Belphegor, or The Mountebank and His Wife

There are two English plays by this name from 1851, the Courtney version apparently used in South Africa, rather than the one by Higgie and Lacy.

Belphegor, or The Mountebank and His Wife by John Courtney (1804-1865)[1]

It is also referred to as Belphegor the Itinerant in Courtney's biography[2] and is also referred to as Belphegor, or The Mountebank or simply Belphegor in sources.

The original text

Belphegor, or The Mountebank and His Wife is a play in four acts by John Courtney (1804-1865)[], based on Paillasse of Adolphe d' Ennery and Marc Fournier. First produced at the Royal Surrey Theatre, on Monday, January 20, 1851 and published in Lacy's acting edition no 39.

Translations and adaptations

Performance history in South Africa

1875: Performed as Belphegor, or The Mountebank (ascribed to J. Courtney) in the Bijou Theatre , Cape Town, by Disney Roebuck's company on 23 September, as a benefit for Sutton Vane, with A Regular Fix ().

1875: Performed as Belphegor, or The Mountebank in the Bijou Theatre , Cape Town, by Disney Roebuck's company on 25 September, with Jessie Vere (Hazlewood).

1876: Performed as Belphegor, or The Mountebank in the Athenaeum Hall, Cape Town, by Disney Roebuck's company on 31 October, with Whitebait at Greenwich ().

1877: Performed as Belphegor in the Theatre Royal, Cape Town, by Disney Roebuck's company on 19 November. F.C.L. Bosman, (1890:p. 363), suggests this was Webster's version, though it is far more likely to have been the same Courtney text used by the Cape Town company in 1875-1876.

Belphegor, or The Mountebank and His Wife by Thomas Higgie (1808?-1893) and Thomas Hailes Lacy (1809-1873)

Also found as Belphegor, the Buffoon, or The Robbers of the Revolution and often referred to simply as Belphegor in sources.

The original text

Belphegor, or The Mountebank and His Wife a romantic and domestic drama in three acts by Thomas Higgie (1808?-1893) and Thomas Hailes Lacy (1809-1873), based on Paillasse of Adolphe d' Ennery and Marc Fournier. First performed at the Royal Victoria Theatre, January 27, 1851 and published in London by T.H. Lacy, 1851.

In some Duncombe's acting edition of the British theatre (no 530) the Higgie and Lacy text, as performed at the Victoria Theatre in 1851, is called Belphegor, the Buffoon, or The Robbers of the Revolution, but now ascribed to Higgie alone.