Town and Country, or Which is Best?

Town and Country, or Which is Best? is a short farce sby Thomas Morton (1764–1838)[1].

Also known as Town & Country, or Which is Best? or simply Town and Country

Not to be confused with A Country Girl, or Town and Country by James T. Tanner (1802).

The original text

The play was first performed at Covent Garden in London on 10 March 1807, with John Philip Kemble as "Reuben Glenroy" and Charles Kemble as "Plastic". Edmund Kean also later played the lead role of Reuben Glenroy.

The play was first performed in the United States in New York City on 2 November 1807 at the Park Theatre, and was regularly performed in England and America during the 19th century.

Translations and adaptations

Performance history in South Africa

1859: Performed as part of the bill of An Evening of Tragedy, Melodrama and Light Comedy, given in the Cape Town Theatre on 2 June by E.C. de Jocelyn Harvey, with the support of local amateurs and members of the Cape Town Garrison. Other pieces done were a death scene from a melodrama entitled Friendship (Anon.), the closet scene from Hamlet (Shakespeare) and an Extravaganza Macbeth (Talfourd). Harvey played "Flora de Florence, a modern belle", supported by Mr Devere and Miss Delmaine.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Town_and_Country_(play)

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

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. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1912. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: p.129

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