Difference between revisions of "Ben Bolt"

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''[[Ben Bolt]]'' is a drama in two acts by John Beer Johnstone (1803-1891)[]
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''[[Ben Bolt]]'' is a drama in two acts by John B. Johnstone (1803-1891)[http://karenphotographs.com/afamilyalbum/johnelizasouthbeer.htm]
  
 
==The original text==
 
==The original text==
  
The play was inspired by the  famous American ballad ''Ben Bolt'' by Thomas Dunn English (1819–1902)[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Dunn_English], the poem providing both the broad theme and the names of the lead characters.
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The play was inspired by the  famous American ballad ''Ben Bolt'' by Thomas Dunn English (1819–1902)[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Dunn_English], written in 1842 and published in the New York Mirror in 1843, after which it became a very popular as poem in America and England, and thereafter even better known as a naval song, having been set to music by Nelson Kneass.  
  
The poem had been written in 1842 and published in the New York Mirror in 1843, after which it became a very popular as poem in America and England, and thereafter even better known as a naval song, having been set to music by Nelson Kneass.
+
The poem provided both the broad theme and the names of the lead characters, and the play was first performed at the Royal Surrey Theatre on Tuesday, 28 March 1854, and published in the same year by Thomas Hailes Lacy.
 
 
The play was first performed at the Royal Surrey Theatre on Tuesday, 28 March 1854, and published in the same year by Thomas Hailes Lacy.
 
  
 
==Translations and adaptations==
 
==Translations and adaptations==
Line 15: Line 13:
 
1859: Performed by the [[Charles Fraser]] and his company in Cape Town with ''[[Slasher and Crasher]]'' (Morton) on 3 May.   
 
1859: Performed by the [[Charles Fraser]] and his company in Cape Town with ''[[Slasher and Crasher]]'' (Morton) on 3 May.   
  
1859: Repeated by the [[Charles Fraser]] and his company in Cape Town with  a scen from ''[[Macbeth]]'' (Shakespeare) and ''[[To Paris and Back for £5]]'' () on 9 May.
+
1859: Repeated by the [[Charles Fraser]] and his company in Cape Town with  a scen from ''[[Macbeth]]'' (Shakespeare) and ''[[To Paris and Back for £5]]'' (Morton) on 9 May.
  
 +
1865: Performed by the [[Valorous Amateurs]] (amateur players from H.M.S. ''Valorous'') in the [[Garrison Theatre]], Cape Town on 17 November, with ''[[Michael Erle the Maniac Lover]]'' (Wilks) and ''[[Betsy Baker]]'' (Morton).
  
 +
1866: Performed by the [[9th Regiment]]'s dramatic company in the [[Garrison Theatre]], Cape Town on 8 December, with performances of dances and music.
  
== Sources ==
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1867: Performed by the [[Young Men's Dramatic Company]] in [[Mr Ferguson's Saloon]], in the Swiss Hotel, Plein Street, Cape Town on 24 July, with ''[[A Shilling Day at the (Great) Exhibition]]'' (Halliday and Brough).
  
Transcript version of the poem ''Ben Bolt'', with commentary[http://www.contemplator.com/america/bbolt.html]
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1875: Performed  by [[Disney Roebuck]] and company in the [[Bijou Theatre]], Cape Town, on 26 June, with a recital of ''[[The Charge of the Light Brigade]]'' (Tennyson) by [[Miss Berenger]] and  ''[[Madeleine, or The Daughter of the Regiment|The Daughter of the Regiment]]'' (Stirling).
  
Transcript version of the 1854 play text, ''Victorian Plays Project''[http://victorian.nuigalway.ie/modx/assets/docs/pdf/Vol16iiiBen.pdf]
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1875: Performed by the [[Disney Roebuck]] company in the [[Bijou Theatre]], Cape Town on 3 July, with ''[[Life's Revenge]]'' (Suter).
  
Léger-St-Jean, Marie. ''Price One Penny: A Database of Cheap Literature, 1837-1860''. [19 March 2017]. Faculty of English, Cambridge [08 April 2018] (http://priceonepenny.info). Entry on "John Beer Johnstone"[http://www.priceonepenny.info/database/show_author.php?author_id=290]
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1877: Performed by the [[Disney Roebuck]] company in the [[Theatre Royal]], Cape Town on 18 August, with ''[[The Shaughraun]]'' (Boucicault).
  
