Who's Bones?
Who's Bones? is a performance piece in the minstrel tradition by an anonymous creator.
Contents
The original text
Probably a scene created featuring the traditional minstrel character "Mr Bones", so named after his practice of "rattling the bones" (i.e. a pair of clappers, named after the original material from which they were made)[1]. He often appeared with other characters such as "Mr. Tambo" was and the "MC". [2]
Translations and adaptations
Performance history in South Africa
1868: Performed as Who's Bones?, and billed as "a comic scene", by the Phoenix Club in the St Aloysius Hall, Cape Town, in October along with The Mischievous Nigger. Among the performers mentioned in the farce were Mr Williams, Mr Tinus, Mr Samuels, Mr Redmonds, Mr Edwards and Mr Joseph.
Sources
https://www.britannica.com/art/Mr-Bones
https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_670132
F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1912. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: p.273
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