Le Retour de Melun

Le Retour de Melun is a drama in 5 acts and 7 tableaux by Édouard Brisebarre (1815-1871)[1] and Eugène Nus (1816-1894)[2].

Also known as Léonard and became well known in the English world as The Ticket-of-Leave Man (sometimes found as The Ticket of Leave Man)

The original text

It is adapted from the play, Le Retour de Melun by Édouard Brisebarre and Eugène Nus, published in Les Drames de la Vie in 1860, and staged as Léonard, a drama in 5 acts and 7 tableaux, at the Théâtre du boulevard du Temple on December 31 1862. The text of Léonard was edited and published by E. Dentu in 1863.

Translations and adaptations

Adapted as an English melodrama in four acts with the title The Ticket-of-Leave Man, by Tom Taylor (1817-1880)[3]. The English play was first produced at the Olympic Theatre, London, 27 March 1863 and published in the same year.

Performance history in South Africa

1867: Performed as The Ticket-of-Leave Man by "Le Roy's Original Company" in the Theatre Royal in Harrington Street, Cape Town, on 22 April.

1867: Performed again as The Ticket-of-Leave Man by "Le Roy's Original Company" in the Theatre Royal in Harrington Street, Cape Town, on 25 April, with Which shall I Marry? (Suter).

1873: Performed in the Oddfellows Hall, Cape Town, by Disney Roebuck and his company on 6 December, with Turn Him Out (Williams).

1873: Performed in the Oddfellows Hall, Cape Town, by Disney Roebuck and his company on 27 December, with Creatures of Impulse (Gilbert).

1874: Performed as The Ticket-of-Leave Man in the Mutual Hall, Cape Town, on 7 March by Disney Roebuck and his company, with The Area Belle (Brough and Halliday).

1875: Performed as The Ticket-of-Leave Man in the Bijou Theatre, Cape Town, by Disney Roebuck and his company on 27 March, with The Wandering Minstrel (Mayhew).

1875: Performed as The Ticket-of-Leave Man in the Bijou Theatre, Cape Town, by Disney Roebuck and his company on 18 June.

1875: Performed as The Ticket-of-Leave Man in the Bijou Theatre, Cape Town, by Disney Roebuck and his company on 30 September, with Turn Him Out (Williams).

1876: Performed as The Ticket-of-Leave Man in the Theatre Royal, Burg Street, Cape Town, by Disney Roebuck and his company on 7 June, with a ballet performance to follow.

1876: Performed as The Ticket-of-Leave Man in the Theatre Royal, Burg Street, Cape Town, by Disney Roebuck and his company on 28 October, with Nemesis, or Not Wisely but Too Well (Farnie).

1877: Performed as The Ticket-of-Leave Man four times in the Theatre Royal, Burg Street, Cape Town, by Disney Roebuck and his company: on 1 and 4 September, and again on 5 and 10 December. F.C.L. Bosman (1980) mentions that songs were also sung by Miss Wynne and Miss Nathan on the first occasion.

1884-5: Performed by the Henry Harper Company in the new Theatre Royal, Cape Town, as part of Henry Harper's first season as lessee and manager of the venue.

1892: Performed as The Ticket-of-Leave Man in the Vaudeville Theatre, Cape Town, by the Chambers Theatre Company, opening on 26 December. The cast consisted of Emma Chambers, Arthur Gilmore, Robert Brierly, James Dalton, Heinrich Varna, Mr Hawshaw, J.A. Rosier, Melter Ross, Albert Harsh, Mr Gibson, H.W. Sillaw, Sam Willougby, May Edwards, Vivienne Vincent, Mrs Willoughby and Joseph Ashman.

February 1901: The Ticket-of-Leave Man was staged in the Port Elizabeth Opera House, by the Joseph Ashman Company by arrangement with Leonard Rayne. Starring Joseph Ashman, (Robert Brierley), Fred Bartlett (James Dalton), Hugh Ardale, (Hawkshaw), W H Thorn, (Melter Moss), Miss Dora Nazeby, (Mary Edwards), Miss Daisy Hesse, (Mrs Willoughby), Miss Mary Brammer, (lady).

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ticket-of-Leave_Man_(play)

George Rowell. 2013. Nineteenth Century Plays, Read Books Ltd[4]

http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/19038423?

Nicholas Daly. 2015. The Demographic Imagination and the Nineteenth-Century City. Cambridge University Press: p.62[5]

Facsimile version of the 1863 text of Léonard, Internet Archive[6]

The Daily Advertiser, Port Elizabeth, Tuesday, February 5, 1901.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Taylor

F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1916. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp. 206, 222, 226, 294, 306, 309-312, 315-6, 322, 324, 327, 329, 340, 343, 347, 350, 360, 363, 372, 380, 395, 438.

Go to ESAT Bibliography