Garrison Players

The Garrison Players is one of a number of names given to groups of (usually amateur) actors attached to the local garrison, presenting theatrical entertainments for themselves and the general public in Cape Town and elsewhere.

The presence of military garrisons at the Cape

When, in 1780, France and Great Britain went to war against each other, the Netherlands entered the war on the French side, and a small garrison of French troops was sent to the Cape to protect it against the British, but left again in 1784. However, when the Netherlands switched sides in the war, the British sent forces to successfully invade the Cape in 1795, having won the Battle of Muizenberg without much resistance.

The initial garrison settled in Cape Town (1795-1803) consisted of approximately 5000 professional soldiers. Under the terms of a peace agreement between Britain and France, the Cape was returned to the Dutch in 1802, for what is often referred to as the Batavian period. When the war with France resumed three years later, the British returned their garrison to the Cape, after defeating Dutch forces once more at the Battle of Blaauwberg (1806).[1]. The British now settled in and ruled the province till the founding of the Union of South Africa in 1910 - greatly influencing the social, cultural life and material of the country.

The company

The influence of the French garrison was mostly felt indirectly, through the activities of French speaking citizens and amateur companies. But the influence of the British forces was far more direct and influential.

Before 1819 performers attached to the British garrison were variously known as the Garrison Players, the Officers of the Garrison, Garrison Amateur Company or the English Theatricals, and after 1819 tended to be referred to as the Gentlemen Amateurs, Garrison Amateur Company, the Gentlemen Amateur Company (circa 1828), or simply the Amateur Company, and for a while Captain Hall's Company (1850-1855).

A number of regiments did productions under their own names, through normally under the umbrella of the Garrison theatrical activities. Among them the 27th Enniskillen Regiment (1838), the 73rd Regiment (Captain Hall's Company, 1850-1852), the 86th Royal Downshire Regiment (1869),

See also the entry on Garrison Theatre

From 1823 onwards they made a point of differentiating themselves from the local civilian amateurs, who now called themselves the English Theatricals. The two groups apparently competed heavily with one another for audiences, also for use of the African Theatre. The Garrison Players also used a theatre in the barracks, known as the Barracks Theatre or the Garrison Theatre.

The Garrison Players existed in one form or another from the very first occupation of the Cape by the British (1799) to 18** and no doubt exerted a strong influence on the form and nature of theatre and the performing arts in the Cape for more than a century, ultimately helping to shape the growth of an indigenous form of western performance in the country.

Venues used

The original productions took place in found spaces in the barracks of the garrison. With the openim ng of the African Theatre in 1800, they usually performed there. From 1838 onwards, with the closing of the African Theatre, they apparently reverted to using a new theatre space , set up in the New Barracks in Cape Town.

Performers

Numerous officers were members of the company, in its various manifestations, over the years. Some of the names prominently or specifically mentioned are:

Captain Frazer, Captain Collins, Lieutenant Charles Napier, Mr Hamilton, Mr Strawbenzee, Captain Hall, Captain Fisher, Corporal Bishop, Lieutenant Pasley, Mr Longley, Mr Gleadowe, Mr Wilson, Mr Stock, Major Sturgeon, Major Lomax, Mr Carloss, Mr Stuart, Mr Young, Sargeant Ramsford.

The company apparently also used local amateurs on occasion, including a number of (often unnamed) ladies in later years. Names that occur (and could be members of the Garrison or amateurs) include J.L. Fitzpatrick, Mr Pitt, Mr Salter, Mr Kirton, Mr Henslowe and Mr Belleville, Mr Hopley, . Mr W.G. Groom is mentioned as a technician in some cases.

Among the ladies mentioned are Mrs Kinniburgh, Mrs Oswin and Mrs Arlington,

In 1818 they formed a working relationship with Mr Cooke and his company of performers from the Theatre Royal, Liverpool, to put on a range of performances in the African Theatre under the name the Gentlemen Amateurs. (See the Gentlemen Amateurs)

Performances over the years

The company's 1818 season was undertaken with the help of Mr Cooke and his company of ladies from the Theatre Royal, Liverpool, playing together under the name the Gentlemen Amateurs (see Gentlemen Amateurs for full repertoire of 1818).

Among their productions over the long period were:

In 1807: She Stoops to Conquer and Teasle (20th of June); She Stoops to Conquer and Love à la Mode (29th of August);

In 1808:She Stoops to Conquer and The Apprentice (8th October).

In 1811: Lovers' Vows and Raising the Wind (27 July,); The Rivals and The Mock Doctor, or The Dumb Lady Cur'd (17 August); The Honey Moon and High Life Below Stairs (31 August); The Honey Moon and The Review, or The Wags of Windsor (21 September).

In 1812: The Review, or The Wags of Windsor and John Bull, or an Englishman's Fireside (18 January); Speed the Plough and The Irishman in London (6 July); and A Cure for the Heart Ache and The Jew and the Doctor (12 July).

In 1818: John Bull, or an Englishman's Fireside and Bombastes Furioso (28th March); She Stoops to Conquer, or The Mistakes of a Night and The Poor Soldier (16 May);

In 1823: She Stoops to Conquer and The Mayor of Garratt (10 May); Bombastes Furioso and The Rivals (28 June); and She Stoops to Conquer (16 July).

In 1824: Life (Reynolds) and The Irish Tutor (Glengall), performed in the African Theatre (4 September).

In 1825: Exchange no Robbery or The Diamond Ring and The Midnight Hour (8 October); The Review (5 November);

In 1826: The Heir at Law and Love, Law and Physic (16 August );

In 1827: She Stoops to Conquer and Bombastes Furioso (5 September);

In 1836: She Stoops to Conquer and The Miller and his Men (3 August);

In 1850: Richelieu, or The Conspiracy and The Original (24 April); Richelieu, or The Conspiracy and My New Wife and My Old Umbrella (8 May); The Lancers , A Lover by Proxy! or My Daughter Sir! and "a repeat of" My Young Wife and My Old Umbrella (29 May); The Rose of Arragon and The Practical Man (31 July); The Rose of Arragon and Shocking Events (9 August); A New Way to Pay Old Debts and The Sentinel (11 September); A New Way to Pay Old Debts and Box and Cox (17 September); Delicate Ground! , The Sentinel , A Lover by Proxy, and Box and Cox (26 September).

In 1851: No performances by a Garrison company are recorded for this year by Bosman [2]], apparently because regiment was tied up with the Border Wars of 1850-1853. However, he suggests that some members may have played for W.F.H. Parker's company in this period.

In 1852: Othello and Charles II (24 March); Don Caesar de Bazan, or Love and Honour and The Thumping Legacy (13 April); Don Caesar de Bazan, or Love and Honour and The Thumping Legacy (21 April).

In 1853: The Illustrious Stranger, Bombastes Furioso and Did You Ever Send Your Wife to Camberwell? (14 September); Power and Principle , Circumstantial Evidence and Box and Cox (31 October and 7 November).

In 1854: St Cupid, A Bloomer's Costume and Perfection (2 May); The Rent Day , The Spitalfields Weaver and The Queen's Horse ( 5 June); The Two Bonnycastles and The Honeymoon (18 August and 4 September); Honesty is the Best Policy , The Spitalfields Weaver and Middle Temple (18 September).

In 1855: For much of this year, it appears that the company members helped out with professional productions in Cape Town by visiting companies and performers (e.g. G.V. Brooke and James Lycett). Only late in the year we hear of a production by the 73rd Regiment itself.

Grace Huntley, or The Follies of Youth, Comfortable Lodgings, or Paris in 1750 and a new "Grand Ballet" (28 September)