His Excellency the Governor

His Excellency the Governor is a play by Robert Marshall (1863-1910)[1]

Also found as His Excellency, the Governor

The original text

Written in Pietermaritzburg, Natal, in 1894/5, while the author was stationed there. The play was Marshall's first financial success and led to his resigning from the military and becoming a full-time author.

The text published in London by William Heinemann in 1901.

Translations and adaptations

Filmed in 1917 as Her Excellency, the Governor as an American silent film, the storyline loosely based Marshall's play. Screenplay written by Robert Shirley, directed by Albert Parker, produced and distributed by the Triangle Film Corporation. The lead was played by Elda Milar, who would later gain renown as the gossip columnist Hedda Hopper.

Performance history in South Africa

Apparently he did no more than write the plays in South Africa, for there is no indication that any of them were actually tried out or produced in South Africa during his sojourn there. Even the two that he wrote while stationed in Cape Town and Pietermaritzburg appear to have been sent to London producers directly for consideration.