his sharp eye for comedy and drama into a large body of theatrical work. He is also remembered for writing the libretto for Grétry’s opera Richard Coeur-de-lion.
1 Audiobook
The Widow's Vow: A Farce, in Two Acts
by Mrs. Inchbald, Joseph Patrat
About the author
Born in Arles and active during the later 18th century, Joseph Patrat was a French actor and playwright. Sources describe him as the son of a stagehand, and his early career took him through Berlin and the Austrian Netherlands before he became known in the French theatrical world.
Patrat wrote widely for the stage, especially comedies, and built a reputation as a productive dramatist. He is often noted today for his connection to music as well as theater, since he wrote the libretto for André Grétry’s opera Richard Coeur-de-lion.
Although some reference works list his birth year as 1732, major biographical sources also give a specific birth date of May 7, 1733, with his death in Paris on June 4, 1801. That small uncertainty aside, he stands out as a lively figure of French theatrical culture in the years before and after the Revolution.