L'Africaine, Or The Queen Of The Cannibal Islands
L'Africaine, Or The Queen Of The Cannibal Islands was an "Original Opera Burlesque" by Francis Cowley Burnand and Montagu Williams.
Also known simply as La Africaine and La Africaine, Or The Queen Of The Cannibal Islands.
Contents
The original text
Burnand and Williams's burlesque opened at the Strand Theatre in London in 1865.
It had been written as a parody of L'Africaine ("The African Woman")[1], a grand opera in five acts composed by Giacomo Meyerbeer, with a French libretto by Eugène Scribe. First performed by the Paris Opéra at the Salle Le Peletier on 28 April 1865, and in London at Covent Garden Theatre on 22 July 1865, New York on 1 December 1865.
Burnand and Williams's burlesque of the opera, entitled L'Africaine, Or The Queen Of The Cannibal Islands opened at the Strand Theatre in London on 18 November 1865 and had 88 performances. Published as L'Africaine, Or The Queen Of The Cannibal Islands and called "An Original Opera Burlesque" in the same year apparently.
Translations and adaptations
Performance history in South Africa
1869: Performed under the title La Africain, or High Tall Yawn Uproar (sic), as part of the Grand Christy Entertainment Show by the 86th Royal Downshire Minstrels in the Oddfellows Hall on 19 April 1869.
Sources
William Davenport Adams. 1891. A book of burlesque, sketches of English stage travestie and parody:p. 184. Online facsimile version: Online library eBooksRead.com[2] Accessed: 2017/08/07 - 05h40.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Africaine
F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1916. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp. 264, 267
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