The Woman in White can refer to the famous novel by Wilkie Collins (1824-1889)[1] and to a number of dramatized versions of the novel.

The Novel

The Woman in White is a highly regarded novel by Wilkie Collins ()[], written in 1859 and is viewed as one of the the first mystery novels and so called "sensation novels". First published in serial form in 1859–60, in both Charles Dickens' magazine All the Year Round (UK) and Harper's Weekly (USA). It was published in book form in 1860.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Woman_in_White_(novel)

Stage adaptations

The novel has been adapted in many ways over the years, including theatrical versions under various other titles, as well as the various film and TV versions.

Stage adaptations called The Woman in White

Among those titled The Woman in White have been a "Surrey Theatre stage sensation melodrama"( 1860), a version by Sutton Vane Snr. (1867) and Wilkie Collins's own version called a "stage melodrama" (1871)[2],

Later adaptation include versions by Andrew Lloyd Webber (stage musical, 2004)[3] and Constance Cox (play, 2008).

Stage adaptations under other titles

It has also been adapted (or used as a source) under various other titles, including The White Queen by J.W. Boulding and R. Palgrave (1880s) and Egad, the Woman in White by Tim Kelly (1974). Below are entries on those plays performed in South Africa.

The White Queen by J.W. Boulding and R. Palgrave

Not to be confused with Philippa Gregory's novel or the BBC series based on it.

This adaptation of Wilkie Collins's sensational novel was specifically written for the actress Lillian Beddard, said by her to have been done by by "Palgrave of London" (i.e. R. Palgrave, other sources have is a play J.W. Boulding as the author - or it may have been both jointly, for they had also authored Jane Shore as a team in 1885).

The play was most successfully produced in London by Bedard, who later took it on her many international tours as part of her repertoire.

Performance history of the various stage versions in South Africa

1867: The Woman in White performed (possibly in the Sutton Vane version and billed as "Wilkie Collins's Popular Sensational Play") on 21 and 24 October in the Theatre Royal, Harrington Street, Cape Town, by the Le Roy and Duret Company, with a "Grand Pas Seul" by Miss Clara and A Model Husband (Wooler).

1867: Performed as The Woman in White by the Le Roy and Duret Company in the Theatre Royal, Harrington Street, Cape Town, on 4 November, with The Loan of a Lover (Planché) and the "Grand Scarf", a dance by Miss Clara.

1876: Performed as The Woman in White by Disney Roebuck and his company in the Athenaeum Hall, Cape Town, on 26 and 27 April and 29 May. The text used was probably the Sutton Vane version, since he was in the company.

1877: Performed as The Woman in White by Disney Roebuck and his company in the Theatre Royal, Cape Town, on 22 October, as a benefit performance for Sutton Vane (and billed as his "Last Appearance"). The text used was probably once more the Sutton Vane version.

1889: Lillian Beddard and her company (said to have been "the first Shakespearian company to perform in Johannesburg"[]), performed The White Queen at the Theatre Royal Johannesburg from 21-26 June, Beddard playing "Lady Mary".

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Woman_in_White_(novel)

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

https://wilkiecollinssociety.org/opening-up-the-secret-theatre-of-home-wilkie-collinss-the-woman-in-white-on-the-victorian-stage

https://www.andrewlloydwebber.com/show/the-woman-in-white/

Laurence Wright. "Shakespeare in South Africa: The Nineteenth Century". Internet Shakespeare Editions[online]. University of Victoria, Accessed 16 July 2020[4]

"A Grass Widow Now, Lillian Beddard Will Face the Footlights and Her Diamonds Alone", in The San Francisco Call, Monday, March 30, 1896[5]

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 1923. (Reprinted in Bosman 1980: pp. 374-439.)

F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1916. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp. 206, 230, 234, 294-5, 338-9, 344, 361.

http://wilkiecollinssociety.org/newsletter-spring-2010/

Go to ESAT Bibliography