The Man Who Was

The Man Who Was is a play by F. Kinsey Peile (1862–1934)[1].

The original text

Based on the eponymous story by Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) [2], that first appeared in Macmillan’s Magazine of April 1890 and Harper’s Weekly on 15 April the same year. Though Kipling initially objected to the introduction of an irrelevant "love interest", he finally agreed to Peile's stage adaptation being performed by Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree (1853-1917) and his company at His Majesty's Theatre on 8 June (along with Alfred Austin's play Flodden Field) as a benefit for Guy's Hospital, succeeded with a run of the two plays at the same theatre from 20 to 26 June. Tree toured with Peile's play in theatres and music-halls, including another run in London, now at the Drury Lane, in 1907.

The text was first published in 1903 by unnamed publisher.

Translations and adaptations

Performance history in South Africa

1906: Performed as part of his repertoire by William Haviland and his company while on tour in South Africa, appearing in the Opera House, Cape Town in July and August.

Sources

http://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/rg_manwhowas1.htm

http://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n82228601/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudyard_Kipling

J.P. Wearing. 2013. The London Stage 1900-1909: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. (Second, revised edition, p. 145). Scarecrow Press, Google E-book[3]

Andrew Lycett. 2015. Rudyard Kipling. Hachette, UK.[4]

"Kinsey Peile" In: Wikipedia [5].

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: pp.203-205

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