Difference between revisions of "Le Truc d' Arthur"

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==The original text==
 
==The original text==
  
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Some critics at the time pointed out that the French play was itself was based on and/or a modernised version of Marivaux's play '''''[[Le Jeu de l'Amour et du Hasard]]''''' (first performed 23 January 1730 by the Comédie Italienne at the Hôtel de Bourgogne), telling of a young woman who is visited by her betrothed, whom she does not know. To get a better idea of the type of person he is, she trades places with her servant and disguises herself. However, unbeknownst to her, her fiancé has the same idea and trades places with his valet. The "game" pits the two false servants against the two false masters, and in the end, the couples fall in love with their appropriate counterpart. (Marivaux's play was translated into English as ''[[The Game of Love and Chance]]'').  
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The French play is based on and/or a modernised version of Marivaux's three-act comedy '''''[[Le Jeu de l'Amour et du Hasard]]''''' (first performed in 1730, and known in English as ''[[The Game of Love and Chance]]''), and tells of an amorous state official who changes places with his valet to enter the service of a dashing widow, whom he admires, and to avoid an engagement to the daughter of a vulgar tanner, who turns out to be the widow's landlord. Her maid had once been deserted by the valet and the widow is herself is engaged to a Russian count.
  
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The Dudu and Chivot comedy was first performed in Paris at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal 14 October, 1882.  
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First performed in Paris at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal 14 October, 1882.  
  
 
The French text was also published by P.V. Stock, as Volume 9 of ''Auteurs dramatiques'', in 1908.
 
The French text was also published by P.V. Stock, as Volume 9 of ''Auteurs dramatiques'', in 1908.
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==Translations and adaptations==
 
==Translations and adaptations==
  
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''[[Le Truc d' Arthur]]'' was adapted into English as '''''[[Gloriana]]''''' (after the English name for the widow), "a light comedy in three acts" by James Mortimer (1833-1911)[]. In Mortimer's version it becomes a comedy about an amorous state official who changes place with his valet to enter the service of a dashing widow, whom he admires, and to avoid an engagement to the daughter of a vulgar tanner, who turns out to be the widow's landlord. Her maid had once been deserted by the valet and the widow is herself is engaged to a Russian count. First performed (as ''[[Gloriana]]'') at the Globe Theatre, London, on 10 November 1891 and in New York on 15 February 15, 1892. The title was later changed to  '''''[[My Artful Valet]]''''' in other productions.
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''[[Le Truc d' Arthur]]'' was adapted into English as '''''[[Gloriana]]''''' (after the English name for the widow), "a light comedy in three acts" by James Mortimer (1833-1911)[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Mortimer_(chess_player)]. Mortimer's version is set in England and the characters appropriately Anglicised in accordance with this. First performed (as ''[[Gloriana]]'') at the Globe Theatre, London, on 10 November 1891 and in New York on 15 February 15, 1892. The title was later changed to  '''''[[My Artful Valet]]''''' in other productions.
  
 
== Performance history in South Africa ==
 
== Performance history in South Africa ==
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https://data.bnf.fr/39494505/le_truc_d_arthur_spectacle_1882/
 
https://data.bnf.fr/39494505/le_truc_d_arthur_spectacle_1882/
 +
 +
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Mortimer_(chess_player)
  
 
''The Theatre'', Volume 28[https://books.google.co.za/books?id=Kh1LAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA221&dq=My+Arful+Valet+a+play+by+James+Mortimer&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjDiZCi8qjpAhXPTMAKHengBAUQ6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&q=My%20Arful%20Valet%20a%20play%20by%20James%20Mortimer&f=false]
 
