Slasher and Crasher!

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

Also found as Slasher and Crasher and Slasher & Crasher

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 in the Garrison Theatre, Grahamstwon, by the regimentals drama company known as the Amateurs of the Band (North Lincolnshire Regiment of Foot) on June 5, with a cast consisting of 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). The evening also included two more plays, The Spectre Bridegroom, or A Ghost in spite of Himself and Poses-De-Vaux (Anon.). (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 J. M'Kechnie (Benjamin Blowhard), W. Dansie (Mr Sampson Slasher), J. Davies (Mr Christopher Crasher), J. F. Gay (Lieutenant Brown), J. Grimley (Policeman), B. Sheeran (Policeman), T. Paterson (John, a servant), T. Smith (Miss Dinah Blowhard) and J. Durney (Miss Ross, her niece). The evening also included two more plays, Poses-De-Vaux (Anon.) and The Spectre Bridegroom (Moncrieff). (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 the same cast. 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)

1862: Performance of Slasher and Crasher repeated by the Amateurs of the Band (North Lincolnshire Regiment of Foot) on September 29, in the Garrison Theatre, Keiskama Hoek, with the same cast a cast. The evening once more included comic songs by J. M'Kechnie, and the melodrama The Eddystone Elf (Pitt). A new addition was Fitzobert's Dream, an interlude prepared especially for this occasion by Lance-Corporal W. Allan. (For more on contemporary responses to the performances, see the entry on the North Lincolnshire Regiment of Foot)

1867: Performed on 5 March 1867 during a Benefit Performance for the Somerset Hospital in Cape Town was arranged by the officers of the 9th Regiment, led by Captain Borton, and performed in the Theatre Royal in association with Mrs Marie Duret and Mrs Cooper. It also featured the regimental orchestra, led by Signor Bonicoli and a performance of Shylock Burlesque (Talfourd?).

1868: Performed in Cape Town (as Slasher & Crasher) by the Lanarkshire Dramatic Club (amateur players from the 99th Regiment) in the Garrison Theatre, Cape Town, on 20 May, with The Two Bonnycastles (Morton).