The Tear, The Tar and the Tilbury

The Tear, The Tar and the Tilbury is a "comic-tragedy" in five acts by an anonymous author.

The original text

This is quite probably a reference to The School for Sentiment, or The tar! The Tear!! and The Tilbury, a parody by Gilbert À Beckett (1811 - 1856)[] of his own play The School for Sentiment, published in a volume titled: Scenes from the rejected comedies / by some of the competitors for the prize of £500 offered by Mr. B. Webster, lessee of the Haymarket Theatre, for the best original comedy, illustrative of English manners. Publication, distribution, etc. (published in London at the Punch Office, 194, Strand, in 1844).

The volume contains parodies by Gilbert À Beckett of scenes from plays by James Sheridan Knowles ()[] and nine other playwrights of the day, including himself, the scene from The School for Sentiment.

Performance history in South Africa

1860: Performed as The Tear, The Tar and the Tilbury in September, probably by Sefton Parry and members of the Cape Town Dramatic Club, as part of the festivities surrounding the visit to Cape Town of Prince Alfred, the son of Queen Victoria.

Sources

F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1912. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: p.92

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