The Citizen
by Arthur Murphy (1727–1805)[1]. A farce in two acts.
Contents
The original text
Originally offered in a three-act version at the Theatre Royal in Covent Garden in 1761, it was revised into a shorter, two-act version in 1762 and this version was then printed in 1763, for G. Kearsly.
The source for the play was a contemporary French play.
Translations and adaptations
Performance history in South Africa
1807: Performed in the African Theatre, Cape Town by the Garrison Players on Saturday 26 September 1807, with Abroad and at Home (Holman), and an epilogue written and spoken by Captain Collins.
1811: Performed in the African Theatre, Cape Town by the Garrison Players on 15 June, 1811, with All the World's a Stage (Jackman).
1811: Performed in the African Theatre, Cape Town by the Garrison Players on 10 July, 1811, with The Heir at Law (Colman Jr).
1812: Performed in the African Theatre, Cape Town by the Garrison Players on 12 October, 1812, with The Birth Day (O'Keeffe) and Silvester Daggerwood (Colman Jr).
1830: Performed in the African Theatre, Cape Town by the English Theatrical Amateur Company on 1 May 1830, with The Weathercock (Forrest), as a Benefit for Mr White, the Professor of Music, an event which also included a musical concert as interlude (which i.a. featured an overture from Lodoiska). The advert in the South African Commercial Advertiser (1 May 1830) mistakenly claims that Murphy's "admired farce...[has].. never ..[been]..performed here".
Sources
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupid?key=ha009561078
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/citizen.-farce-as-it-is-performed/id483401340?mt=11
http://projects.chass.utoronto.ca/prescrip/18thcComedy/plays/76_murp_citizen.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Murphy_(writer)
F.C.L. Bosman, 1928[2]: pp. 73, 203
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