The Actress Of All Work, or My Country Cousin

The Actress Of All Work, or My Country Cousin is a comic sketch, in one act by William Henry Oxberry (1784-1824)[1].

The play is also known as The Actress Of All Work, or Six in One or The Actress Of All Work

The original play

One of the first, and an interesting example of, the so called "transformation pieces", also known as "protean farces", popular in the 19th century.

First opened 25 Oct 1819, at the Adelphi Theatre, London. On September 9 1821 a production was put on by Mr Tayleure, starring Mrs Tayleure.

Published texts by J. Duncombe, 1819; W. Simpkin and R. Marshall, 1819.

According to the Oxford Companion to the Theatre (2nd ed. 1957) the play "was probably inspired by Colman's Actor of All Work, written for Mathews in 1817".[2]

Performance history in South Africa

1833: Performed as The Actress Of All Work (author not mentioned ) by the All the World's a Stage on 21 September, with The Day After the Wedding, or A Wife’s First Lesson, the interlude A Race for Dinner (Rodwell), and the farce Rival Valets (Ebsworth).

1833: Performed, now as The Actress Of All Work, or Six in One (author not mentioned ), by the All the World's a Stage on 11 November, with The Iron Chest (Colman), and St Patrick’s Day (Sheridan).

Sources

The 1919 publsihed text, Google Books[3]

Jane Goodall. 2002. Performance and Evolution in the Age of Darwin: Out of the Natural Order. Psychology Press, 2002: p. 125[4]

Facsimile of John Bull, Volumes 1-2 , p305[5]

25 Oct 1819 playbill, British Library[6]

F.C.L. Bosman, 1928. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel I: 1652-1855. Pretoria: J.H. de Bussy. [7]: pp. 185, 227

Bosman, F.C.L., Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1916. 1980.

Go to ESAT Bibliography

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