New English Theatrical Company
It was a company of English performers active in Cape Town 1848-9 and possibly till 1851. Groom named the company the New English Theatrical Company, while other writers, e.g. Jill Fletcher, refers to it as Parker's Company, since it had been founded by W.F.H. Parker. F.C.L. Bosman, again sometimes refers to it as the English Company. It was managed and possibly founded by the visiting professional theatre practitioner W.F.H. Parker, and was thus a semi-professional company.
In 1847 they leased the newly renovated Drury Lane Theatre for one season of light dramas and operas. In 1850 they performed at the Victoria Theatre (Hope Street Theatre) and the year after they were back at Drury Lane Theatre, after which they seemed to disappear from the scene, replaced by an English Amateur Company which was made up of at least some of the older company's amateur members and officers of the garrison.
The quality of their work seems to have been a little suspect however. In January 1849 the company's production of Buckstone's Luke the Labourer received harsh critique for the inadequacies theatre space as well as their acting from Sam Sly. Both Bosman (1928) and Fletcher (1994) suggest that this criticism actually caused the company to close down temporarily.
The Company members
Founded and managed by W.F.H. Parker, who was once more in Cape Town with his "Theatre of Mechanics" (Automata), but appears to also have moved into more formal theatre. A H. Hughes was stage manager, and the company seemed to be a mix of professional and local amateur players, drawn from the (temporarily defunct) Garrison Players and other local groups. These included Mr Miller, Mr Etton, Mr Rogers, Mr Herbert, Mr Tilbury, Mrs Parker, Mrs Hughes and master C. Hill.
Performances
The company played on and off in Cape Town from then till 1851, playing in the Drury Lane Theatre and the Hope Street Theatre (by then known as the Victoria Theatre). The company's repertoire under Parker's management included inter alia the above mentioned Luke the Labourer (Buckstone), as well as Victorine (Buckstone) , The King's Command (Thompson) and Damp Beds (Parry), Woman's the Devil, Matteo Falcone (Merimée, tr. Wilson), The King's Command (Thompson), The Midday Ashore (Bernard).
(TH)
Sources
Bosman, 1928: pp 417-426.
Fletcher, 1994
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