Catharine and Petruchio

Catharine and Petruchio is a 1756 adaptation of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew by David Garrick (1717-1779)[1].

The title is sometimes given as Catherine and Petruchio or Katharine and Petruchio in some versions. Also cited as Katharina en Petruchio in the occasional 19th century Dutch newspaper in Cape Town, and Katherine and Petruchio or Catherine and Petruchio, or The Taming of the Shrew by F.C.L. Bosman (1928: p. 224).

The play

Garrick's version was the most successful adaptation of a number done over the years, and was first performed at the Drury Lane Theatre in March 1754 and dominated the stage for almost two centuries, with Shakespeare's play not returning until 1844 in England and 1887 in the United States, although Garrick's version was still being performed as late as 1879, when Herbert Beerbohm Tree staged it. Its subblot has been cut and it is not a full length play, hence it was often used as part of an evening's programme.

Productions in South Africa

1818: Performed in the African Theatre, Cape Town, South Africa on 21 November by the Gentlemen Amateurs, with the help of four professional actors from the Theatre Royal, Liverpool (en route to Calcutta), led by Mr Cooke. The accompanying pieces were Crochet Lodge (Hurlstone) and a "Divertissement" called Sandy and Jenny, or Love in the Sack (Griffin)

1826: Performed on 4 November in the The African Theatre, Cape Town by the English Theatricals company (the former Garrison Players) with A Roland for an Oliver (Morton) and Silvester Daggerwood (Colman Jr.). This was a benefit performance for Mrs O'Brien and Sgt Corbishley.

1832: Performed as Catherine and Petruchio, or The Taming of the Shrew on 11 August by the All the World's a Stage in the African Theatre, with (Shakespeare) as afterpiece to Kenilworth, or The Days of Queen Bess (Scott).

1834: Performed as Katherine and Petruchio in Cape Town's Garrison Theatre by the "Private Theatricals by the officers of the Garrison" (see the Garrison Players) on 11 July 1834, alongside The Haunted Inn, or How to Lay a Ghost (Peake) and Bombastes Furioso (Rhodes).