9 3/4 x 4 3/4 in. printed broadside.

ONE OF JOHN WILKES BOOTH'S MOST FAMOUS ROLES.

The Apostate is a tragedy by the Irish playwright Richard Lalor Sheil, published in 1817. Though not a particularly popular play, it clearly struck a chord with John Wilkes Booth, and today the role of Duke Pescara is considered one of his most notable. He began his 1863 engagement at the Arch Street Theatre on March 2, ending it twelve days later on March 14. The present playbill also lists Mrs. John Drew in the role of Florinda, referring to Louisa Jane Drew, whose grandson John Barrymore would famously perform the role of Hamlet for 101 nights during the 1922-1923 Broadway season, breaking the record set by Edwin Booth during the 1864-1865 season at the Winter Garden Theatre in New York.

John Wilkes Booth would mark the end of his theatrical career on 18 March 1865 at Ford's Theatre, again playing the role of Pescara in The Apostate. In the audience for this performance were Booth's fellow conspirators, John Surratt, David Herold, and George Atzerodt.