Madeleine, or The Daughter of the Regiment

Madeleine, or The Daughter of the Regiment is a play by Edward Stirling (1809-1894)[1].

Also referred to simply as The Daughter of the Regiment at times.

The original text

This is clearly one of a number of works based (directly or indirectly) on La fille du régiment, the 1840 opéra comique by Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848)[2]. (See the entry on The Daughter of the Regiment.)

Het Volksblad's anonymous reviewer of the 1862 Cape Town performances, for example, refers to the play as La fille du régiment and laments the lack of Donizetti's music in the performance. (Het Volksblad, 19 June 1862)

Possibly written circa 1860.

Translations and adaptations

Performance history in South Africa

1862: Performed in the Theatre Royal, Cape Town by the Clara Tellett and her company on 16th June, with Hunting a Turtle, or Trust a Woman's Wit (Selby ). Tellet (or the Cape press at the time) refers to the author as "E. Sterling". The cast included Tellett herself, James Leffler, T. Brazier, Mr Raymond and Mrs Arlington

1862: Performed in the Theatre Royal, Cape Town by the Clara Tellett and her company on 23rd June, with My American Cousin, or A Slight Misunderstanding ("A Gentleman of Cape Town").

1875: A "musical comedietta" called The Daughter of the Regiment was performed on 23 June, by Disney Roebuck and company in the Bijou Theatre, Cape Town, and repeated twice in the same season (on the 26th June and 9th September). As no author is given for these first performances of the play by Roebuck, the text in question could really have been any one of the three English stage plays from the 19th century based on the opera. Bosman (1980, p.509) confuses the matter further by suggesting that it was the text by Fitzball, but at the same time referring the reader to the Stirling text called Madeleine, or The Daughter of the Regiment. In his later productions from 1878, however, Roebuck did credit Fitzball specifically - which seems to suggest that it is highly probable that he used Fitzball's version for all his productions, rather than Stirling's. (For details of the Roebuck productions of Fitzball's play, go to the entry on The Daughter of the Regiment (Fitzball).)

with the The Day after the Wedding (Kemble) and Princess Pocahontas (Anon). No author is specified for the musical, so the text in question could be any one of the three English stage plays from the 19th century based on the opera - though Bosman (1980, p.509) confusingly suggests it was the text by Fitzball (The Daughter of the Regiment), though referring the reader to the Stirling text.

1875: Performed again as The Daughter of the Regiment by Disney Roebuck and company in the Bijou Theatre, Cape Town, on 26 June, with a recital of The Charge of the Light Brigade (Tennyson) by Miss Berenger and the two act drama Ben Bolt (Johnstone).

1875: Performed again as The Daughter of the Regiment by Disney Roebuck and company in the Bijou Theatre, Cape Town, on 9 September, with a dance by Miss Duggan and Lost in London (Phillips).