''The Theatre'', Volume 28[https://books.google.co.za/books?id=Kh1LAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA221&dq=My+Arful+Valet+a+play+by+James+Mortimer&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjDiZCi8qjpAhXPTMAKHengBAUQ6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&q=My%20Arful%20Valet%20a%20play%20by%20James%20Mortimer&f=false]
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J.P. Wearing. 2013. ''The London Stage 1890-1899: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel''. Scarecrow Press:  p. 92.[https://books.google.co.za/books?id=nF8pAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA92&lpg=PA92&dq=Gloriana+Le+Truc+d%27+Arthur&source=bl&ots=hfm_S5Mj7I&sig=ACfU3U1FtGwXRx6oxV0QWhuUJ8S8ZxCnYA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjZgrap-KjpAhXRQkEAHXd2DwsQ6AEwAHoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=Gloriana%20Le%20Truc%20d'%20Arthur&f=false]
 
J.P. Wearing. 2013. ''The London Stage 1890-1899: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel''. Scarecrow Press:  p. 92.[https://books.google.co.za/books?id=nF8pAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA92&lpg=PA92&dq=Gloriana+Le+Truc+d%27+Arthur&source=bl&ots=hfm_S5Mj7I&sig=ACfU3U1FtGwXRx6oxV0QWhuUJ8S8ZxCnYA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjZgrap-KjpAhXRQkEAHXd2DwsQ6AEwAHoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=Gloriana%20Le%20Truc%20d'%20Arthur&f=false]
  
 +
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Game_of_Love_and_Chance
  
 
Review of ''[[Gloriana]]'' by Willa Cather, ''Nebraska State Journal'', January 10, 1894:p.6[https://cather.unl.edu/writings/journalism/j00027]
 
Review of ''[[Gloriana]]'' by Willa Cather, ''Nebraska State Journal'', January 10, 1894:p.6[https://cather.unl.edu/writings/journalism/j00027]
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[[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 [[F.C.L. Bosman|Bosman]] 1980: pp. 374-439.)
 
[[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 [[F.C.L. Bosman|Bosman]] 1980: pp. 374-439.)
  
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[[F.C.L. Bosman]]. 1980. ''Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1912''. Pretoria: [[J.L. van Schaik]]: pp.203-205
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[[F.C.L. Bosman]]. 1980. ''Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1912''. Pretoria: [[J.L. van Schaik]]: p.417
  
 
Go to [[ESAT Bibliography]]
 
Go to [[ESAT Bibliography]]

Latest revision as of 05:49, 9 October 2020

Le Truc d' Arthur ("Arthur's trick") is a French comedy in three acts by Alfred Duru (1829-1889)[1] and Henri Chivot (1830-1897)[2].


The original text

The French play is based on and/or a modernised version of Marivaux's three-act comedy Le Jeu de l'Amour et du Hasard (first performed in 1730, and known in English as The Game of Love and Chance), and tells of an amorous state official who changes places with his valet to enter the service of a dashing widow, whom he admires, and to avoid an engagement to the daughter of a vulgar tanner, who turns out to be the widow's landlord. Her maid had once been deserted by the valet and the widow is herself is engaged to a Russian count.

First performed in Paris at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal 14 October, 1882.

The French text was also published by P.V. Stock, as Volume 9 of Auteurs dramatiques, in 1908.

Translations and adaptations

Le Truc d' Arthur was adapted into English as Gloriana (after the English name for the widow), "a light comedy in three acts" by James Mortimer (1833-1911)[3]. Mortimer's version is set in England and the characters appropriately Anglicised in accordance with this. First performed (as Gloriana) at the Globe Theatre, London, on 10 November 1891 and in New York on 15 February 15, 1892. The title was later changed to My Artful Valet in other productions.

Performance history in South Africa

1903: Performed as My Artful Valet by the James Welch Company as part of a season of plays that also included The New Clown (Paull), Cousin Kate (Howard) and The Man in the Street (Parker).

1904: The James Welch Company returned to the Opera House, Cape Town at the beginning of the year for another short season with the four plays.

Sources

https://data.bnf.fr/39494505/le_truc_d_arthur_spectacle_1882/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Mortimer_(chess_player)

The Theatre, Volume 28[4]

J.P. Wearing. 2013. The London Stage 1890-1899: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Scarecrow Press: p. 92.[5]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Game_of_Love_and_Chance

Review of Gloriana by Willa Cather, Nebraska State Journal, January 10, 1894:p.6[6]

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.417

Go to ESAT Bibliography

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