The Old Guard

The Old Guard is a one-act play by Dion Boucicault ()[].

The original text

Originally known as Napoleon's Old Guard, it was Boucault's first play, written when he was still at school and performed by Boucicault's school fellows at Brentford Collegiate School, London, in 1836. Later revised and renamed The Old Guard, it was professionally performed on January 30, 1840, at the Theatre Royal, Brighton. It opened in the USA at the Chatham Theatre, on Friday, August 1, 1845.

Published by in Dicks' Standard Plays , ca. 1845, and by Samuel French, 1848.

Performance history in South Africa

1893: Performed as La Cigale in the Opera House Cape Town by the Lyric Opera Company, with Leonora Braham and Grant Fallowes in the leading roles. (D.C. Boonzaier, cited by Bosman, 1980 (p. 398), refers to the play as an "opera").

Sources

Richard Fawkes. 2011. Dion Boucicault. Ardent Media: pp. 21-22[1]

Dion Boucicault Collections, University of Kent Library [2]

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: pp.203-205

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