Jérome Pointu

(lit "Sharp Jerome") A farce in one act by Beaunoir (nom-de-plume of Alexandre-Louis-Bertrand Robineau, 1746-1823)

The original text

First performed in the Théâtre des Variétés Amusantes, Paris on 13 June, 1781 and published by Cailleau, Paris in 1781, Bélin, Paris, 1784 (as Jérôme Pointu), and Hookham, London in 1785.

Translations and adaptations

Translated into German as Jeder fege vor seiner Tür ("Everyone sweeps his own floor") by Friedrich Ludwig Schroder and published in 1783.

Translated into Dutch as Jérome Pointu and published by B. Wild in 1782.

The title Jerome Pointu, of Ieder Veege Zijn Eigen Vloer ("Jerome the sharp, or Everyone sweeps their own floor") is also found as a title for the Dutch translation (when performed at the Haagsche Schouwburg in 1806 and 1848, for example). This is most probably a translation of the German version by J.S. van Esveldt-Holtrop entitled Ieder Veege Zyn Eigen Vloer ("Everyone sweeps his own floor") and published in Amsterdam by W. Holtrop in 1799.

Performance history in South Africa

In his history of South African theatre, F.C.L. Bosman (1928: pp.279 and 333) for some reason has the author of the play as "Dorvigny" not "Beaunoir".

1824: Performed in Dutch on 31 July in the African Theatre by the amateur company Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense, with De Barbier van Seville, of De Onnutte Voorsorg (Beaumarchais).

1835: Performed in Dutch on 16 May in the Kaapsche Liefhebbery Theater ("The Cape Amateur Theatre") by the Dutch amateur company Vlyt en Kunst, with Pizarro (Von Kotzebue).