The Dumb Belle
The Dumb Belle is a comedietta in one act by William Bayle Bernard (1807-1875)[].
Contents
The original text
First performed at the Royal Olympic Theatre, London on October 12th, 1831
Translations and adaptations
In 1835 Thomas Hailes Lacy wrote a play called A Silent Woman, said by the author to have been "adaptated from a recollection of Mr. Bayle Bernard’s comedy of The Dumb Belle". Lacy's piece was first performed at the Royal Olympic Theatre, London on 17 August, 1835.
F.C.L. Bosman (1980) has the author of the latter play wrongly as "Burnand" (or perhaps his sources had it so).
Translations and adaptations
1868: A Silent Woman was performed in the Mutual Hall, Cape Town, on 13 April by D'Arcy Read and James Leffler, with "Sentimental, Comic and Nigger Songs", two scenes from The Hunchback (Knowles) and The Chevalier, the Apprentice and the Grisette (Anon.).
Sources
Blog by H. Dominic W. Stiles, UCL Ear Institute & Action on Hearing Loss Libraries; UCL Library Serices - 17 December 2015[1]
History of Western Theatre: 17th Century to Now/Complete list of one-act plays in English on the Internet[2]
F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1916. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp. 232,
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