My Pretty Maid
My Pretty Maid is an extravaganza by W.S. Gilbert (1836–1911)[1].
Contents
The original text
Though ascribed to Gilbert by Bosman (1980, p. 414), no theatrical work by this title is to be found among lists of Gilbert's works. If in fact by Gilbert, this was either an unpublished work, or possibly an adapted/renamed version of the extravaganza The Pretty Druidess, or The Mother, the Maid, and the Mistletoe Bough[2], a piece was loosely based on Vincenzo Bellini's 1831 opera Norma, with dialogue in rhyming couplets full of complicated word-play and dreadful puns. First performed at the Charing Cross Theatre, London, on 19 June, 1869.
However, there exists a widely held poster[3] depicting Edward Terry as the schoolmaster "Fanshawe" in a piece called My Pretty Maid that premiered at Terry's Theatre, The Strand, London, in 1902, which suggests that this is another play altorgether.
Translations and adaptations
Performance history in South Africa
1903: Performed by Edward Terry (1844–1912)[4] and his company as part of a season of plays in the Good Hope Theatre, Cape Town, during April. Terry played the schoolmaster "Fanshawe".
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pretty_Druidess
http://www.wsgilbert.co.uk/gilbert-s-plays/
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.414
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