The Story of the Rosary

The Story of the Rosary is a play by Walter Howard (1866-1922)[1]

Not to be confused with The Rosary by André Bisson (1925)

The original text

The play tells the story of the daughter of the prince of Strelsa, a Ruritanian country, who is wooed by her two cousins and the one she married is believed killed during a revolution. She decides to take the veil, but her young husband returns from captivity before she takes the final vow.

The play was first performed in Manchester, during September of 1913, and had its London season opening on the 26th December, 1913. It was to tour Australia in autumn 1914 however evidence suggests the Australian season was delayed until 1916. In the USA it played at the Manhattan Opera House, New York, from 7 September into October, 1914

Translations and adaptations

Filmed by the Master Film Company in 1920, directed by Percy Nash[2]

Performance history in South Africa

1914-1918?: Part of the repertoire of Leonard Rayne and his company during the war years, it was first at the Standard Theatre, featuring Freda Godfrey, for whom it the leading role would become triumph.