All the World's a Stage

There are two entries under this title

'''(1) A stage play by Isaac Jackman (fl. 1795) '''

(2) A 19th century theatrical company in Cape Town

= (1) All the World's a Stage, a stage play by Isaac Jackman=

A farce in two acts, in prose, it was first performed at the Drury Lane in 1777, and became very popular. Also printed in 1777 then reprinted in John Bell's British Theatre and other collections.

Performance history in South Africa
1807: Performed in the African Theatre, Cape Town by the Officers of the Garrison on Saturday 12 September, with The Upholsterer (Murphy). Players included Captain Collins, Mr Morgan, Captain Frazer, Mr Longley, Mr Stuart, Mr Napier.

1808: Performed in the African Theatre, Cape Town by the Officers of the Garrison on Saturday 16 July, with The Padlock (Bickerstaffe), as a Benefit Performance for the Widows and Orphans of the 24th Regiment.

1809: Performed in the African Theatre, Cape Town by the Officers of the Garrison on Tuesday 31 January, with Raising the Wind (Kenney). The performance as a benefit for the "under-officers and soldiers who, without any recompense, had helped in the theatre for the past two season". (Bosman, 1928: p 77)

1811: Performed in the African Theatre, Cape Town by the Garrison Players on 15 June, with The Citizen (Murphy).

1823: Performed in the African Theatre, Cape Town by the amateur company English Theatricals on 20 December, with Rob Roy Macgregor Campbell (Scott/Pocock).

Origins and first phase: 1807-1820s
Originally a project of military officers, the amateur performers in the Cape Town garrison formed themselves into an informal company, led by Captain Frazer, Captain Collins,  and other colleagues, in 1807, initially performing in the Cape Town Barracks, later in the African Theatre - where the curtain carried the motto "All the World's a Stage". As the English theatrical activities expanded, a strong local contingent of non-military performers (including women) also joined and a company of amateurs arose, performing under that motto, particularly as Isaac Jackman's play by that name was a favourite of the company (see above). Gradually the company of amateurs was itself being referred to as All the World's a Stage in newspapers and advertisements. They performed regularly every year, but went in to decline during the 1820s.

For their productions, see Barracks Theatre, Garrison Players and Garrison Theatre

Revival by H. Booth and second phase: 1829-1834
The company was apparently revived with the arrival in Cape Town of Mr H. Booth, a professional from England, who in 1829 gathered the various amateur groups (the Garrison Players, the English Theatrical Amateur Company and the Cape Town Amateur Company) in Cape town around him to perform a series of standard works. In March 1830 Booth announced in a new company, the British Amateur Company, playing under the motto of "All the World's a Stage", from 1830 onwards, and thus reviving the name. They performed under Booth's leadership from 1830 to 1831, establishing themselves as the premier company in the city with their impressive list of plays, but once Booth had left thwe company they had one good year in 1832, in which Booth appears to have have helped out occasionally, seemed to fare well enough in 1833, but then struggled to continue, only managing to last until the end of 1834.

PRODUCTIONS with Booth as leader: 1829-31

Pizarro, or The Death of Rolla (Sheridan)

Black-Eyed Susan, or All in the Downs (Jerrold)

Othello, or The Moor of Venice (Shakespeare)

The Wags of Windsor (Colman)

The Castle Spectre (Lewis)

The Lying Valet (Garrick)

The Gambler's Fate, or A Lapse of Twenty Years (Thompson)

Charles the Second, or The Merry Monarch (Payne)

Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare)

The Married Bachelor, or Master and Man (O'Calligan)

The Miller's Maid (Saville)

The Flying Dutchman, or The Phantom Ship (Fitzball)

The Smoked Miser, or The Benefit of Hanging (Jerrold)

Lovers' Quarrels, or Like Master Like Man (King)

George Barnwell, or The London Apprentice

Doctor Bolus (Daniel)

The Honeymoon (Tobin)

Jane Shore, or The Unfortunate Favourite (Rowe)

The Irish Tutor (Glengall)

Past Ten O'clock, and a Rainy Night (Dibdin)

Douglas (Home)

Where Shall I Dine?, or No Dinner Yet? (Rodwell)

The School of Reform, or How to Rule a Husband (Morton)

Richard the Third, or The Battle of Bosworth Field (Shakespeare)

The Children of the Wood (Morton)

The Irishman in London (Macready)

John Overy, or The Miser of Southwark Ferry (Jerrold)

The Road to Ruin (Holcroft)

Fortune's Frolic, or The Ploughman made Lord (Allingham)

Ambrose Guinett, or A Sea-Side Story (Jerrold)

Amateurs and Actors, or A Peep behind the Curtain (Peake)

