The Devil to Pay, or The Wives Metamorphosed

"A Ballad Farce" by Charles Coffey. While it is often attributed to Colley alone, it was co-authored with John Mottley. According to Cumberland's British Theatre (as cited in John Hopkins library catalogue[1]), it was based on Thomas Jevon's The devil of a wife (1686), which was turned into an opera by Charles Coffey and John Mottley, and later reduced to one act by Colley Cibber and called a "comic opera". In 1831 this version was printed as two acts.

Performance history in South Africa

Performed in Cape Town's African Theatre on 28 June 1802 in celebration of the King's birthday. It was performed alongside Little Hunchback, or A Frolic in Bagdad (O'Keefe), The Interlude of the Magic Zone and The Cunning Wife, or The Lover in the Sack (Petersen).

Sources

Google Books[2]

John Hopkins library catalogue[3]

The Library Company of Philadelphia[4]

Bosman, 1928: pp

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