The Bowmers
The Bowmers was the name usually given to a company of singers and performers, led by Mr Bowmer and Madame Bowmer, and including J.F. Finlayson and Miss Whitfield, that performed occasionally in Cape Town in the years 1863-1864. The name of a Mr Schilling is mentioned as pianist.
F.C.L. Bosman (1980: p. 187) specifically mentions their first performance, in the Theatre Royal, Cape Town, during March of 1863, for which they offered selections from Il Trovatore, ("with Scenery, Chorus and Effects") and "Mr and Madame Bowmer's Dialogue Entertainment, in Two Parts, entitled Retaliation, or Tit for Tat. This was popular and was followed by a second concert. A third event, now featuring a performance by the husband and wife teram of The Widow's Stratagem, was a failure however, and received harsh criticism in the local press. The company tried once more with a concert in the Commercial Exchange, while also paying visits to surrounding towns, including Stellenbosch, Wellington and Worcester.
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 1923. (Reprinted in Bosman 1980: pp. 374-439.)
F.C.L. Bosman, 1928. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel I: 1652-1855. Pretoria: J.H. de Bussy. [1]: pp.
F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1916. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp. 186-7, 290
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