Taste
A satirical comedy in two acts by Samuel Foote (1720–1777)[1].
Contents
The original text
A satire on the 18th century growth in the art and antiquities market, with a focus on aristocratic collectors. First produced in London in 1752, at the Drury Lane theatre.
Performance history in South Africa
1800: First produced in South Africa by Dr Somers and Officers from the Garrison in the Military Hospital, Cape Town in May 1800. According to Lady Anne Barnard (cited in F.C.L. Bosman, 1928[2]: p. 61) the play's title was given as "Teasle". This performance was the spark that inspired Sir George Yonge to create The African Theatre. It also contained what is claimed by Bosman (citing P.W. Laidler's Annals of the Cape Stage, p. 11) to possibly be one of the earliest pieces of local writing for the theatre in Mrs Somers's prologue to the performance.
1807: Performed (ostensibly as a one-act version) at the Garrison Theatre in Cape Town on the 20th of June, as an accompaniment to Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer. The company included Captain Frazer, Mr Morgan and Captain Collins and the production was managed by Mr Morgan, who also read a prologue written for the occasion by Captain Frazer, who in turn sang a song he had written (in character as "Lady Pentweazle" in Taste), while Captain Collins read an epilogue he had written. According to F.C.L. Bosman (1928: p. 70)[3] these pieces are the oldest extant remnants of local theatrical writing (though not, he emphasizes, the earliest piece of written text or performance text, since there are records of earlier indigenous performances, prologues and even texts - e.g. Mrs Somers's prologue to the first performance of Taste in 1800).
1808: Performed in the African Theatre by the Garrison Players on 2 July 1808, as afterpiece to The Gamester (Moore).
Translations and adaptations
Sources
Bosman 1928: p 60-61, 76,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Foote
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