The Magpie , or The Maid?

by Isaac Pocock. A melodrama in 3 acts. Also published as "The Magpie; Or, the Maid of Palaiseau. A Melodramatic Romance" by John Murray in 1815. Also found under the title The Maid and the Magpie, or Who's the Thief!!!.

It is based on La Pie voleuse, by Louis-Charles Caigniez and J. M. T. Badouin d'Aubigny. The French play was also the source for Giovanni Gherardini's libretto for Rossini's opera La gazza ladra (1817).

Performance history in South Africa

Performed as a benefit performance for Mrs Westcott in the Cape Town on 8 October 1835 by the Garrison Players, with Love, Law and Physic (Kenney) as afterpiece.

Performed again apparently on 9 June 1832 by All the World's a Stage under the title The Maid and the Magpie, or Who's the Thief!!! , indicated as a new domestic melodrama" by Pocock. (Bosman, 1928: p221-2), alongside The Married Bachelor (O'Calligan) and Bombastes Furioso, or The King of Utopia (Rhodes)