It Is Never Too Late To Mend
It Is Never Too Late To Mend is a play in three acts by Charles Reade (1814-1884)[1].
Also known found as It's Never Too Late To Mend or It's Never too Late to Mend, or Gold, Gold, Gold.
Contents
The original text
A drama about a ruthless squire who becomes obsessed with a younger woman and conspires to have her lover framed and sent to jail.
The first play in the anthology is C. H. Hazlewood’s Never Too Late to Mend, which was first staged at the Royal Marylebone Theatre in 1859, and published in Lacy’s Acting Edition of Plays, Vol. 2in the same year. In both its style of representation and its production history, Hazlewood’s drama squarely locates illegitimate melodrama at the root of sensation drama. Further, it is part of an established theatrical culture in which adaptation can be indistinguishable from piracy. The play is based on Charles Reade’s 1856 novel, which was itself adapted from Reade’s dramaGold. Reade would himself re-adapt his novel for the stage in 1865; however, Reade’s play was preceded by adaptations for London’s Surrey, Britannia, Marylebone and Grecian theatres, variations between which are detailed in the notes. Shocked reaction to Reade’s 1865 drama in fact built on the success of productions at less reputable theatres. Therefore, one reason for including Hazlewood’s version in this anthology (rather than Reade’s) was to reinforce how important this astonishingly productive dramatist is to histories of mid-nineteenth century theatre, and to help to make his expansive oeuvre more accessible.
Based by Charles Reade on his own novel called It Is Never Too Late To Mend (sometimes written as It's Never Too Late To Mend), published in 1856, the play opened in February 1865 at The Theatre, Leeds, where it played to great acclaim.
Translations and adaptations
The novel was filmed a number of times over the years.
Performance history in South Africa
1862: Performed as It's Never too Late to Mend, or Gold, Gold, Gold by Clara Tellett and her company in the Theatre Royal, Cape Town, on 15 December, with Marriage at any Price (Wooler). The performance given as a benefit for James Leffler, held under the patronage of the Governor's wife, Lady Wodehouse, and R. Southey, the Colonial Secretary.
1882/3: Performed as It's Never too Late to Mend by Mabel Hayes and her company in the Theatre Royal, Cape Town, as part of season that ran from August 1882 to June 1883. She probably did it in Port Elizabeth as well in the subsequent season.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Is_Never_Too_Late_to_Mend_(novel)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Reade
D.C. Boonzaier, 1923. "My playgoing days – 30 years in the history of the Cape Town stage", in SA Review, 9 March and 24 August 1932. (Reprinted in Bosman 1980: pp. 374-439.)
F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1912. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp.132, 376
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