The Flying Dutchman, or The Phantom Ship

The Flying Dutchman, or The Phantom Ship is a nautical drama, in three acts by Edward Fitzball (1792–1873)[1], with music by George Rodwell.

Mostly referred to simply as The Flying Dutchman.

The original text

The play is based on the mythic tale about a legendary ghost ship (known in Dutch as "De Vliegende Hollander") that sails the oceans into eternity, glowing with ghostly light and portending disaster to all that see it. According to the myth, Willem van der Decken, a captain of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), and a wealthy trader in command of the fastest ship of the VOC, named the "Hollander" ("Dutchman"). However overcome by greed, he becomes a pirate and when confronted by a storm, makes a pact with the Devil proclaiming: "I will sail, storm or not, Easter or not, prohibited or not. I will sail, even into eternity!" and so sailed into damnation, never able to make port and doomed to sail the oceans forever.

The play was written by Fitzball in 1826, with music by George Rodwell ()[], and opened at the Adelphi Theatre London, 8 January 1827.

Translations and adaptations

There have been numerous other literary and artistic versions of the tale, but the best known stage version, besides Fitzball's English melodrama, has been Der fliegende Holländer ("The Flying Dutchman"), the 1843 German opera by Richard Wagner ()[]. Wagner's version introduceds the idea of redemption through love as central theme and Wagner himself conducted the premiere at the Königliches Hoftheater in Dresden in 1843.

Though it is tempting to assume that Wagner used Fitzball's melodrama as a basis for his musical version, the idea for the opera was apparently taken from an episode in Heinrich Heine's satirical novel The Memoirs of Mister von Schnabelewopski (Aus den Memoiren des Herrn von Schnabelewopski, 1833), in which a character attends a theatrical performance of De Vliegende Hollander in Amsterdam.

A burlesque version of Fitzball's play was apparently done by the Christy Minstrels in the 1860s, also performed during their South African visit in 1862.

Performance history in South Africa

1830: Played on 7 August by the All the World's a Stage in the African Theatre, with The Smoked Miser, or The Benefit of Hanging (Jerrold) as afterpiece.

1830: Repeated on 14 August by the All the World's a Stage in the African Theatre, with Lovers' Quarrels, or Like Master Like Man (King) as afterpiece.

1835: Played on 29 April by the Garrison Players (the Officers of the 98th Regiment) in the Amateur Theatre, with The Irish Tutor, or New Lights (Glengall) as afterpiece.

1835: Repeated on 3 June, by the Garrison Players (the Officers of the 98th Regiment) in the Amateur Theatre, with Amateurs and Actors (Peake, but credited to "Sheridan") as afterpiece.

1836: Played once more on 8 June by the Garrison Players in the Amateur Theatre(?), with The Irishman in London (Macready) as afterpiece.

1858: Performed on 6 April as The Flying Dutchman (and billed as the "Celebrated Nautical Romantic Drama") in the Harrington Street Theatre by Sefton Parry and his company, along with The Celebrated History of Alonzo the Brave and the Fair Imogen (), The Lottery Ticket (Beazley) and a song sung by J.E.H. English. Parry himself played "Van der Dercken" in the nautical play.

1858: Performed one more by Sefton Parry and his company on 9 April, now with The Honest Milkman (), a Jockey Dance by Mr Gough and a song sung by J.E.H. English

1862: A burlesque called The Flying Dutchman was regularly performed by the Christy Minstrels, as part of their repertoire while touring the Cape Province between September and November, inter alia playing in the Theatre Royal, The Circus and the Commercial Exchange in Cape Town, as well as venues in Simonstown, the Paarl, Stellenbosch, Worcester, Port Elizabeth and Grahamstown.

1866: Performed by the Le Roy-Duret Company in the Harrington Street Theatre, Cape Town, on 2 and 4 July, along with Is She a Woman? ().

1866: Performed by the Le Roy-Duret Company in the Harrington Street Theatre, Cape Town, on 5 July, along with Winning a Husband (Buckstone).