Venice Preserved (1682) is a cult status restoration tragedy about a young former soldier, Jaffeir, who is persuaded by his best friend to join a terror cell to perpetrate a brutal coup against the corrupt senate of democratic Venice. As a passionate essay on the nature of victimhood and how the victim can become a monster greater than the perpetrator, it has many parallels for our times. The play was a favorite at Drury Lane for much of the 18th century. David Garrick and Susannah Cibber regularly appeared as leads Jaffeir and his wife Belvidera from 1744 to 1763.