Mr & Mrs Peter White

Mr & Mrs Peter White is a farce in one act by R. J. Raymond (Richard John Raymond, fl. early 19th century)

It is also known variously as Mr. & Mrs. Peter White, Mr and Mrs Peter White, Mrs White, Mr Peter White , Mr and Mrs White or Mr. and Mrs. White.

The original text

First produced at the Lyceum Theatre, London, on 24 June, 1836, under title, Mrs. White and published as such by John Duncombe in 1837. According to the Theatrical Observer, June 27, 1836, this is simply the burletta, My Wife and My Child, produced under a new title.

First performed in Boston in 1837 and published by Turner and Fisher, Philadelphia, in 1844 and in New York by Samuel French, [1856?]

Performance history in South Africa

1861: Performed as Mr. & Mrs. Peter White by Sefton Parry and his company, on 27 May in the Theatre Royal, Cape Town, with The Hunchback (Knowles).

1861: Performed as Mr. & Mrs. Peter White by Sefton Parry and his company, on 27 May in the Theatre Royal, Cape Town, with The Lady of Lyons (Bulwer-Lytton), and songs by Miss Powell.

1867: Performed as Mrs. White by the 9th Regiment in the Theatre Royal, Cape Town, on 25 May, with a "Gymnastic Display" and Villikins and his Dinah (Burnand).

1867: Performed as Mr and Mrs White by the Le Roy-Duret Company (now led by Madame Duret on her own) as part of the "Grand Re-opening" of the newly refurbished Theatre Royal, Harrington Street, Cape Town, on 10 June, with Governor von Brute, or Things as They Might Have Been (Mollan) Repeated 13 June.

1874: Performed as Mr and Mrs White in the Mutual Hall, Cape Town, by Disney Roebuck's company on 1 January, as an afterpiece to Plot and Passion (Taylor and Lang). (Strangely, F.C.L. Bosman, 1980, says the author of the afterpiece is "unknown".)

1876: Performed as Mr. and Mrs. White in the Athenaeum Theatre, Cape Town, by Disney Roebuck's company on 2 May, as an afterpiece to Blow for Blow (Byron). (Bosman, 1980, once again states that the author of the afterpiece is "unknown".)

1876: Performed as Mr. and Mrs. White in the Theatre Royal, Burg Street, Cape Town, by Disney Roebuck's company on 14 July, as an afterpiece to London Assurance (Boucicault). The evening a benefit for Roebuck.

1877: Performed as Mr. and Mrs. White by the Disney Roebuck company in the Theatre Royal, Cape Town on 25 July, with Dan'l Druce, Blacksmith (Gilbert).

1877: Performed as Mr. and Mrs. White by the Disney Roebuck company in the Theatre Royal, Cape Town on 7 August, with The Happy Ashantees (Anon.) and Pygmalion & Galatea (Gilbert).

Sources

Facsimile version of the 1837 edition of Mrs. White by Duncombe, Hathi Trust Digital Library[1]

Facsimile version of the 1844 edition of Mr. & Mrs. Peter White by Turner and Fisher, The Digital Archive[2]

Facsimile version of the 1856 edition of Mr. & Mrs. Peter White by Samuel French, Hathi Trust Digital Library[3]

Thomas A. Bogar. 2002. John E. Owens: Nineteenth Century American Actor and Manager. McFarland: p. 170[4]

F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1912. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp.97, 226, 310, 313, 339, 341, 358-9

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.

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