Smiles and Tears, or The Widow's Stratagem

Smiles and Tears, or The Widow's Stratagem is a comedy in five acts by Marie Thérèse Kemble (1774-1838)[] and Amelia Alderson Opie (1769-1853)[].

Also found simply as Smiles and Tears or The Widow's Stratagem.

Not to be confused with the 1808 comedy Tears and Smiles by J. N. Barker.[1]

The original text

According to the foreword by Mrs Kemble, the serious part of the play was inspired by a story called Father and Daughter by Amelia Alderson Opie (1769-1853)[] (who is credited as co-author of the play in many sources), while some of the lighter scenes derive from La Suite d'un Bal Masqué by and

First performed at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, on 12 December, 1815 by the Kemble company, and published in London by John Miller in 1815.

Performance history in South Africa

1863: A piece called The Widow's Stratagem (possibly shortened/adapted, for it was seemingly billed as a "sketch") was performed as The Widow's Stratagem by Mr Bowmer and Madame Bowmer in the Theatre Royal, Cape Town, as part of a Grand Concert and Entertainment put on by a company of visiting entertainers led by J.F. Finlayson, as compère and musical director.

Sources

Facsimile version of the original published text, Hathi Trust Digital Library[2]

https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book//lookupid?key=ha001024014

https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001027050

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0496892/