Dick Whittington
Dick Whittington can refer to a popular character of English folklore and pantomime, or to the very many play texts based on the story.
Contents
The character Dick Whittington
The story of Richard Whittington (c. 1354–1423), a wealthy merchant and later Lord Mayor of London, has become part of English folklore in the guise of the story of Dick Whittington and His Cat, which describes Whittington's rise from poverty-stricken childhood with the fortune he made through the sale of his cat to a rat-infested country. It is however totally fictional, with little evidence to support the story of the cat, but the tale has provided a popular theme in British pantomime and other performance forms, especially at Christmas time.
(For more on the character and the fable, see the entry on "Dick Whittington and His Cat"[1] in Wikipedia for example.)
The play texts
Written and published stories about the character date from the early 1600s till today. The first known drama text appeared in 1604–5, though only known by its title. Sinced then plays, puppet plays, pantomimes, films etc have proliferated - usually titled Dick Whittington and His Cat or simply Dick Whittington. The first recorded pantomime version seems to have appeared in 1814 and featured Joseph Grimaldi as the Dame.
Below we list plays/pantomimes performed in South Africa.
Dick Whittington and His Cat (unknown text)
1917: Produced by Dan Thomas at His Majesty’s Theatre in Johannesburg, with Horace Green.
Dick Whittington by Geoff Tansley
A pantomime written by Geoff Tansley
1946: Performed by the Ashley Street Primary School at Cape Town's City Hall, produced by Freda Druker and Cornelia Conradie, June 1946, with Basil Leach, George Veenendal, Bernard Hess, Yusuf Jakoet, Johaar Mosaval.
1952: Produced by ACT, directed by Frank Rogaly in 1952. Visiting British actor Terry-Thomas starred in the show.
Sources
Trek, 10(26):22, 1946.
Theatre programme (ACT production) held by NELM: [Collection: FARMER, Anthony]: 2007. 18. 13. 1417.
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