Un Mariage sous Louis XV

Un Mariage sous Louis XV ("A marriage under Louis XV") is a French prose comedy in five acts by Alexandre Dumas père (1802-1870)[1].

The original text

A young couple, married for convenience, discover each other's charms.

The play was first performed at the Théâtre Français on the 1st of June, 1841.

Translations and adaptations

Adapted into English as A Marriage of Convenience. Period: Louis XV (also known simply as A Marriage of Convenience) a comedy in five acts by Sydney Grundy (1848-1914)[2], and performed in London at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, in 1897, revived in 1918.

Translated into Dutch as Een Huwelijk onder Lodewijk XV ("A marriage under Louis XV"). This translation was the one performed by Verkade in Nijmegen in 1909, when Paul de Groot made his first appearance as a stage actor.

Translated into Afrikaans as 'n Gerieflike Huwelik ("a convenient marriage") by Mrs A.E. Carinus-Holzhausen and produced by the Paul de Groot Toneelgeselskap in 1927.

Performance history in South Africa

1898: Performed on in South Africa in English as A Marriage of Convenience by a company under the management of the Wheeler Brothers, as part of a repertoire that also included The Tree of Knowledge (Carton), Secret Service (Gilette) and My Friend, The Prince (McCarthy). The company included George Hippisley, Wilton Heriot, Jessie Bateman, Mabel Lane and Sallie Booth.

1927-8: First performed in Afrikaans as Gerieflike Huwelik by Paul de Groot (based on the Verkade version of 1909) in Potchefstroom, with a cast that included Paul de Groot (as the "Comte de Candale"), Alida Louw ("Comtesse de Candale"), Hendrik Hanekom ("the general"), Mathilde Hanekom ("Marton"), Willem van Zyl ("Jasmin"), and an interesting casting of the actress Maxie Botha as the "Chevalier de Valclos". The play now went on a tour of the country of over the ensuing eight months, being performed 93 times between July 1927 and early 1928. Botha left the company when the tour reached Bloemfontein in October, 1927 and was replaced by André Huguenet.

Sources

Ludwig Wilhelm Berthold Binge. 1969. Ontwikkeling van die Afrikaanse toneel (1832-1950). Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik.

D.C. Boonzaier, 1923. "My playgoing days – 30 years in the history of the Cape Town stage", in SA Review, 9 March and 24 August 1932. (Reprinted in Bosman 1980: pp. 374-439.)

F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1912. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp.406

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