The Honey Moon

A romantic play in five acts, mainly verse, by John Tobin (1770–1804)[1]. (The full title is: The Honey Moon, or How to Rule a Wife, Occasionally also referred to as "The Honeymoon")

The original text

First produced in London at the Drury Lane Theatre on 31 January 1805, in New York in 1807. Printed London, 1805 and frequently reprinted. Was a decided success and remained a favourite on the English stage for twenty years.

Translations and adaptations

Translated into French by Charles Nodier as La Lune de Miel in Chefs d'œuvre des Théâtres Étrangers 1822.

Performance history in South Africa

A popular standby for players in Cape Town between 1811 and 1830.

1811: Performed in the African Theatre by the Garrison Players on 31 August, with High Life Below Stairs.

1811: Performed in the African Theatre by the Garrison Players on 21 September with The Review, or The Wags of Windsor.

1818: Performed in the African Theatre on 24 January by three visiting professional performers from Liverpool - a Mr Cooke, Mrs Cooke, Mrs Brough and Miss Williams, assisted by the Gentlemen Amateurs. The afterpiece is The Devil To Pay (Coffey). They repeat it on 11 April, 1818.

1823: The English Theatricals company did the play on on 26 July (with The Blue Devils by Colman Jr)

1823: The English Theatricals company did the play once more on 9 August 1823 (with Modern Antiques also by Colman Jr).

1830: Performed on 11 September by All the World's a Stage , with The Married Bachelor, or Master and Man (O'Callaghan) as afterpiece.

1854: Performed in Cape Town on Friday, 18 August by the Amateur Company (aided by the Officers of the Garrison) in the Garrison Theatre. Also performed were Charles the Twelfth (Planché), A Peculiar Position author unnamed, but it was a translation from Scribe & Bayard by Planché) and The Two Bonnycastles (J.M. Morton).