The Gambler's Fate, or A Lapse of Twenty Years
The Gambler's Fate, or A Lapse of Twenty Years is a drama in two acts by Charles Thompson, founded on the popular French play of Trente Ans ou La Vie d'un Joueur by Victor Ducange and Dinaux. Hugely popular during the mid 18th century in London. (Also known simply as The Gambler's Fate. )
According to F.C.L. Bosman (1928, p 213), its first production (in English) in Cape Town on 5 June by H. Booth and All the World's a Stage, led to a great deal of critique of the presentation and the text, which the critic of the Commercial Advertiser said was "a clumsy adaptation from the German". In response "A British Amateur", writing in the De Zuid-Afrikaan, stated (correctly) that it was in fact an "almost literal translation" of the French play La Vie d'un Joueur.
See further Trente Ans ou La Vie d'un Joueur
Return to
Return to PLAYS I: Original SA plays
Return to PLAYS II: Foreign plays
Return to PLAYS III: Collections
Return to PLAYS IV: Pageants and public performances
Return to South African Festivals and Competitions
Return to The ESAT Entries
Return to Main Page