Speed the Plough

A comedy, in five acts by Thomas Morton (1764-1838).

Not to be confused with Speed-the-Plow, a 1988 play by David Mamet

The original text

First performed at the Theatre-Royal, Covent-Garden on 8 Feb. 1798, it was acted forty-one times, and often revived.

The play introduced the fictional (off-stage) English character of "Mrs Grundy", who typifies the censorship enacted in everyday life by conventional opinion. The term soon passed into everyday English speech as a criterion of rigid respectability, especially in contexts in which free expression is impeded by excessive purity.

Performance history in South Africa

6 July 1812: Performed in Cape Town by the Garrison Players in the African Theatre, with The Irishman in London (Macready), with Lt Prescott and Lt Hanson listed as Directors for the evening.

23 September 1815: Performed in Cape Town by the English Theatricals company (former Garrison Players) in the African Theatre, with The Prize, or 2,5,3,8, (Hoare).

7 February 1818: Performed in Cape Town by the English Theatricals company (former Garrison Players) in the African Theatre , with The Spoiled Child (Bickerstaffe).

2 November 1822: Performed in Cape Town by the Amateur Company company (Garrison Players) in the African Theatre, with The Soldier's Daughter (Cherry) and the farce Fortune's Frolic (Allingham).

2 September 1826: Performed in Cape Town by the (Garrison Players) in the African Theatre, with Sharp and Flat (Lawler), as a benefit for Mrs Johnson.

May 1827: Performed in Cape Town by the (Garrison Amateur Company) in the African Theatre, with the musical farce Love Laughs at Locksmiths (Colman Jr).