William Tell

William Tell[1] is the English name for a folk hero of Switzerland who, according to the legend, was an expert marksman with the crossbow and, by assassinating the tyrant Albrecht Gessler, encouraged open rebellion against the foreign rulers and ultimately leading to the foundation of the Swiss Confederacy.

Numerous versions of the tale have been told and written over the centuries, including the famous tale of Gessler forcing Tell to shoot an apple off his own son's head. Among the works based on the legend are a number of theatrical works produced over the years, the earliest seemingly being the Urner Tellspiel ("Tell Play of Uri"), said to have been performed in the winter of either 1512 or 1513 in Altdorf.

THE PLAYS

Among the plays known and/or performed in South Africa are:

Guillaume Tell by Lemierre (1766)

Guillaume Tell is a French tragedy written by Antoine-Marin Lemierre (1733–1793)[2] and first produced by the author in 1766, repeated with great success in 1786.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine-Marin_Lemierre

Wilhelm Tell by Schiller (1804)

The original text

Originally written in German as Wilhelm Tell and first was staged in Weimar under the direction of Johann Wolfgang Goethe on March 17, 1804.

Published the same year.

Translations and adaptations

Schiller's version translated into English by **

Schiller's version translated into Afrikaans as Wilhelm Tell by D.F. Malherbe and published by Nasionale Pers in the collection Die Meul Dreun en Ander Toneelwerk, 1943.

Sources

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

https://af.wikipedia.org/wiki/D.F._Malherbe

J.C. Kannemeyer 1978. Geskiedenis van die Afrikaanse Literatuur I. Pretoria: Academica. (Second edition, 1984[3], pp. 162

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William Tell by Knowles(1825)

William Tell is a five act play by James Sheridan Knowles (1784–1862)[4].

The original text

First performed at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on May 11 1825 with William Charles Macready as Tell. Published by Thomas Dolby in 1825.

Translations and adaptations

Later a three act version was created by omitting the sub-plot entirely, and performed by Macready in London and Forrest in New York. Published round about 1845.

Performance history in South Africa

1850: Performed (apparently in the original 5 act version) by James Lycett's Company of amateurs at the Drury Lane Theatre, Cape Town, on 6 September, with The Party Wall (Anon) and music from Rossini's opera of William Tell, by the orchestra of the 73rd Regiment.

Sources

Facsimile version of the original 1825 published text, The Internet Archive[5]

Facsimile version of the adapted 3 act version, Hathi Trust Digital Library[6]

F.C.L. Bosman. 1928. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel I: 1652-1855. Pretoria: J.H. de Bussy. [7]: pp. 425

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Guillaume Tell the opera by Rossini (1829)

Based on Friedrich Schiller's German play Wilhelm Tell, and known as Guillaume Tell in French (William Tell in English and Guglielmo Tell in Italian), it was originally written as a French-language opera in four acts by Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868)[8], to a libretto by Étienne de Jouy and Hippolyte Bis.

The William Tell Overture is one of his best-known and most frequently imitated pieces of music.

Performance history in South Africa

1992: Presented by CAPAB Opera (29 February – 2 March)

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Tell_(opera)

Wayne Muller. 2018. A reception history of opera in Cape Town: Tracing the development of a distinctly South African operatic aesthetic (1985–2015). Unpublished PhD thesis.

William Tell: A Telling Tale of an Old Tell-Tale (Buckingham)

William Tell: A Telling Tale of an Old Tell-Tale is a burlesque version of the Rossini opera by L. S. Buckingham (fl. mid 19th century).

Also found as William Tell; A Telling Tale of an Old Tell Tale or William Tell, A Telling Version of an Old Tell Tale.

The original text

First performed at The Strand Theatre, London, 1857 .

Performance history in South Africa

1859: The burlesque was performed as William Tell; A Telling Tale of an Old Tell Tale by Juvenile Amateurs in Cape Town on 23 June, 1859, along with The Miller of Whetstone or The Cross Bow Letter (Wilks) and The Fire Eater (Selby).

1865: Billed as "the Grand Comical, Classical (Musical) Burlesque of William Tell" it was performed by the Phoenix Dramatic Club at the Theatre Royal, Cape Town, with scenery by C.J. Smith. Also on the bill was The Irish Attorney, or Galway Practice (Bernard).

Sources

Roberta Montemorra Marvin and Downing A. Thomas. 2017. Operatic Migrations: Transforming Works and Crossing Boundaries. Routledge: p. 212.[9]

Richard Schoch. 2018. Victorian Theatrical Burlesques. Routledge: p. [10]

Roberta Montemorra Marvin. 2003. Verdian Opera Burlesqued: A Glimpse into Mid-Victorian Theatrical Culture. Cambridge Opera Journal, Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 33-66.[11]

F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1912. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp. 165, 270

Go to ESAT Bibliography

William Tell with a Vengeance, or The Pet, the Parrot and the Pippin (Byron)

The original text

A burlesque or travesty of Knowles' original text for William Tell (1825), it was first performed at The Strand Theatre, London, in 1867.

Performance history in South Africa

1878: Performed by Disney Roebuck and his company in the Theatre Royal, Cape Town, on 4 February, with The Angel of the Attic (Morton)

1878: Performed by Disney Roebuck and his company in the Theatre Royal, Cape Town, on 6 February, with Woodcock's Little Game (Morton) and the "transformation scene" from Ali Baba

1878: Performed by Disney Roebuck and his company as part of a Gala Night in the Good Hope Gardens, Cape Town, on 9 February, with The Ministry in a Fix (Knight)

1878: Performed by Disney Roebuck and his company in the Theatre Royal, Cape Town, on 16 February, with East Lynne (Wood)

Sources

William Davenport Adams. 1891. A Book of Burlesque: Sketches of English Stage Travestie and Parody. London: Henry and Company (Issue 5 of The Whitefriars Library of Wit and Humour)[12].

F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1912. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp.365

Go to ESAT Bibliography

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