The Area Belle

The Area Belle is a popular farce in one act by William Brough (1826-1870)[1] and Andrew Halliday (1830-1877)[2].

The original text

First performed in London at the Theatre Royal, Adelphi on 7 March 1864 and published by T.H. Lacy in London, and Samuel French (in London and New York).

Translations and adaptations

Performance history in South Africa

1865: Performed in the Theatre Royal on 23 and 26 October by Ray and Cooper, with the help of local "Gentlemen Amateurs", as an afterpiece to Jessy Vere, or The Return of the Wanderer (Hazlewood).

1866: Performed in the Theatre Royal by the Le Roy and Duret Company on 23 April, as an afterpiece to The Stranger (Von Kotzebue)

1866: Performed in the Garrison Theatre by the Garrison Players on 18 September, with Luke the Labourer (Buckstone) and the popular "dance song" The Nervous Cures.

1867: Performed in the Theatre Royal by Madame Duret and her company on 17 September with The Isle of St. Tropez (Williams and Burnand) and Box and Cox (Morton).

1867: Performed in the Theatre Royal by the Garrison Players on 19 October, with The Syren of Paris (Suter).

1870: Performed in the New Lyceum Theatre in July by the Amateur Coloured Troupe with The Mischievous Nigger (White), aided by J. Ryan and the 86th Royal Downshire Minstrels.

1874: Performed under the protection of the Free Masons in the Mutual Hall on 6 March by Disney Roebuck and his company, presented, with Caste (Robertson), as a benefit for Roebuck.

1874: Repeated in the Mutual Hall on 7 March by Disney Roebuck and his company, this time with The Ticket-of-Leave Man (Taylor).

1875: Performed in the Bijou Theatre on 17 July by Disney Roebuck and his company, with Faust and Marguerite (Goethe and /Robertson).

1878: Performed in the Theatre Royal on 30 January by Disney Roebuck and his company, with The Flying Scud, or A Four-legged Fortune (Boucicault). The latter play featured "real horses".

Sources

Facsimile version of the Samuel French edition, HathiTrust Digital Library[3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Brough_(writer)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Halliday_(journalist)

F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1916. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp.191, 203, 210, 227, 257, 260, 280, 312, 325, 365

Go to ESAT Bibliography