Der Freischütz, or The Seventh Bullet (Weber)

Animal Magnetism, or A Cure for the Hydrophobia (Mrs Inchbald)

The Innkeeper of Abbeville, or The Ostler and the Robber (Fitzball)

Blue Devils (Colman)

The Two Galley Slaves (Payne)

The Lawyer in the Sack (Anon) (a ballet-dance)

The Spectre Bridegroom (Montcrieff)

The Merchant of Venice (Shakespeare)

Jack at the Cape, or All Alive Among the Hottentots! (a ballet-dance)

The Scapegrace (Buckstone)

PRODUCTIONS: 1832, with Booth occasionally involved

Othello, or The Moor of Venice (Shakespeare)

Amateurs and Actors, or A Peep behind the Curtain (Peake)

The Maid and the Magpie, or Who's the Thief!!! (Pocock)

The Married Bachelor, or Master and Man (O'Calligan)

Bombastes Furioso, or The King of Utopia (Rhodes)

The Iron Chest, or The Blood-Stained Knife (Colman)

The Sleeping Draught (Penley)

The Lawyer in the Sack, or Jack's Return!!! (Anon) (a ballet-dance)

A Cure for the Heartache (Morton)

Raising the Wind (Kenney)

Kenilworth, or The Days of Queen Bess (Scott/Planché)

Catherine and Petruchio, or The Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare/)

The Mountaineers (Colman)

Ambrose Gwinett (Jerrold)

The Soldier's Daughter (Cherry)

The Miller's Maid (Saville)

Jack at the Cape, or All Alive Among the Hottentots! (a ballet-dance)

The Slave, or The Revolt of Surinam (Morton)

Lovers' Quarrels, or Like Master Like Man (King)

The Castle Spectre (Lewis)

The Scape Goat (Poole)

PRODUCTIONS: 1833

Richard the Third, or The Battle of Bosworth Field (Shakespeare)

Fortune's Frolic, or The Ploughman made Lord (Allingham)

Wild Oats, or The Strolling Gentleman (O'Keefe)

The Spectre Bridegroom (Montcrieffe)

Bertram, or The Castle of St. Aldobrand(Maturin)

The Sleeping Draught, or A Calf to be Killed!!! (Penley)

The Pilot, or a Tale of the Sea(Fitzball)

The Illustrious Stranger, or Married and Buried (Kenney and Milligen)

Evadne, or The Statue (Shiel)

The Deaf Lover, or How to Cure the Gout (Pilon)

The Floating Beacon (Fitzball)

The Six Simpletons, or The Press Gang (a ballet-dance)

The First of April (Boaden)

Clown and Goose (pantomime performance)

The Inch Cape Bell, or The Dumb Boy of the Rocks (Fitzball)

The Two Gregorys, or Where Does the Money Come From? (Dibdin)

John Overy, or The Miser of Southwark Ferry (Jerrold)

The Haunted Inn, or How to Lay a Ghost (Peake)

The Day After the Wedding, or A Wife's First Lesson (Kemble)

A Race for Dinner (Rodwell)

The Actress of All Work (Anon)

Rival Valets (Ebsworth)

The Iron Chest, or The Blood-Stained Knife (Colman)

The Actress Of All Work, or Six in One (Anon)

St Patrick's Day, or The Scheming Lieutenant (Sheridan)

PRODUCTIONS: 1834

The Robber's Wife, or The Golden Ingot (Pocock)

The Bride of Ludgate (Jerrold)

One more play, Rob Roy (Scott) is announced for September 1834, but does not seem to have been performed.

Second revival and third phase: 1843-1848
In 1843, after the relaxation of the anti-theatrical position of the dominant Methodist church, the company was revived. In 1845 they used the previously exclusively Dutch venue, the Roeland Street Theatre, but in 1846 returned to what was now known as the Victoria Theatre in Hope Street until 1848, after which they were disbanded. [TH, JH]

PRODUCTIONS: 1845-1848

1845: Performed The Wandering Boys, or The Castle of Olival (Pixérécourt) in the Roeland Street Theatre, Cape Town on 17 July with The Queer Subject (Coyne) as afterpiece.

1846: Performed The Brigand (Planché) 9 July, as the opening production in the newly re-opened Hope Street Theatre, now known as the Victoria Theatre, followed by A Day after the Fair (Somerset).

1846: Probably performed The Brigand (Planché) on Saturday 4 September, in the Victoria Theatre, followed by The Original (Morton) and The Lottery Ticket, or the Lawyer's Clerk (Beazley).

1846: Performed The Brigand (Planché) on special request during the annual Race Week on Saturday 12 September, in the Victoria Theatre, following on Who's Who? or The Double Imposture (Poole).