Divorçons!

Divorçons! ("Let's get a divorce!") is a French comedy in three acts by Victorien Sardou (1831-1908) and Émile de Najac (1828-1889)[1].

The original text

First performed in Paris, at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal, on 6 December, 1880. Published in Paris by Calmann-Lévy, 1880.

Translations and adaptations

A German version, based on Sardou's play, called Die Geschiedene Frau ("The divorcée") was adapted as an operetta in three acts by Leo Fall with a libretto by Victor Léon. It opened at the Carltheater in Vienna on 23 December 1908.

It was translated into Italian and opened at the Teatro Lirico Internationale in Milan as La divorziata on 16 August 1909,

Translated into English as The Girl in the Train by George Edwardes, with lyrics by Adrian Ross, and performed in two acts at the Vaudeville Theatre, London, from 4 June 1910. A new translation with the same title, by Harry B. Smith (1860-1936), was performed at the Globe Theatre, New York, from 3 October to 5 November 1910. (Not to be confused with the 2018 play called The Girl on the Train.)

Translated in a variety of other titles over the years, including Divorcons, or Let's Get a Divorce (by an anonymous translator, published by The Dramatic Publishing Company, Chicago, 1909), Divorce, of course! (by Robert Goldsby, Lee Pockriss and Hal Hackady, also known as Let's Get a Divorce, produced 1987, unpublished), Cyprienne (translated and adapted by David Nicholson, performed at The Village Playhouse in Toronto in 2009)

Performance history in South Africa

1911: The Girl in the Train performed by the Wheeler Company in the Opera House, Cape Town.

1969: Let's Get a Divorce presented by the Arts Theatre Club at the Guild Theatre, directed by Mary Howe.

1970: A production of Let's Get a Divorce was presented by NAPAC at the Alhambra Theatre, directed by Frank Shelley, 1970.

2013: Cyprienne performed by the Constantiaberg Theatre Players at the Masque Theatre, Muizenberg, from Friday 24 May until Saturday 1 June.

Sources

http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k104223q

Divorçons! : Comédie en trois actes, World Cat[2]

https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100523979

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

https://davidnicholsonplays.com/cyprienne/

https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-show/the-girl-in-the-train-3907

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 1923. (Reprinted in Bosman 1980: pp. 374-439.)

Theatre programme (NAPAC production, 1970), held by NELM: NELM Location: [Collection: KORT, Maurice]: 2012. 379. 20. 6.

F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1916. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp.435.

South African premiere: "Cyprienne", a comedy about divorce, French-style, Mads News and Reviews: 10/5/2013 [3]

Arts Theatre Club archive held by George Mountjoy.

Go to ESAT Bibliography

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