Les Frères Corses

Les Frères Corses ("The Corsican brothers") is a French play in three acts and five tableaux by Eugène Grangé (1810-1887) and Xavier de Montépin (1823–1902)

The name "Montépin" is written "Montépinthe" in some sources.

The original text
The play, called a "drame fantastique en trois actes et cinq tableaux", is a dramatization of the French novella Les Frères Corses by Alexandre Dumas, père (1802–1870), first published in 1844 by Souverain. The work tells the adventurous and melodramatic story of two conjoined brothers who, though separated at birth, can still feel each other's pains and fears and seek to aid each other. First performed at the Théâtre-Historique in Paris on 10 July, 1850.

Translations and adaptations
Translated and adapted into English as The Corsican Brothers by Dion Boucicault (1820-1890). Boucicault's version was written for the actor-manager Charles Kean and it was first performed at the Princess's Theatre on 24 February 1852, directed by Kean, who also played both of the brothers. It went on to become a hugely popular melodrama, much performed in the late 19th century.

The original French work has also been translated directly by a number of other playwrights, including Frank J. Morlock.

Performance history in South Africa
1906 The Corsican Brothers (Dumas/Boucicault) was performed at the Opera House, Cape Town, by the Leonard Rayne company, with Rayne and Joseph Ashman playing the two brothers.

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