It Is Never Too Late To Mend
The title It Is Never Too Late To Mend (or Never Too Late To Mend) can refer to a number of theatrical works, all of them based on a novel of that name by novelist and playwright Charles Reade (1814-1884)[1].
Contents
The novel (1856)
Based on an early play called Gold (1853) by Reade, the novel tells the story of a ruthless squire who becomes obsessed with a younger woman and conspires to have her lover framed and sent to jail. Reade's novel is claimed to have exposed conditions in British jails and contributed to reforms in the 19th century.
Besides the two published versions discussed below, there were also adaptations for London’s Surrey, Britannia, Marylebone and Grecian theatres in the interval between the Hazlewood (1859) and Reade (1865) versions. The novel was also filmed a number of times over the years.
Never Too Late To Mend a drama by C. H. Hazlewood (1859)
The original text
The first adaptation of the novel was done by C. H. Hazlewood ()[] in 1859, when it was first staged at the Royal Marylebone Theatre and published in Lacy’s Acting Edition of Plays, Vol. 2 in the same year.
Performance history in South Africa
It Is Never Too Late To Mend a drama by Charles Reade (1865)
The original text
In 1865 Reade himself did an adaptation of the novel as a play in three acts, under the title It Is Never Too Late To Mend. (Also found as It's Never Too Late To Mend or It's Never too Late to Mend, or Gold, Gold, Gold)
The play opened in February 1865 at The Theatre, Leeds, where it played to great acclaim.
Performance history in South Africa
1862: Performed as It's Never too Late to Mend, or Gold, Gold, Gold by Clara Tellett and her company in the Theatre Royal, Cape Town, on 15 December, with Marriage at any Price (Wooler). The performance given as a benefit for James Leffler, held under the patronage of the Governor's wife, Lady Wodehouse, and R. Southey, the Colonial Secretary.
1882/3: Performed as It's Never too Late to Mend by Mabel Hayes and her company in the Theatre Royal, Cape Town, as part of season that ran from August 1882 to June 1883. She probably did it in Port Elizabeth as well in the subsequent season.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Is_Never_Too_Late_to_Mend_(novel)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Reade
Joanna Hofer-Robinson and Beth Palmer. 2020. Sensation Drama, 1860-1880: An Anthology, University Press Scholarship Online [2]
D.C. Boonzaier, 1923. "My playgoing days – 30 years in the history of the Cape Town stage", in SA Review, 9 March and 24 August 1932. (Reprinted in Bosman 1980: pp. 374-439.)
F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1912. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp.132, 376
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