Sir Sandford Whitehead

Generally regarded as Realmgard’s finest playwright in recent generations, Sandford Whitehead was won the patronage of many of the royals and nobles of the continent. His reputation as a tragedian whose works inevitably end with everyone dying is somewhat unfair — he has also written several comedies where everyone dies.

Originally from the Free City of Goldhabour, Sandford was born into a successful though only modestly wealthy family of textile merchants with no real previous association with the theatre beyond attending the occasional show at Goldharbour’s opera house. Nevertheless, from a young age, Sandford was fascinated by the city’s street performers and quickly developed the ambition to become a playwright.

Any thought of becoming an actor or performer himself were quickly crushed by both his crushing stage fright and his naturally bashful and humble temperament which is greatly discomforted by public praise and acclaim. While Sandford is appreciative of his reputation as the continent’ foremost playwright in principle, he continues to view himself as simple dramatist of no particular talent.

In his early adulthood, Sandford studied theatre primarily in Natalis — and the conventions of Natalian theatre continue to influence his own works — and wrote his first several plays in the service of the King of Pelayo, by whom he was knighted for services. Since then, he has also spent time in the royal courts of Gallicantu, Middelmere, and Hrimfax. His recent works have been written and performed in the Free Cities, primarily in his hometown of Goldharbour and in Porthaven.

While his earlier comedic plays have been largely overshadowed by his later dramatic and tragic works, they are still well-regarded, especially as the first works of a novice playwright. They are still commonly performed by theatre troupes throughout Realmgard.

Sandford has more or less settled in Porthaven for the foreseeable future, lecturing on theatre and literature at the University of Porthaven and working on several new plays commissioned by the aristocrats of the city. His latest tragedy The Tragicall Historie of Jacobus and Ricarda, has been particularly well-received.

The popularity of Sandford’s plays has seen them spread quickly across Realmgard, published in every major city, translated (with varying degrees of competence) into every major language, and performed by troupes all over the continent. While his tragedies remain far and away his most famous and most popular works, his comedies are also well-regarded and his historical plays are noted for his deft ability to weave metaphorical imagery with real historical events to create powerful and universal moral lessons, with his recent play narrating the events of the Great Siege of Northgate being held up as the most shining example of this narrative ability.

His puppet show for young children, The Ballad of Maximilian R. Tortoise, Esquire is lauded for the sheer number of rhymes he found for the word “tortoise.”

Despite his most famous plays portraying heart-wrenching tales of doomed lovers coming to tragic ends, Sandford himself is quite happily married to his own wife Gaudiosa, a cousin of the Pelayan king to whom he was introduced at the premiere performance of his first play while working for the Pelayan court.

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