Les Dominos Roses

Les Dominos Roses is a farce by Alfred Delacour (Pierre-Alfred Lartigue, 1817-1883)[1] and Alfred Hennequin (1842–1887)[2].

The original text

It tells of a plan by two wives to test their husbands' fidelity at a masked ball and a mischievous maid who causes comic complications by wearing a gown similar to those worn by the wives. First performed at the Théâtre du Vaudeville, Paris, 0n 17 April, 1876. Published in Paris by A. Allouard.

Translations and adaptations

Translated and adapted into English as The Pink Dominos, a farce in three acts, by James Albery (1838-1889)[3]. The English piece opened on March 31, 1877 and was exceptionally successful, running for a record-setting 555 performances at the Criterion Theatre, London. (D.C. Boonzaier, 1923, refers to the play wrongly as Pink Dominoes in his reminiscences.)

The French play also formed the basis of Der Opernball ("The Opera Ball", 1898)[4], a German operetta in three acts with by Richard Heuberger, Viktor Léon and Heinrich von Waldberg as well as To-Night's the Night (1914)[5], a musical comedy by Paul Rubens, Percy Greenbank and Fred Thompson.

Performance history in South Africa

1893: Performed in English as The Pink Dominos by the Emilie Bevan Comedy Company as part of a short season in the Vaudeville Theatre, Cape Town.

Sources

Facsimile version of 1884 published text of the French play, The Internet Archive [6]

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

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

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: p.395,

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