Difference between revisions of "Alonzo the Brave"

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52952 A - Z. LORD CHAMBERLAIN'S PLAYS, 1852 - 1866. January - February 1855. [https://intranet.royalholloway.ac.uk/dramaandtheatre/documents/pdf/lcp/playslicensedin1855.pdf]
 
52952 A - Z. LORD CHAMBERLAIN'S PLAYS, 1852 - 1866. January - February 1855. [https://intranet.royalholloway.ac.uk/dramaandtheatre/documents/pdf/lcp/playslicensedin1855.pdf]
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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.
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Go to [[ESAT Bibliography]]
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== Return to ==
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Return to [[PLAYS I: Original SA plays]]
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Return to [[PLAYS II: Foreign plays]]
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Return to [[PLAYS III: Collections]]
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Return to [[PLAYS IV: Pageants and public performances]]
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Return to [[South_African_Festivals|South African Festivals and Competitions]]
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Return to [[The ESAT Entries]]
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Return to [[Main Page]]

Revision as of 16:50, 29 December 2019

There appear to have been a number of stage versions that include this phrase Alonzo the Brave in their title, all apparently versions of the famous ballad The Celebrated History of Alonzo the Brave and the Fair Imogen by Matthew Gregory Lewis (“Monk Lewis”) (1775–1818)[1]. Among them have been texts by Didelot (1801), T.J. Dibdin (1821 and 1826), E. Fitzball (1850), H.T. Craven (1855) and Francis Cowley Burnand (1855).


For more on the various versions, see Allardyce Nicoll's 1975 book, A History of English Drama 1660-1900: Late 19th Century Drama 1850-1900 (Cambridge University Press).

The ballad

The ballad tells of Alonzo, who bids Imogene be faithful to him when he leaves for the wars in Palestine, but another wooer wins her hand. At the wedding, the spectre of Alonzo, a rotting skeleton clad in armor, appears and bears the false Imogene away, to the horror of all. It is said that three times a year the couple will appear at a ball and dance


South African performances

On 6 April, 1858 an item listed as The Celebrated History of Alonzo the Brave and the Fair Imogen made up part of an evening's entertainment presented in the Harrington Street Theatre, Cape Town, by Sefton Parry and his company. The programme also included a performance of Fitzball's "Celebrated Nautical Romantic Drama", The Flying Dutchman, The Lottery Ticket (Beazley) and a song sung by J.E.H. English.

Sources

Bartleby.com: Text of the ballad by Lewis[2]

http://www.fresnostate.edu/folklore/ballads/RcAtBaFI.html

Allardyce Nicoll. 1975. A History of English Drama 1660-1900: Late 19th Century Drama 1850-1900 Cambridge University Press: p. 13[3] and p. 287[4]

52952 A - Z. LORD CHAMBERLAIN'S PLAYS, 1852 - 1866. January - February 1855. [5]

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

Go to ESAT Bibliography

Return to

Return to PLAYS I: Original SA plays

Return to PLAYS II: Foreign plays

Return to PLAYS III: Collections

Return to PLAYS IV: Pageants and public performances

Return to South African Festivals and Competitions

Return to The ESAT Entries

Return to Main Page