The House Warming can refer to any of two stage plays.

The House Warming, a play by an anonymous author (ca. 1870s)

The original text

The sources have no information on a 19th century play by this name, but it may have been a dramatized reading or stage adaptation of the ballad "The House-warming! A legend of Bleeding-Heart Yard" (from The Ingoldsby Legends by Richard Barham[1]). There was at least one stage version of it, a play called Lady Hatton, or The Suicide’s Tree (by George Dibden Pitt, 1795-1855[2]), which was apparently seen by Charles Dickens when it played at the Royal Britannia Theatre, London.

In Barham's version of the tale, Sir Christopher Hatton's wife made a deal with the Devil so that Sir Christopher might be a success at the court of Elizabeth I. Sir Christopher succeeds so well that he becomes Lord Chancellor, and the queen even goes so far as to force the bishop of Ely to give Sir Christopher the freehold of his London residence at Ely Place. The housewarming party at the new Hatton residence is interrupted at midnight by the appearance of the Devil himself, who spirits away Lady Hatton, and all that can be found the next morning is a large human heart.

Translations and adaptations

Performance history in South Africa

1878: A play called The House Warming was performed by the Egerton and Case Company in the Athenaeum Hall, Cape Town, on 9 August.

The Housewarming a comedy in one act by Arthur Aldrich (1994)

The original text

Beattie Gladwin, too old to look after herself any longer, is forced to sell the house, which she’s lived in throughout her marriage. But she doesn’t want to let go of the house or the memories; so when the young couple, Michelle and Brian move in, she visits them and they become embroiled in to the events, which took place in the past. Beattie’s sister, Polly, is also present. Strange things have happened and continue to happen and Michelle and Brian are not certain whether their visitors are real or ghosts.

Originally published by Samuel French in 1994

Translations and adaptations

Performance history in South Africa

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3AElizabeth_Hatton

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

https://www.concordtheatricals.co.uk/p/15160/the-housewarming

https://books.google.co.za/books/about/The_Housewarming.html?id=b2F0QgAACAAJ&redir_esc=y

"Arthur Aldrich, English Dramatist" in Colin Dolley and Rex Walford, 2015. The One-Act Play Companion: A Guide to plays, playwrights and performance. Bloomsbury Publishing: p.31 [3]

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