King John

King John is a history play by William Shakespeare,

The original text

Thought to have been written in the mid-1590s but was only published in the First Folio [1] of 1623.

See Wikipedia [2] for a brief synopsis of the play.

Performance history in South Africa

1870: Scenes from the play were performed in the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Cape Town, by the company of Benjamin Webster on 5 July, with as All that Glitters is not Gold (Morton and Morton). The performers Benjamin Webster, T. Brazier, Mrs Brazier, Mr Devere and James Leffler all appeared in the main play and probably the King John scenes as well.

1970: Staged in the Alexander Theatre by PACT Drama, directed by Francois Swart, featuring Ken Leach (King John), Shelagh Holliday (Queen Eleanor), Anthony James (Salisbury), Siegfried Mynhardt (Pembroke), Billy Matthews( Essex), Nigel Kane (Lord Bigot), John Whiteley (Chatillon), Darryn Coetzee (Robert Faulconbridge), Jonathon Berwick (Philip), Paddy Canavan (Lady Faulconbridge), John Llewellyn (James Gurney), Norman Coombes (Philip), Della Maraney (Arthur), Dale Cutts (Limoges), Maureen McAllister (Constance), Lance Lockhart (Lewis), George Jackson (Hubert), Joan Friedman (Blanche), John Hayter (Cardinal Pandulph), Adrian Egan (Prince Henry), Joey Wishnia (French Herald), Nicholas Ellenbogen (English Herald) and others. Designs by Aubrey Couling and music composed by Leo Quayle.

Sources

Wikipedia [3].

PACT Drama theatre programme, 1970.

Petru & Carel Trichardt theatre programme collection.

Go to ESAT Bibliography

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