Ernest Searelle Comedy Company

According to D.C. Boonzaier (1923, as cited in Bosman, 1980, p. 403), a company called the Ernest Searelle Comedy Company toured South Africa in the late 19th century, giving an excellent performance of The New Boy (Lumley) in Cape Town in 1895, with a cast that consisted of Hope Dudley, Herbert Flemming, Leslie Kenyon and William Devereux.

However, no further mention of the name Ernest Searelle has been found in any other source and, though the name of the company does appear in the Index to Bosman (1980, p.511), the name of a person called Ernest Searelle does not. It is thus just possible that either Boonzaier (1923) or Bosman (in citing Boonzaier on p. 403) may have made a mistake and gotten the name wrong in this case. In that case the reference is in actual fact a reference to one of Luscombe Searelle's enterprises. Possibly named the Luscombe Searelle Comedy Company (or the Searelle Comedy Company).

Sources

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 1932. (Reprinted in Bosman 1980: pp. 374-439.)

F.C.L. Bosman, 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1916. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp.

Jill Fletcher. 1994. The Story of Theatre in South Africa: A Guide to its History from 1780-1930. Cape Town: Vlaeberg.

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