The Busybody

One of the most successful comedies of intrigue of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, originally entitled The Busie Body and written by Susanna Centlivre (1667?-1723). Originally opened at the Drury Lane Theatre in London on May 12, 1709, and seems to have reached its greatest popularity in England and its colonies in the middle and late eighteenth century and the early part of the nineteenth century, while enjoying a similar place of importance in the stage history of America in the nineteenth century. The play had over 450 performances by 1800, and went through 40 editions by 1884.

Performed in South Africa by the Naval Amateur Company in Simonstown on Saturday 14 January, 1826.