Irish Justice

Irish Justice is a comedy sketch in one scene, ascribed to Charles Morton

The original text

The mimeographed text of a sketch in one scene called Irish Justice is ascribed to a "Charles Morton" in U.S. Government Printing Office's Catalogue of Copyright Entries (1914). This is most likely to be a reference to the famous Music Hall impresario Charles Morton, (1819–1904)[1], in whose collection held in the "Charles Morton Agency Collection of American Popular Drama 1842-1950", a copy of the text has been found and published in Alex. Byer's library of tabloid plays (1914).

As Morton is not known as a playwright himself, but as very successful impresario, it is more likely that this an anonymous text created by a performer appearing in one of the vaudeville shows put on Morton's New Canterbury theatre (a music hall venue) in the early 1860s (The date based on the fact that it was first performed in South Africa in 1866), and ascribed to him by the compilers of the library material in veiwe of the provenance.

Translations and adaptations

Performance history in South Africa

1866: Performed by the Wheeler Company in the Theatre Royal in Burg Street, Cape Town, with The Private Secretary (Von Moser/Hawtrey) in May. It was their opening production there, and Frank Wheeler played the leading roles in both plays ("Peter Mulvaney" and "Reverend Spalding").

Sources

U.S. Government Printing Office, 1914. Catalogue of Copyright Entries: Pamphlets, leaflets, contributions to newspapers or periodicals, etc.; lectures, sermons, addresses for oral delivery; dramatic compositions; maps; motion pictures (Volume 11, Issue 2): p. [2]

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 1932. (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: p.381

Go to ESAT Bibliography