Under the Gaslight

Under the Gaslight is melodramatic play by Augustin Daly (1838–1899)[1]

Also known as Under the Gaslight, or Life and Love in These Times. Under the Gaslight: A Totally Original and Picturesque Drama of Life and Love in These Times, in Five Acts (1867) Under the gaslight: a totally original and picturesque drama of life and love in these times, in five acts. by Daly, Augustin, 1838-1899. Publication date 1886.

The original text

Daly's first successful play, best known for the scene where a person is tied to railroad tracks as a train approaches, only to be saved from death at the last possible moment. First performed at the Worrell Sisters' New York Theatre in New York, starting on August 12, 1867. Published in New York the same year.

Often performed, for unlike most 19th century American plays, it has continued to be a popular work, often revived even late in the 230th century.

Translations and adaptations

The play was adapted to a silent film of the same name in 1914.

Performance history in South Africa

1876: Performed by the Disney Roebuck Company in the Athenaeum Hall, Cape Town, on 9 September with as Betsy Baker (Morton) and Little Don Giovanni (Byron).

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Under_the_Gaslight

Facsimile version of the 1867 published text, The Internet Archive[2]

D.C. Boonzaier. 1923. "My playgoing days – 30 years in the history of the Cape Town stage", in SA Review, 9 March and 24 August 1923. (Reprinted in Bosman 1980: pp. 374-439.)

F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1912. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp.

Go to ESAT Bibliography