The Sleeping Draught
The Sleeping Draught is an English farce in two acts by Samson Penley,
Contents
The original text
Based on a story by Giovanni Boccaccio.
The first edition announces it as follows: "As Performed with distinguished Applause at the Theatre Royal, Drury-Lane. By S.Penley, Comedian. , London: Richard White, 1818."
Translations and adaptations
Performance history in South Africa
1832: Performed by the group called the English Theatricals in Cape Town on 20 September 1823, as afterpiece to Douglas (Home).
1832: Performed by All the World's a Stage in Cape Town on 30 January, along with The Iron Chest, or The Blood-Stained Knife (Colman) and The Lawyer in the Sack, or Jack's Return!!! (a "ballet with dancing").
1833: Performed as The Sleeping Draught, or A Calf to be Killed!!! by All the World's a Stage in Cape Town on 30 March, as afterpiece to Bertram, or The Castle of St. Aldobrand (Maturin).
Sources
Frontispiece to the first edition of The Sleeping Draught (1818), sourced from UKBookWorld.com [1]
F.C.L. Bosman, 1928. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel I: 1652-1855. Pretoria: J.H. de Bussy. [2]: pp.197, 222, 225
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