In December 1692, the actor William Mountfort was walking home in London when he stumbled across two young men trying to abduct a famous stage actress, who was also a close associate. The young thespian gallantly attempted to intervene but was brutally run through with a sword and died.
The killing led to a trial that proved a sensation with the public, not least because it entwined the fates of a troupe of actors who were performing William Shakespeare’s Othello, but also because the real-life drama had eerie echoes of the play.
