Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast [1] is a traditional fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740. The tale has been notably adapted for screen, stage, prose, and television over the years.

Translations and adaptations

Among the texts performed in South Africa have been:

Beauty and the Beast (1841): a "Fairy Extravaganza" by J.R. Planché, first performed in London at the Theatre Royal Covent Garden in 1841, with Madame Vestris. Published at C by and in New York as no XIV of The Minor Drama by Bedford and Co in 1847.

Beauty and the Beast (1878): a pantomime, written for Baby Benson, the libretto in part by St John Knight.

Beauty and the Beast (1951) is a children's play by British actor and playwright Nicholas Stuart Gray (1922-1981).

Performance history in South Africa

1857: The Planché version, (billed as "a magnificent Burlesque Fairy Spectacle") was performed by the Sefton Parry company in the Harrington Street Theatre, Cape Town theatre on 24 December, for one performance only. It was possibly the first English pantomime presented in full in South Africa, though Parry himself claimed this distinction for Babes in the Wood (1858).

After that there have been numerous local performances of the tale. Some of them are:

1878: Performed as a pantomime (with a libretto in part by St John Knight) in the Athenaeum Theatre, Cape Town by the Baby Benson pantomime company, in association with the local Dramatic Recital Society, and directed by Monsieur Frigerio.

1951: Presented by the UCT Dramatic Society at the Little Theatre August 1951, directed by Leonard Schach and starring Peter Lamsley. Decor by Cecil Pym, costumes by Doreen Graves.

1961: A Children's Theatre production directed by Anthony Farmer.

1967: Presented by PACT, 1967, with Don Lamprecht as Hodge.

1978: A production by Compass Productions, using the 1951 text by Nicholas Stuart Gray and directed by Helen Houghton at The Space (Cape Town), with James Andrews, Lyn Banner, Paul Bosman, Nicholas Fine, Cindy Just, Judith Krummeck and Corinne Willoughby. (Designs by René Hermanus, sound and lighting by Tony Twine and Vivian Bickford as Stage Manager)