Baby Benson
Baby Benson (fl. 1870s) was a celebrated child performer.
Contents
Biography
A product of the 19th interest in child actors, she was a "child phenomenon" from the USA, who made a name for herself, inter alia performing to some acclaim at the Adelphi Theatre in London in about 1877.
She was the star member of the Baby Benson Combination Troupe who toured Australia in 1876, the United Kingdom in 1877 and South Africa in 1878.
Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance
Having apparently gone on an international tour, she appeared in a production of Beauty and the Beast in The Athenaeum Theatre, Cape Town for a short season (22 April to 4 May 1878). Billed as the Baby Benson Pantomime, it was directed by Monsieur Frigerio, using a libretto in part written by St John Knight. The production was done in association with the local Dramatic Recital Society.
Sources
Dennis Denisoff (ed). 2016. The Nineteenth-Century Child and Consumer Culture, Routledge[1]
F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1916. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp. 367
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/37139043
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