David Garrick

David Garrick is a comic play by T.W. Robertson[1] (1829-1871).

The original play

A play about the famous 18th-century actor and theatre manager, David Garrick[2] (1717-1779).

The origins of this play are difficult to pinpoint. For example, there is mention of what appear to be three versions of the basic plot:

Sullivan (often referred to as Sullivan, David Garrick (or Sullivan - (David Garrick.)) was an Italian play in three an acts written and performed in Italian by Tommaso Salvini (apparently translated into English "Expressly for the American Tour of Signor Salvini and His Italian Company" by Maurice Grau and published 1873 by G.F. Nesbitt & Co., printers, New York and again in 1880 in Italian by Seer's printing establishment, New York). It was

Sullivan ("David Garrick") is ; a play, as performed by Sig. Salvini.

Sullivan by A.H.J. Duveyrier. According to T.W. Robertson (in the Preface to David Garrick, his novelization of his own play of the same name), a play by A.H.J. Duveyrier called Sullivan was performed at St James's Theatre, London, by a company of French comedians, where he had seen it, and then wrote his own play based on it in 1864, which he called David Garrick.

Robertson, T. W. 1829-1871. by M. Mélesville (1787-1865). Language(s): English Published:

Robertson's English play was written in 1864 and premiéred at the Prince of Wales Theater in Birmingham, where it was successful enough to be moved to the Haymarket Theatre in London, on 30 April 1864. Published in London by S.O. Beeton, 1865. It became a popular virtuoso role for Disney Roebuck, who performed it often, all over the world. In fact the value of the play have often been ascribed to Roebuck's interpretation of it, rather than the text's own merits.

A 1923 book, Public Speaking Today, recommends David Garrick for performance by high school students alongside The Importance of Being Earnest and The Rivals.

Translations and adaptations

David Garrick. A Love Story by T.W. Robertson, is a "novelette expanded from the play" (i.e. Robertson's own play of the same title), which had been adapted from A.H.J. Duveyrier's play Sullivan

The 1907 musical The Beauty of Bath (Hicks and Hamilton) was loosely based on this work.

Performances in South Africa

1873: It was the first play done by Disney Roebuck when he set out to tour the Western and Eastern Cape Provinces with his company in 1873, it opened his first season in the Mutual Hall (i.e. the concert hall of the Mutual Building) in Cape Town, on 26 November with Perfection (Bayly) as afterpiece.

1875: Performed in the Bijou Theatre, Cape Town, by Disney Roebuck and company on 19 August with as Miss Eily O'Connor (Byron).

1929: It was one of the plays performed by a West End theatre company from London, led by actor-manager Gerald Lawrence, which toured South Africa and Rhodesia, putting on a portfolio of five plays. The tour played in venues owned by African Theatres Ltd. and started in Johannesburg on 1st April 1929 and finished in Cape Town on 3rd October.