Le Mariage d'Orgueil

Le Mariage d'Orgueil (lit. "The wedding of pride") is a French comédie vaudeville in two acts by Adolphe d'Ennery (1811-1899)[1].

The original text

First performed at the Théâtre National du Vaudeville, Paris, 23 March 1838. Printed in Paris by Dondey-Dupré (date unknown) and by Marchant, 1838.

Translations and adaptations

Adapted and translated into English as A Wonderful Woman (also known as The Marquis and Cobbler) by Charles Dance (1794-1863)[2]. Also known by joint title: The Wonderful Woman, or The Marquis and The Cobbler. Another title, given by Allardyce Nicoll (2009), is The Marriage of Pride, or The Marquis and the Cobbler. Nicoll provides two possible dates for performances of a play by latter name at the Grecian Theatre, London, i.e. 14/9/1854 and 21/6/1860.

Performance history in South Africa

1860: Performed in English as A Wonderful Woman by Charles Fraser and his company in his Cabinet Theatre, Cape Town, on 21 March, with The Fast Coach (Claridge and Soutar).

1860: Performed in English again by Charles Fraser and his company in the Cabinet Theatre, Cape Town, on 29 March, with Every Man's House is his Castle (Morton).

1860: Performed as A Wonderful Woman by Charles Fraser and his "Thespian Company" in a tent in Simon's Town on 15 April. Also performed were a play called The Croaker, or The Business of Human Life (no author given) was and songs sung as intermezzo.

1869: Performed by the officers and men of the 32nd Light Infantry in Grahamstown, with The Bride of Abydos (probably the burlesque version by H.J. Byron), in the presence of the Lieutenant Governor and the local elite.

1877: Performed as The Wonderful Woman, or The Marquis and The Cobbler (and wrongly attributed to "Geo. Dance" by Bosman, 1980) in the Theatre Royal, Cape Town, by Disney Roebuck's company on 5 September, with Peep O' Day (Falconer). A benefit performance for Georgina Robinson and W. Foulis.

1877: Performed as The Wonderful Woman in the Theatre Royal, Cape Town, by Disney Roebuck's company on 6 September, with Black-Eyed Susan (Jerrold).

1877: Performed as The Wonderful Woman in the Athenaeum Hall, Cape Town, by the Disney Roebuck company on 11 September, with Lost in London (Phillips).

1884-5: Performed as The Marquis and the Cobbler by the Henry Harper Company in the new Theatre Royal, Cape Town, as part of Henry Harper's first season as lessee and manager of the venue.

Sources

Facsimile version of the Dondey-Dupré published French text, The Internet Archive[[3]]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolphe_d%27Ennery

http://childperformers.ca/biographies/rosina-shaw/#_edn19

http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/2nd-june-1849/10/mr-charles-dance-has-worked-with-considerable-tact

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Dance_(playwright)

Allardyce Nicoll. 2009. History of English Drama, 1660-1900 (Volume 5, Part 2), Cambridge University Press: p. 716[4]

The Auckland Star, Volume XVII, Issue 226, 25 September, 1886[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, 1856-1912. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp. 127-8, 299, 356, 360.

William Groom. 1899-1900. Drama in Cape Town. Cape Illustrated Magazine, 10(4): 478-481, 517-520, 547-552, 580-584, 640-643, 670-672, 706-708.

Go to ESAT Bibliography