The Spitalfields Weaver

The Spitalfields Weaver is a burletta in one act by Thomas Haynes Bayly (1797-1839)[1]

According to F.C.L. Bosman (1980), Disney Roebuck also billed it as The Spitalfields Weaver, or How are you, Brown? on occasion (possibly having taken this key line from the text of the play).

F.C.L. Bosman (1928) often has the author's name as "Bayley", possibly an error in his sources on South African performances, but this is corerected in Bosman's later book (1980).

The original text

First performed at the St James's Theatre, London, on 10 February, 1838. First printed in London by Chapman and Hall in 1838. Reprinted many times in the 19th century.

Apparently from an unidentified French original, though completely Anglicised.

Translations and adaptations

Performance history in South Africa

1854: Performed in Cape Town by the Garrison Players, on 5 June, with The Rent Day (Jerrold) and The Queen's Horse (Honan and Planché), with Mr Kirton as "Simmons".

1854: Performed in Cape Town by the Garrison Players, on 18 September, with Honesty is the Best Policy (Lemon) and Middle Temple (Peake), as a benefit for Mr Kirton.

1858: Performed on the Cape Town Theatre by Sefton Parry and his company on 13 July, with Charles Fraser made his first appearance in the Cape in the play. The evening also included a performance of Black Ey'd Susan (Jerrold).

1873: Performed in the Odd Fellows Hall, Cape Town by the Disney Roebuck company on 12 December with Pygmalion & Galatea (Gilbert)

1873: Performed in the Odd Fellows Hall, Cape Town by the Disney Roebuck company on 13 December with The Lady of Lyons (Lytton)

1873: Performed in the Odd Fellows Hall, Cape Town by the Disney Roebuck company on 23 December once more with Pygmalion & Galatea (Gilbert)

1876: Performed in the Athenaeum Hall, Cape Town by the Disney Roebuck company (managed by C. Wilstone) on 9 May, with Aurora Floyd (Braddon et al.).

1877: In this instance apparently performed in the Theatre Royal, Cape Town, on 12 September as The Spitalfields Weaver, or How are you, Brown? by the company of Disney Roebuck , with All that Glitters is not Gold (Morton)

1878: Performed in the Theatre Royal, Cape Town, on 20 December as part of a benefit evening for the Dramatic Recital Society , by military volunteers assisted by Disney Roebuck. Also performed were recitals and dances, accompanied by the brass orchestra conducted by F. Bianchi, followed by War to the Knife (Byron).

Sources

http://www.tigerbooks-online.com/book/6914/bayly-thomas-haynes

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, 1928. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel I: 1652-1855. Pretoria: J.H. de Bussy. [2]: pp. 407-9,

F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1912. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp.70, 73, 310, 312, 313, 339, 360, 373

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