The Drummer, or The Haunted House
The Drummer, or The Haunted House is a comedy by Joseph Addison (1672-1719)[1]. Often simply referred to as The Drummer.
Contents
The original text
Written much earlier, it was finally published in London by Jacob Tonson, 1715, through the encouragement of Richard Steele. First acted at the Theatre-Royal in Drury-Lane, by His Majesty's servants.
Translations and adaptations
Adapted into French in 1737 as Le Tambour Nocturne, ou Le Mari Devin, by Philippe Néricault Destouches, in admiring imitation of the English style (Jonson, Dryden, Congreve, et al). (Destouches refers to Addison's play as "The Drumer, ou Le Tambour" in his 1737 Preface to the published text.) Though first published in La Haye in 1737 by Antoine van Dool, the Destouches play was only performed for the first time on 16 October 1762 at the Théâtre Français.
Performance history in South Africa
1809: Performed in Destousches's French version as Le Tambour Nocturne, ou Le Mari Devin in the African Theatre, Cape Town on 11 May by the French Amateur Company. Now referred to as a play in four acts, it was followed by Florian's Les Jumeaux de Bergame.
Sources
http://www.amazon.com/Tambour-Nocturne-Mari-Devin-Accommod%C3%A9e/dp/1175245941
Facsimile version of the 1771 edition of the text, Hathi Trust, Google e-book[2]
http://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.a0004900783
Facsimile version of the 1737 edition of the text, with Preface. Google e-book[3]
Text of The Drummer, or The Haunted House, ECCO TCP: Eighteenth Century Texts[4]
F.C.L. Bosman, 1928. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel I: 1652-1855. Pretoria: J.H. de Bussy. [5]: pp. 125,
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