Tom Jones

Tom Jones is a comic novel by Henry Fielding, and also the title under which it was dramatized over the years.

The original text
Originally published by Andrew Millar on 28 February 1749 in London, as The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, but more often simply referred to as Tom Jones,

The work has been has been dramatized in a variety of ways over the years, for stage (as straight play, as a musical and as an opera), for radio, TV and film. Interestingly enough, Fielding, a successful dramatist in his own right, never wrote a stage version of the story.

Translations and Adaptations
The following adaptations have been produced in South Africa:

Adapted as comic opera in three acts by Edward German, with a libretto by Robert Courtneidge and Alexander M. Thompson and lyrics by Charles H. Taylor. First produced and published in 1907.

Adapted for the stage as Tom Jones by Janice Honeyman in 1983.

Performance history in South Africa
1950: Staged in the Edward German version, as a comic opera by the Port Elizabeth Gilbert & Sullivan Society in 1950.

1983: Produced by PACT in the Arena Theatre, adapted and directed by Janice Honeyman, with Andrew Buckland, Karin Jerg, Peter Terry, Jenny Sharp, Martin le Maitre and Carol-Ann Kelleher in the cast.

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