J. M'Kechnie

Private J. M'Kechnie was a soldier serving with the North Lincolnshire Regiment of Foot when the Regiment was posted to the Eastern Frontier of the Cape Colony between 1860 and 1863, shortly after the Xhosa cattle-killing movement and famine (1857-1858). He came to the Cape Colony as a private. At first, the Regiment was posted to Grahamstown but was later transferred to Keiskama Hoek (Keiskammahoek) in 1862.

Biography

Private J. M'Kechnie was an actor/singer member of the section of the Dramatic Club known as the Amateurs of the Band and acted in 31 productions during his stay at the Eastern Frontier, two plays were produced by the Officers of the Regiment and the other 29 were with the Amateurs of the Band. Apart from three female roles, all the others were male.

Contribution to SA theatre

July 21, 26 & 27, and August 3, 1860: Comic song "Solomon Lob," in character.

July 21, 26 & 27, and August 3, 1860: Acted in the Band Amateurs production of The Wandering Minstrel. (Mr Crincum).

(North Lincoln Sphinx, Vol 1, No 2, Grahamstown, September 15, 1860, page 16.)

July 30 and August 1, 1860: Starred in the Corps Dramatique (Band of Amateurs) two-act "comediatta" (sic) (probably commedia dell’arte, which, according to the Concise Oxford Dictionary, is an improvised kind of popular comedy in Italian theatres in the 16th – 18th centuries and is based on stock characters.) production of The Review, or The Wags of Windsor. (Mr Deputy Bull).

(North Lincoln Sphinx, Vol 1, No 2, Grahamstown, September 15, 1860, page 17.)

July 30 and August 1, 1860: Starred in the Band of Amateurs produced farce, The Irish Tutor. (Mr Tillwell).

(North Lincoln Sphinx, Vol 1, No 2, Grahamstown, September 15, 1860, page 17.)

August 20th and 22nd, 1860: Starred in the three-act play produced by the Band of Amateurs, The Iron Chest. (Fitzharding).

(North Lincoln Sphinx, Vol 1, No 2, Grahamstown, September 15, 1860, page 17.)

September 20 1860: Acted in the Band of Amateurs produced two-act drama, Time Tries All. (Mr Leeson).

(North Lincoln Sphinx, Vol 1, No 3, Grahamstown, November 1, 1860, page 30.)

September 20 1860: Acted in the Band of Amateurs produced one-act farce, The Dead Shot. (Captain Cannon).

(North Lincoln Sphinx, Vol 1, No 3, Grahamstown, November 1, 1860, page 30.)

November 26, 1860: Acted in the Amateurs of the Band production of The British Volunteers. (Mr Sydney Jubkins).

(North Lincoln Sphinx, Vol 1, No 4, Christmas, 1860. Page 47.)

Christmas 1860: Acted in "a grand Balletical (sic) Introduction" entitled The Rivals. (Margery Monitor, a monthly nurse, an ugly old woman, with very high heeled shoes and cold-blooded notions).

(North Lincoln Sphinx, Vol 1, No 4, Christmas Supplement, 1860. Page 51.)

October 14 & November 4, 1861: Acted in the Amateurs of the Band production of John Maddison Morton’s one-act farce, Slasher and Crasher. (Mr Benjamin Blowhard).

(North Lincoln Sphinx, Vol 1, No 9, November 13, 1861. Page 125.)

October 14 & November 4, 1861: Acted in the Amateurs of the Band production of William Barnes Rhodes's one-act burlesque tragic opera, Bombastes Furioso. (Fusbos, Minister of State).

(North Lincoln Sphinx, Vol 1, No 9, November 13, 1861. Page 125.)

November 4, 1861: Acted in the Amateurs of the Band production of Thomas J. Lynch's two-act drama, The Rose of Ettrick Vale or The Bridal of the Borders. (Wandering Steenie, a mindless rower).

(North Lincoln Sphinx, Vol 1, No 9, November 13, 1861. Page 125.)

November 4, 1861: Acted in the Amateurs of the Band’s production of The Spectre Bridegroom, or A Ghost in Spite of Himself. (Squire Aldwinkle).

(North Lincoln Sphinx, Vol 1, No 9, November 13, 1861. Page 125.)

December 25, 1861: Acted in the pantomimic ballet of Don Juan, staged by the Amateurs of the Band. (Scaramouch, the clown, servant to Jon Juan).

(North Lincoln Sphinx, Vol 1, No 10, Christmas Supplement, 1861.)

January 20, 1862: Acted in the Officers of the Regiment performance of J. R. Planche's one-act serio-comic, bombastic, operatic interlude, Amoroso, King of Little Britain. (Coquetinda).

(North Lincoln Sphinx, Vol 1, No 11, January 28, 1862, page 163.)

January 20, 1862: Acted in the Officers of the Regiment performance of Othello, Scene II, Act III. (Emilia).

(North Lincoln Sphinx, Vol 1, No 11, January 28, 1862, page 163.)

February 17, 1862: Acted in the Amateurs of the Band production of The Omnibus Or A Convenient Distance. (Mr Ledger).

(North Lincoln Sphinx, Vol 1, No 12, February 28, 1862, page 179/180.)

May 28, 1862: Acted in the Amateurs of the Band production of a “serio-comic, bombastic, operatic Interlude, in one act" by J.R. Planché, Amoroso, King of Little Britain. (Coquetinda).