His Last Legs

His Last Legs is a farce in two acts by William Bayle Bernard (1807-1875)

Because the main character in Bernard's play was a stage Irishman named "Felix O'Callaghan", described in the text and on playbills as "A Man of Genius, on his Last Legs", the play is on occasion referred to as O'Callaghan on His Legs or O'Callaghan on His Last Legs, the latter phrase also occurring as a statement in James Joyce's Ullyses, quite possibly as a metaphoric reference to the play.

The original text

First performed in London in 1839

The character

Translations and adaptations

Performance history in South Africa

1891-2: Performed by the Geneviève Ward Company during a nine months' tour of South Africa, under the auspices of Luscombe Searelle, featuring Geneviève Ward and W.H. Vernon in the leading roles.

Sources

Victory Pomeranz. 1971. "O'Callaghan on His Last Legs" in James Joyce Quarterly (Vol. 9, No. 1: Fall) pp. 136-139.

Don Gifford and Robert J. Seidman. 2008. Ulysses Annotated: Revised and Expanded Edition University of California Press: p.109[1]

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, 1856-1912. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp.203-205

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