 +
1877: Performed by the [[Disney Roebuck]] company in the [[Theatre Royal]], Cape Town on 20 October, with ''[[Our Boys]]'' (Byron), as a benefit for [[E.V. Sinclair]] and [[Mrs Sinclair]].
  
 +
== Sources ==
  
[[F.C.L. Bosman]]. 1980. ''Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1912''. Pretoria: [[J.L. van Schaik]]: pp. 124,
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Transcript version of the poem ''Ben Bolt'', with commentary[http://www.contemplator.com/america/bbolt.html]
  
[[Elizabeth Conradie|Conradie, Elizabeth]]. 1934. ''Hollandse skrywers uit Suid-Afrika. Deel 1 (1652-1875) 'n Kultuur-historische studie''. Pretoria, [[J.H. de Bussy]] and Cape Town [[H.A.U.M.]].[http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/conr002holl01_01/index.php]
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Transcript version of the 1854 play text, ''Victorian Plays Project''[http://victorian.nuigalway.ie/modx/assets/docs/pdf/Vol16iiiBen.pdf]
 
 
[[Elizabeth Conradie|Conradie, Elizabeth]],  1949. ''Hollandse skrywers uit Suid-Afrika. Deel 2 (1875-1905) 'n Kultuur-historische studie''. Pretoria, [[J.H. de Bussy]] and Cape Town [[H.A.U.M.]].[http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/conr002holl02_01/index.php]
 
 
 
[[P.J. du Toit]]. 1988. ''Amateurtoneel in Suid-Afrika''. Pretoria: Academica
 
 
 
[[Jill Fletcher]]. 1994. ''The Story of Theatre in South Africa: A Guide to its History from 1780-1930''. Cape Town: Vlaeberg: p. 
 
 
 
[[Sydney Paul Gosher]].  1988. ''A historical and critical survey of the South African one-act play written in English''. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Pretoria: [[University of South Africa]].
 
 
 
[[William Groom]]. 1899-1900. Drama in Cape Town. ''Cape Illustrated Magazine'', 10(4): 478-481, 517-520, 547-552, 580-584, 640-643, 670-672, 706-708.
 
 
 
[[Temple Hauptfleisch]]. 1997. ''Theatre and Society in South Africa: Reflections in a Fractured Mirror''. Pretoria: Van Schaik[http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/85401]: pp.
 
 
 
[[Peter Joyce]]. 1999. ''A Concise Dictionary of South African Biography''. Cape Town: Francolin Publishers.
 
 
 
[[John Christoffel Kannemeyer|J.C. Kannemeyer]] 1978. ''Geskiedenis van die Afrikaanse Literatuur'' I. Pretoria: Academica. (Second edition, 1984[http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/kann003gesk01_01/kann003gesk01_01_0012.php], pp.
 
 
 
[[J.C. Kannemeyer]]. 1984. ‘’Geskiedenis van die Afrikaanse Literatuur’’2[http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/kann003gesk02_01/colofon.php]: pp.
 
 
 
[[Ingmar Koch]]. 1997. Het ochtendgloren boven Kaapstad. Nederlandse rederijkers in Kaapstad, ''Tydskrif vir Nederlands & Afrikaans''. (4de Jaargang, Nommer 2. Desember)[http://www.savn.org.za/images/stories/documents/TNA/TNA%2019972.pdf]
 
 
 
[[Loren Kruger]] 1999. The Drama of South Africa: Plays, Pageants and Publics Since 1910 London: Routledge
 
 
 
 
 
[[P.W. Laidler]]. 1926. ''The Annals of the Cape Stage''. Edinburgh: William Bryce: p.
 
 
 
[[Anna Minnaar-Vos]] 1969. ''Die Spel Gaan Voort: Die Verhaal van [[Hendrik Hanekom|Hendrik]] en [[Mathilde Hanekom]]''. Kaapstad: Tafelberg, pp. 96-110.
 
 
 
[[Brian Astbury]].  1979. The Space/Die Ruimte/Indawo. Cape Town: Moira and Azriel Fine.
 
 
 
 
 
[[Percy Tucker]]. 1997. ''Just the Ticket. My 50 Years in Show Business''. Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press. 
 
