The Braziers

The Braziers (fl 1860-1870) is the joint name frequently used to refer to Thomas Brazier and his wife, known simply as Mrs Brazier.

The Braziers

The couple seem to have come to South Africa in 1861, with Thomas as a member of a new company brought out by Sefton Parry for a season opening in the Theatre Royal, Cape Town, on 13 May and lasting till 14 November.

Thereafter they both appeared for Clara Tellett's company. With the demise of Mrs Tellett's company in 1862, they stayed on in Cape Town owing to the pregnancy of Mrs Brazier, opening a restaurant and theatre venue in The Round House, Cape Town. They remained active in South Africa till at least 1871, with their own productions (including a period in Port Elizabeth between 1864-1870), and further appearances for the companies of Leroy and Duret (1866) and Sefton Parry (1869).

In 1870 The Braziers were back in Cape Town, .

Mrs Brazier (fl 1860s)

Biography

Mrs Brazier (fl 1860-1870) was an actress and dancer, said to be from the Theatre Royal, Glasgow, and was married Thomas Brazier.

Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance

She is first mentioned for performing interpolated acts for Clara Tellett and her company in 1862 (e.g. a "Medley Dance" on 30 June and a dance 3 July), as well as acting in some of the plays, despite her rather soft voice. She is later also named as an occasional performer for the Young Men's Institute and Club Dramatic Company, run by Thomas Brazier, active in Cape Town between 1869 and 1871, as well as Leroy and Duret (1866) and Sefton Parry (1869).

Thomas Brazier (?-1871)

Thomas Brazier (fl 1860s, died 1871) was an actor active in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth in the 1860s and early 1870s.

Also billed as T. Brazier or Mr Brazier.

Biography

According to R.W. Murray (1894, cited in Bosman, 1980, p.101) ) he was a good exponent of Shakespearian tragic roles and an actor for Charles Kean at the Royal Princess Theatre, London, for eight years, before parting with Kean and being recruited by Sefton Parry for a new touring company in 1861.

Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance

Brazier and his wife arrived in South Africa with the company in 1861, and he was oosn considered a senior performer for Sefton Parry during the 1861 and 1862 seasons (inter alia playing "Rob Roy" on various occasions). He was also quite popular with the public apparently and received two benefit evenings, the first on 10 October, 1861 (including performances of The Rose of Ettrick Vale and Family Jars), before the season closed on 14 November and the second on 28 March, 1862, (including performances of Rob Roy Macgregor, or Auld Lang Syne (Pocock) and The Dancing Barber (Selby).

He is described by the press of the time as a young man whose fine elocution typified him as the "ardent lover" and "a man and gentleman" (reviewer in the Cape Argus, cited in Bosman, 1980, p.101). He and C. Bland were also considered the "intellectuals" in the company, who gave occasional lectures in the Mechanics' Institute (e.g. Brazier with a lecture on Hamlet and accompanying recitals in November, 1861).

Brazier went on to become a leading actor for Clara Tellett and her company in 1862. When Tellet's company folded and his wife fell pregnant, he began (unsuccessfully as it happens) to seek work as a tutor, teacher of elocution, corresponding clerk, or any other suitable employment, and ultimately became the lessee of The Round House in Camps Bay, where the child was born in May of 1863. Brazier ran the property as a restaurant and entertainment venue, and by the start of 1864 he was advertising it as The Round House Hotel. On 4 April he also tried his hand at lecturing at a presentation of Henry Harper's Diorama of Holland and the Rhine in the Theatre Royal, but his eccentric and uninformed presentations led to his dismissal.

Returning to the safer ground of play-readings and straight theatre, he a presented a series of Dramatic Readings, appearing every alternate Monday in the Cape Town City Hall between 4 July and 7 November of 1864. The seven plays in the series were Knowles's The Hunchback, Bulwer-Lytton's The Lady of Lyons and five plays by Shakespeare: Hamlet, The Merchant of Venice, Romeo and Juliet, King John and Much Ado about Nothing.

Besides the readings he also produced and performed in a few plays at the Theatre Royal, Cape Town, in 1864, among them Still Waters Run Deep (Taylor), Living Too Fast, or A Twelve Month's Honeymoon (Troughton), The Turned Head (Beckett), Time Tries All (Courtney) and The Irish Post (Planché).

On 12 December, 1864 there was a farewell for the Braziers, who were leaving for Port Elizabeth to continue their careers there.

In 1870 The Braziers were back in Cape Town.

Sources

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

Cape Illustrated Magazine. 1890-1901. Articles by W.G. Groom.

R.W. Murray. 1894. South African Reminiscences. Cape Town.

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