The Secret of the Hole in the Wall

The title The Secret of the Hole in the Wall occurs in F.C.L. Bosman (1980), as a work by an anonymous author.

The (approximate) title of The Secret, or A/The Hole in the Wall is also given by Bogar (2002:p.173) for a play performed by the American actor John E. Owens in Baltimore in 1843. Bogar suggests either one of the texts given below as the text used.

The original text

The title appears to combine the titles the "hole in the wall" or "the secret" in one title, and the original text and this leads one to suspect, along with Bogar, that the original text used was perhaps one of the following two likely candidates:

The Hole in the Wall by John Poole

A farce in two acts, it was first performed at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London, in 1813 and published by J.M. Richardson in the same year.

See the entry under The Hole in the Wall

The Secret by Edward Morris

A comedy, in five acts it was first performed at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London, in 1799 and published by Cadell and Davies in the same year. This play was seen under its own title a few times in Cape Town.

See the entry under The Secret

Performance history in South Africa

1858: A farce called The Secret of the Hole in the Wall (no author given) was performed at the Harrington Street Theatre, Cape Town, by the Cape Town Dramatic Club on 9 July, 1858, with Plot and Passion, or The Female Gambler (Taylor and Lang), Mrs Parry playing "Mrs Dupuis" and "Mme de Fontanges" respectively in the plays.

Sources

Facsimile version of the 1813 edition of The Hole in the Wall by Poole, Google E-book[1]

Thomas A. Bogar. 2002. John E. Owens: Nineteenth Century American Actor and Manager. McFarland: p. 173.[2]

David Erskine Baker, Isaac Reed, Stephen Jones: Biographia Dramatica; or A Companion to the Playhouse. (Volume III – M-Z) London: Longman et al, 1812.[3]

Facsimile version of the original text (third edition, 1799) (Google eBook)[4]

http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/morris-edward-1768-1815

F.C.L. Bosman. 1928. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel I: 1652-1855. Pretoria: J.H. de Bussy. [5]: pp. 426-427

F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1912. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp. 144

Go to ESAT Bibliography