 
 
Allardyce Nicoll. 1975. ''A History of English Drama 1660-1900: Late 19th Century Drama 1850-1900'' Cambridge University Press[https://books.google.co.za/books?id=u9s8AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA613&lpg=PA613&dq=Le+Bal+Masqu%C3%A9+Arthur+H.+Ward&source=bl&ots=j085voK1qt&sig=LGxx1zWIPYzXgxyp-fvQSpGG8vM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiFsaPmkITaAhXJ7xQKHVePC1kQ6AEILjAB#v=onepage&q=Le%20Bal%20Masqu%C3%A9%20Arthur%20H.%20Ward&f=false]
 
 
 
[[J.A. Worp]]. 1972. ''Geschiedenis van het Drama en van het Tooneel in Nederland''. Deel 2, Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren (DBNL)[http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/worp001gesc02_01/worp001gesc02_01_0028.php]
 
  
Joris Baers (1888-1975): ''Algemeene Tooneelbibliotheek Een''[http://doczz.nl/doc/783/joris-baers--1888-1975---algemeene-tooneelbibliotheek-een]
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"John Beer Johnstone" in: Léger-St-Jean, Marie. ''Price One Penny: A Database of Cheap Literature, 1837-1860''. [19 March 2017]. Faculty of English, Cambridge [08 April 2018]  (http://priceonepenny.info).[http://www.priceonepenny.info/database/show_author.php?author_id=290]
  
http://www.domus.ac.za/afrikaans/images/Programme%20in%20DOMUS(2).pdf
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[[F.C.L. Bosman]]. 1980. ''Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1912''. Pretoria: [[J.L. van Schaik]]: pp. 124, 258, 270, 271, 325, 359, 361.
  
 
Go to [[ESAT Bibliography]]
 
Go to [[ESAT Bibliography]]

Latest revision as of 08:52, 17 June 2019

Ben Bolt is a drama in two acts by John B. Johnstone (1803-1891)[1]

The original text

The play was inspired by the famous American ballad Ben Bolt by Thomas Dunn English (1819–1902)[2], written in 1842 and published in the New York Mirror in 1843, after which it became a very popular as poem in America and England, and thereafter even better known as a naval song, having been set to music by Nelson Kneass.

The poem provided both the broad theme and the names of the lead characters, and the play was first performed at the Royal Surrey Theatre on Tuesday, 28 March 1854, and published in the same year by Thomas Hailes Lacy.

Translations and adaptations

Performance history in South Africa

1859: Performed by the Charles Fraser and his company in Cape Town with Slasher and Crasher (Morton) on 3 May.

1859: Repeated by the Charles Fraser and his company in Cape Town with a scen from Macbeth (Shakespeare) and To Paris and Back for £5 (Morton) on 9 May.

1865: Performed by the Valorous Amateurs (amateur players from H.M.S. Valorous) in the Garrison Theatre, Cape Town on 17 November, with Michael Erle the Maniac Lover (Wilks) and Betsy Baker (Morton).

1866: Performed by the 9th Regiment's dramatic company in the Garrison Theatre, Cape Town on 8 December, with performances of dances and music.

1867: Performed by the Young Men's Dramatic Company in Mr Ferguson's Saloon, in the Swiss Hotel, Plein Street, Cape Town on 24 July, with A Shilling Day at the (Great) Exhibition (Halliday and Brough).

1875: Performed by Disney Roebuck and company in the Bijou Theatre, Cape Town, on 26 June, with a recital of The Charge of the Light Brigade (Tennyson) by Miss Berenger and The Daughter of the Regiment (Stirling).

1875: Performed by the Disney Roebuck company in the Bijou Theatre, Cape Town on 3 July, with Life's Revenge (Suter).

1877: Performed by the Disney Roebuck company in the Theatre Royal, Cape Town on 18 August, with The Shaughraun (Boucicault).

1877: Performed by the Disney Roebuck company in the Theatre Royal, Cape Town on 20 October, with Our Boys (Byron), as a benefit for E.V. Sinclair and Mrs Sinclair.

Sources

Transcript version of the poem Ben Bolt, with commentary[3]

Transcript version of the 1854 play text, Victorian Plays Project[4]

"John Beer Johnstone" in: Léger-St-Jean, Marie. Price One Penny: A Database of Cheap Literature, 1837-1860. [19 March 2017]. Faculty of English, Cambridge [08 April 2018] (http://priceonepenny.info).[5]

F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1912. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp. 124, 258, 270, 271, 325, 359, 361.

Go to ESAT Bibliography

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