59th Regiment

The 59th Regiment of the British forces was stationed in Cape Town, and the brass orchestra of this company performed as part of the programme in some theatrical performances by the Cape Town Theatrical Club in the Harrington Street Theatre in 1859 and with the Royal Alfred Dramatic Club in the new Theatre Royal (opened in 1860). Possibly some of the officers and men were involved as performers as well.

The company

The commanding officer was apparently Col. Burmeister, and the director of the orchestra was a Herr Werthal.

Performances

In 1859 they performed in the Harrington Street Theatre as an interlude with the Cape Town Theatrical Club on several occasions, including:

On 22 March, The Evil Genius (Bernard) and The Lady of Lyons, or Two-penny Pride and Penny-Tence (Byron), on 27 May: Retribution (Taylor) and Masaniello (Brough?), on 6 June: Heads or Tails? (Simpson) and Masaniello (Brough?), on 31 August: Victims (Taylor) and Electra, or A New Electrical Light (Talfourd), on 7 September: Nothing Venture, Nothing Win (Coyne) and Electra, or A New Electrical Light (Talfourd), and on 6 October: Frederick of Prussia, or The Monarch and the Mimic (Selby) and Whitebait at Greenwich (Morton).

In 1860 they performed as an interlude with the Royal Alfred Dramatic Club in the Theatre Royal, Cape Town on 25 November , with the plays Dido, The Queen of Carthage (Durnand) and The Irish Tutor (Butler) and on 3 December, with Dido, The Queen of Carthage (Durnand) and Who Do You Take Me For? (Morton?).

Sources

F.C.L. Bosman, 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1916. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp. 145, 155-9

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