or A Peep into Elysium, a Farce never offered to the managers of the Theatres-Royal
Anonymous
London: Printed for J. Southern in St James’s Street, 1779
The ghost of David Garrick is in Elysium discussing his career on earth with other poets and actors. Garrick wishes to know what the ghost of Shakespeare, “a poet whose works have made him immortal,” thinks of his (Garrick’s) career devoted to promoting the Bard’s plays. He is told that Shakespeare’s ghost has declared that Garrick had exploited him and his fame in order to satisfy his own monstrous avarice. Though extensively quoted, the ghost of Shakespeare does not actually appear in the farce. ―FCR