Trente Ans ou La Vie d'un Joueur
Trente Ans ou La Vie d'un Joueur ("Thirty years or the life of gambler") is a melodrama by Victor Ducange (1783-1833)[1] and Dinaux (1795-1859)[2].
Contents
The original text
Originally written by Jacques Félix Beudin[3] and Prosper Goubaux (1795-1859)[4], using the pseudonym "Dinaux", and then reworked by Victor Ducange (1783-1833)[5]. Described as a "Mélodrame en trois journées" ("A melodrama in three days").
It was first performed in Paris at the Théâtre de la Porte-Saint-Martin, on 19 June 1827,with Frédérick Lemaître in the lead. Music by Alexandre Piccini, entertainment ("divertissement") by Corally and décor by Lefebvre.
Published in Paris by Barba in 1827, credited to "MM Victor Ducange et Dinaux" only, with no mention of the original co-author, Jacques Félix Beudin. The play became quite a success and was republished and performed many times, right into the 20th century. A film was made of it in 1975.
Translations and adaptations
Translated into Dutch as Dertig Jaren, of Het Leven van een Dobbelaar. Apparently, according to documents in the Dutch archival collection "Stukken betreffende leden van de families Vitringa en Van Delden"[6], it was copied from the first performance by A.J. van Delden Stevenz and his text is subtitled "Melodrama in drie tijdperken". However the first published Dutch translation, as Dertig Jaren, of Het Leven van een Dobbelaar, is credited to Bernard Anthoine Fallée (1773-1847)[7], subtitled a "tooneelspel, dat in drie dagen afspeelt" ("a play which takes place in three days") and published in Amsterdam by J.C. van Kesteren, 1828.
Translated into English as The Gambler's Fate, or A Lapse of Twenty Years )and adapted as a drama in two acts by Charles Thompson. (Also known simply as The Gambler's Fate.)
Published in Cumberland's British theatre. London, ca. 1825-55. v. 17 [no 4] Note in the text says: "Printed from the acting copy, with remarks, biographical and critical; to which are added, a description of the costume, cast of the characters, entrances and exits, relative positions of the performers on the stage, and the whole of the stage business. Embellished with a wood-engraving, by Mr. Bonner, from a drawing by Mr. R. Cruikshank."
The translation was hugely popular during the mid 18th century in London.
Sources
Performance history in South Africa
1836: Performed in Dutch by Tot Nut en Vermaak on 28 October in Cape Town, with as afterpiece to De Deserteur (Von Kotzebue).
1837: Performed in Dutch by the Stellenbossche Liefhebbery Tooneel - Stellenbosch Amateur Theatre (under the motto Door Yver Vruchtbaar) on 19 August, 1837 in Stellenbosch , with as afterpiece to De Uniformrok van den Veldmaarschalk Wellington (Von Kotzebue).
Sources
Facsimile of the 1827 French text (Google eBook)[8]
Facsimile of the Dutch text (Google eBook)[9]
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8427267n/f149.item.hl
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_F%C3%A9lix_Beudin
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosper_Goubaux
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Henri_Joseph_Brahain_Ducange
F.C.L. Bosman, 1928. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel I: 1652-1855. Pretoria: J.H. de Bussy. [10]: pp.248, 255
Go to ESAT Bibliography
Return to
Return to PLAYS I: Original SA plays
Return to PLAYS II: Foreign plays
Return to PLAYS III: Collections
Return to PLAYS IV: Pageants and public performances
Return to South African Festivals and Competitions
Return to The ESAT Entries
Return to Main Page