The Field of the Cloth of Gold

The original text

Probably a version of the masque referred to as "The Field of the Cloth of Gold" at the start of in Shakespeare's King Henry VIII, said to have been a collaboration between the ageing Shakespeare and the young John Fletcher.

The Shakespeare play was first performed under the title All is True at the Globe in 1613.

Translations and adaptations

In 1905 the Ringling Brothers circus presented a spectacular presentation called “The Field of the Cloth of Gold” , converting their vast main tent into a huget heatre for the presentation of what they called "the gorgeous, brilliant spectacle, the Field of the Cloth of Gold.”[1]

Performance history in South Africa

1884-5: Performed by the Henry Harper Company in the new Theatre Royal, Cape Town, as part of Henry Harper's first season as lessee and manager of the venue.

Sources

"Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 482 – Ringling Bros. 'The Field of the Cloth of Gold' ", Drypigment.net (Information about historic theaters, scenic art and stage machinery).[http://drypigment.net/2018/08/21/tales-from-a-scenic-artist-and-scholar-part-482-ringling-bros-the-field-of-the-cloth-of-gold/

D.C. Boonzaier. 1923. "My playgoing days – 30 years in the history of the Cape Town stage", in SA Review, 9 March and 24 August 1923. (Reprinted in Bosman 1980: pp. 374-439.)

F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1912. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp.

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