Slasher and Crasher!

Slasher and Crasher! is a farce in one act by John Maddison Morton (1811-1891)[1].

The original text

First performed at the Adelphi Theatre, London, in 1848 and published numerous times, inter alia by William Taylor & Company, 1849, Issue 31 of The Minor drama (Samuel French, 1849), M. Douglas, 1850, Duncombe and Moon, 1852, Lacy's acting edition no. 110 (Thomas Hailes Lacy, 1860) and so on.

Translations and adaptations

Performance history in South Africa

1859: Performed as Slasher and Crasher by the Charles Fraser and his company in Cape Town with Ben Bolt (Johnstone) on 3 May.

1861: Performed as Slasher and Crasher on the Eastern Cape Border by the regimentals drama company known as the Amateurs of the Band (North Lincolnshire Regiment of Foot) on June 5, featuring . The evening also included two more plays, The Spectre Bridegroom, or A Ghost in spite of Himself and Poses-De-Vaux (Anon.). The cast of Slasher and Crasher consisted of Starring: J. M'Kechnie (Benjamin Blowhard), W. Dansie (Mr Sampson Slasher), J. Davies (Mr Christopher Crasher), J. F. Gay (Lieutenant Brown), J. Grimley (Policeman), B. Sheetan (Policeman), T. Paterson (John, a servant), T. Smith (Miss Dinah Blowhard) and J. Durney (Miss Ross, her niece). (For more on contemporary responses to the performances, see the entry on the North Lincolnshire Regiment of Foot)

1861: Performed again as Slasher and Crasher by the Amateurs of the Band on October 14, with a slightly different cast, now consisting of J. M'Kechnie (Mr Benjamin Blowhard), W. Dansie (Mr Sampson Slasher), T. Brooker (Mr Christopher Crasher), W. Allan (Lieutenant Brown), B. Buckley (John), J. Davies (Miss Dinah Blowhard), and J. Durney (Ross). Also performed were The British Volunteers (Bridgman), The Irish Tutor (Butler) and Bombastes Furioso (Rhodes).

1862: Performed by the Amateurs of the Band (North Lincolnshire Regiment of Foot) as Slasher and Crasher on June 5, featuring . The evening also included two more plays, Poses-De-Vaux (Anon.) and The Spectre Bridegroom (). (For more on contemporary responses to the performances, see the entry on the North Lincolnshire Regiment of Foot)

1862: Performed by the Amateurs of the Band (North Lincolnshire Regiment of Foot) as Slasher and Crasher on September 24, in the Garrison Theatre, Keiskama Hoek, with a cast consisting of . At the conclusion of this melo-drama, J. M'Kechnie sang some comic songs and this was followed by The Eddystone Elf (Pitt). (For more on contemporary responses to the performances, see the entry on the North Lincolnshire Regiment of Foot)