All that Glitters is not Gold

All that Glitters is not Gold is a comic drama in two acts by Thomas Morton (1764-1838)[1] and John Maddison Morton (1811-1891)[2].

This piece also found as All that Glitters is not Gold, or The Poor Girl's Diary, All that Glitters is not Gold, or The Factory Girl, The Factory Girl, or, All that Glitters is not Gold or simply The Factory Girl. The title All is not Gold that Glitters, or The Factory Girl also occurs in South Africa.

Not to be confused with the 17th century play All is not Gold that Glisters by Henry Chettle and Samuel Rowley or the 1863 novel The Factory Girl, or All is not Gold that Glitters, "a romance of real life", by Mary Elizabeth Braddon.

The original text

Said to be "adapted from the French" (though no French source has been traced so far), it was first performed at the Olympic Theatre, London, on January 13, 1851, with Mrs. Stirling as "Martha Gibb". It was first played in New York Broadway Theatre, March, 1851 and later at the Bowery Theatre, 1851. It was apparently widely performed in America and the British colonies afterwards.

The text was strangely credited to both father and son, even though the first performance only took place 13 years after the death of Thomas Morton. Which suggests that the play may either have been an early work only performed much later, or an adaptation by the son of an original version (or concept) by his father. The published texts however, say nothing on this.

Published as All that Glitters is not Gold by London : T.H. Lacy in 1851 and in New York by William Taylor, 1851 Published under this title by Samuel French as well and as Dicks' Standard Plays: no.1054. Published as All that Glitters is not Gold, or The Poor Girl's Diary by the School Publishing Company, Darrowville, Ohio and by A.D. Ames, Publisher, Clyde, Ohio in 1888. There is a strange confusion in cataloguing of this latter version of the work by American libraries, for it is often listed as The Factory Girl, or, All that Glitters is not Gold, even though the text says All that Glitters is not Gold, or The Poor Girl's Diary on the title page, and simply All that Glitters is not Gold at the head of the text itself.

Performance history in South Africa

1858: Performed by as All is not Gold that Glitters, or The Factory Girl by Sefton Parry and his company, assisted by members of the local Garrison, on 27 April in the Cape Town Theatre. Apparently called "a beautiful pathetic play" and ascribed to Chettle and Rowley according to F.C.L. Bosman (1980: p. 69). However, the subtitle seems to suggest it was the 1851 play written by the Mortons. Also performed was the English song The Ratcatcher's Daughter and the comedy Buried Alive ().

1861: Performed as on 13 May 1861, the opening night of the newly completed Theatre Royal.

1862: Performed final performance on 11 April.

1865: Performed in Port Elizabeth on 31 July, with Mrs Clara Tellett appearing as "Martha Gibbs".

Sources

Facsimile version of the 1851 text of All that Glitters is not Gold by Taylor, Hathitrust Digital Library[3]

Facsimile version of All that Glitters is not Gold, or The Poor Girl's Diary, Hathitrust Digital Library[4]

Facsimile version of the 1851 text of All that Glitters is not Gold by Samuel French, Hathitrust Digital Library[5]

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

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