Richard II
King Richard the Second is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in approximately 1595.
The earliest recorded performance was on 9 December 1595, when Sir Robert Cecil watched it at Sir Edward Hoby's house in Canon Row. Such specially-commissioned private performances were not unusual for Shakespeare's company.
Another commissioned performance of a different type occurred at the Globe Theatre on 7 Feb. 1601. This was the performance paid for by supporters of the Earl of Essex's planned revolt (see Historical Context above).
On 30 September 1607, among the oddest of all early performances occurred when the crew of Capt. William Keeling acted Richard II aboard the British East India Company ship The Red Dragon, off Sierra Leone.
Jill Fletcher (1991) argues that according to accounts the very first recorded European production in the Southern African region was a version of this play done off the coast of the Cape once again on board "The Dragon" by Captain Keeling and his men in 1608.
First performed on land in South Africa in 18*. Translated ?* (See Fletcher, 1991*; Bosman, 1928)
Sources
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