The Opportunity

The Opportunity is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy written by James Shirley, published in 1640. The play has been called "a capital little comedy, fairly bubbling over with clever situations and charming character."

The Opportunity was licensed for performance by Sir Henry Herbert, the Master of the Revels, on 29 November 1634. It was acted by Shirley's regular company, Queen Henrietta's Men, at the Cockpit Theatre. The 1640 quarto was dedicated by Shirley to a personal friend, Capt. Richard Owen. Shirley relied on El Castigo del Penséque by Tirso de Molina as his source for the plot of his play.

The 1640 quarto was printed by Thomas Cotes for the booksellers Andrew Crooke and William Cooke. The play was popular, and was revived early in the Restoration era, in November 1660. During the Interregnum when the theatres were closed, material from The Opportunity was extracted and performed as a droll called The Price of Conceit, published in The Wits in 1672.

Synopsis

Aurelio Andreozzi is a young gentleman from Milan. He comes to visit Urbino with his friend Pisauro. One in Urbino, Aurelio discovers that he is being mistaken for a man named Borgia, the son of an elderly aristocrat named Mercutio. As a lark, Aurelio allows the misapprehension to persist. It's a potentially serious situation: though recalled from banishment, Borgia has powerful potential enemies—he was accused of having murdered a brother of Ursini, the favorite of Urbino's ruling Duchess. Borgia also has a beautiful sister called Cornelia, a waiting woman to the Duchess—with whom Aurelio quickly falls in love.