Parker's Company
Semi-professional company under the leadership of W.F.H. Parker which appeared at the Cape in 1847 or 1848 to perform in the then new Drury Lane Theatre. Apparently the official name of the company was the New English Theatrical Company.
The company's production of Luke the Labourer received much praise from the Cape Town Mail, but Sam Sly responded with a harsh critique of the theatre and the company, suggesting that the Cape Town Mail review displayed "exaggerated and false colouring" , for he had not only found that the space was noisy, but also that "the ventilation was abominable and ...the acting was no good..". (quoted in Bosman, 1928: p. 419). Apparently, because of this, the company itself did not survive much more than the year, though Parker himself remained on the scene in various guises into the 1850s.
See also W.F.H. Parker
Sources
F.C.L Bosman, 1928 [JH]
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