The White Devil is a
revenge tragedy by English playwright
John Webster (1580–1634). According to Webster's own preface to the 1612 Quarto Edition, the play's first performance in that year was a notorious failure; he complained that the play was acted in the dead of winter before an unreceptive audience. The play's complexity, sophistication, and satire made it a poor fit with the repertory of
Queen Anne's Men at the
Red Bull Theatre, where it was first performed. It was successfully revived in 1630 by
Queen Henrietta's Men at the
Cockpit Theatre and published again in 1631.