Lieutenant Johnson

(18**-18**) An officer of the 73rd regiment, stationed in Cape Town, and a member of the Cape Town Garrison Players between 1850-1855, when the society was run by Captain Hall.

Though he most probably acted as well, he is specifcally mentioned as the treasurer for three productions done in 1852 in the Garrison Theatre by the Garrison Players, with the collaboration of local amateurs. The plays done were Othello (Shakespeare) and Charles II (Payne) on 24 March; Don Caesar de Bazan, or Love and Honour (Webster and Boucicault) and The Thumping Legacy (Morton) on 13 April, and the same programme repeated on 21 April.

These productions were specifically mounted "for the benefit of the Widows and Orphans of the unfortunate soldiers who perished in the H.M. Steamer Birkenhead". Unfortunately, according to a response by Lieut. Johnson to a query by the local critic Thespis, and published in the Cape Town Monitor of 14 July 1852, the performances had apparently not served their intended purpose, as they eventually ran at a loss of £30.

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