Lovers' Quarrels, or Like Master Like Man

Lovers' Quarrels, or Like Master Like Man is a farce in one act, attributed to Thomas King (1730-1805)[1],

The original text

First performed as a benefit for King on 2 February 1790 at the Theatres-Royal, Drury-Lane and Covent-Garden, and was published, inter alia by J. Roach, 1806, as "Lovers' Quarrels, or Like Master Like Man: an Interlude in One Act, Altered from The Mistake of Sir J.V. by T. King".

This is thus an adaptation of The Mistake by Sir John Vanbrugh (1664-1726)[2] and is in fact often also credited to Vanbrugh alone. Allardyce Nicoll (2009) also mentions two other adaptations of The Mistake under the same title, one by "D.L." (1816) and one by "Vic." (1864).

Performance history in South Africa

1824: Performed on 1 June in Cape Town by the Amateur Company in The Cape Theatre, with The Heir at Law (Colman Jr). According to Bosman (1928), this was the Thomas King version and was billed simply as Lovers' Quarrels.

1830: Played on 14 August by the All the World's a Stage in the African Theatre, as afterpiece to The Flying Dutchman, or the Phantom Ship (Fitzball).

1832: Performed on 20 October in Cape Town by the All the World's a Stage in The Cape Theatre, with The Slave, or The Revolt of Surinam (Morton). According to Bosman (1928), this was the Thomas King version.