The Lady and the Devil

The Lady and the Devil is a musical drama in two acts by William Dimond (c. 1784–1837?)[1]

The original text

Apparently based on the Spanish play La Dama Duende (Calderon, 1626) and borrowing something from John Till Allingham's comedy The Marriage Promise (1803)[2], it tells of a young widow living in Palermo who falls for a English officer living in an adjoining property. She introduces herself to him in two forms, the first as a veiled mistress and the second as a hidden mistress, entering his accommodation through a hidden door. First performed at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, on 3 May 1820 and first published in 1820.

Performance history in South Africa

1868: Performed in the old Oddfellows Hall Cape Town by the Le Roy and Duret Company on 14 May along with Act 3 of The Octoroon (Boucicault) and A Comical Countess (Brough)

Sources

http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-38624

F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1912. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: p. 233

http://www.eighteenthcenturydrama.amdigital.co.uk/Documents/Details/HL_LA_mssLA2145

Catalogue of books for sale by Pickering and Chatto, London: Part IV[3]

Go to ESAT Bibliography

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