5. ‘The Beggar’s Opera’ Was So Hilarious, A Theatergoer Laughed Herself to Death
In April of 1782, a Mrs. Fitzherbert went out with some friends to see The Beggar’s Opera in London, starring a popular actor named Charles Bannister. When Bannister appeared onstage in drag, portraying a character named Polly Peachum, the audience was thrown into fits of laughter. The audience eventually collected itself, wiped the tears from its eyes, and resumed watching the play. Not so, Mrs. Fitzherbert. As described by The Gentleman’s Magazine soon thereafter: “Not being able to banish the figure from her memory, she was thrown into hysterics, which continued without intermission until she expired on Friday morning”
Another contemporary source described it in more detail: “Mrs. Fitzherbert, the widow of a Northamptonshire clergyman, had been with some friends to Drury Lane on the evening of 17 April 1782 to see the transvestite ‘Beggar’s Opera’ in which Charles Bannister played Polly. This lady was overcome by laughter to the extent that she had to leave before the end of the second act. She continued in hysterics until the morning of 19 April, when she died“.