Christopher Rich (theatre manager)

Christopher Rich (1657–1714) was a lawyer and theatrical manager in London in the late 17th and early 18th century, and the father of the important impresario John Rich. Christopher Rich managed the monopoly United Company from 1693, with such autocratic methods that the senior actors including Thomas Betterton, Elizabeth Barry, and Anne Bracegirdle rebelled and formed a cooperative acting company in 1695.