Le Rosaire

Le Rosaire ("The Rosary") is a French play in three acts by André Bisson (1884-1967)[].

Widely known and often performed in English as The Rosary.

The original text

An adaptation of the English novel The Rosary by Florence L. Barclay (1862-1921)[1],

The novel was first published in 1909 by G.P. Putnam's Sons and was a bestselling novel for many years running, reaching the number one spot in 1910.[2]

The original French adaptation as a three-act play for the Parisian stage was done by Bisson in 1926. It was performed at the Theatre National de l'Odeon, Paris, and published by La Petite Illustration in the same year.

Translations and adaptations

The novel and the play have been translated into a number of languages.

Translated into Afrikaans as Die Rosekrans by Mrs Carinus-Holzhauzen in 1929.

It may possibly also have been an earlier, English, performance of this play that inspired the poet and playwright C. Louis Leipoldt in 1911 to write the original English version of his groundbreaking and influential Afrikaans one-act play, Die Heks ("The witch") (See Kannemeyer)

The novel was also adapted into five films.