Bluebeard or Barbe-bleue is the tale of a violent and wealthy man who systematically murdered his wives and the one wife's attempts to avoid the same fate.

Also found as Blue Beard in English.

Barbe-bleue - The source material

The first surviving version of the story appeared as Barbe-bleue in a handwritten and illustrated manuscript in 1695 titled Contes de ma mère l'oye (Tales of Mother Goose) by Charles Perrault, later published by Barbin in Paris in 1697 in Histoires ou contes du temps passé ("histories or stories of former times").

There have been numerous stage versions of the basic story over the ages, ranging from serious plays and operas to extravaganzas and pantomimes. Below we list only those stage versions that have been done in South Africa. For more on the general stage history of the Bluebeard tale, see the listing in the entry on "Bluebeard" in Wikipedia[1] and especially Casie Hermansson's useful study called Bluebeard: A Reader's Guide to the English Tradition (Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2009 ).

Adaptations and translations

Stage adaptations of the Bluebeard story include:

Blue Beard by James Robinson Planché and Charles Dance (1839)

A fairy extravaganza in one act and in verse written by James Robinson Planché (1796–1880)[2] and Charles Dance (1794–1863)[3]. It was first performed in the Royal Olympic Theatre, London, on 2 January, 1839. Published by T.H. Lacy as well as S.G. Fairbrother, 1839

Bluebeard, or The Heathen Chinee (presented by Disney Roebuck in 1880)

This is likely to be an adaptation of H.B. Farnie‘s burlesque, Blue Beard; or, the Mormon, the Maiden and The Little Militaire. Willie Edouin (1846-1908), English comic actor appeared as ‘The Heathen Chinee’ (based on Ah Sin, a character imagined by Bret Harte for a poem, first published in 1870) in Lydia Thompson‘s production of Farnie‘s burlesque when it was first produced at Wallack’s Theatre, New York, 16 August 1871. After 30 performances the piece began a tour of the United States. Lydia Thompson’s production of Blue Beard, in which Willie Edouin appeared again as ‘The Heathen Chinee,’ was first seen in London at the Charing Cross Theatre on 19 September 1874.

Bluebeard by C.M. Rodney (1908)

Performance history in South Africa

1878: Blue Beard (by Planché and Dance) performed as a "Burlesque Pantomime" as a part of a benefit for Mr Tom Paulton and his wife (Mrs Tom Paulton) by an anonymous company in the Theatre Royal, Cape Town, with Foul Play or The Scuttled Ship (Boucicault and Reade).

1880: Bluebeard, or The Heathen Chinee presented by Roebuck's United Service Dramatic Company at the Theatre Royal, Cape Town, directed by W.H. Wallace.

1908: Aladdin by C.M. Rodney presented at His Majesty's Theatre - Palace of Varieties in Durban in September.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluebeard

Facsimile of the 1839 publication by Lacy, Google E-book[4]

Casie Hermansson. 2009 Bluebeard: A Reader's Guide to the English Tradition Univ. Press of Mississippi.[5]

F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1912. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: p.371

William Groom. 1899-1900. Drama in Cape Town. Cape Illustrated Magazine, 10(4): 478-481, 517-520, 547-552, 580-584, 640-643, 670-672, 706-708.

https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O233630/guy-little-theatrical-photograph-photograph-fradelle--marshall/

Greyvenstein, Walter 1988. The history and development of children's theatre in English in South Africa. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Johannesburg: Rand Afrikaans University.

Go to ESAT Bibliography