The Woman in White can refer to the famous novel by Wilkie Collins (1824-1889)[1] and to a number of dramatized versions of the novel.

The Novel

The Woman in White is a highly regarded novel by Wilkie Collins ()[], written in 1859 and is viewed as one of the the first mystery novels and so called "sensation novels". First published in serial form in 1859–60, in both Charles Dickens' magazine All the Year Round (UK) and Harper's Weekly (USA). It was published in book form in 1860.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Woman_in_White_(novel)

Stage adaptations

The novel has been adapted in many ways over the years, including theatrical versions under various other titles. Among those titled The Woman in White have been a "Surrey Theatre stage sensation melodrama"( 1860), a version by Sutton Vane Snr. (1867) and Wilkie Collins's own version called a "stage melodrama" (1871)[2],

Versions under other titlkes have been: The White

Among the later versions have been versions by Tim Kelly (1974, a melodrama called Egad, the Woman in White), Andrew Lloyd Webber (stage musical, 2004)[3] and Constance Cox (play, 2008).

From 21-26 June she was Lady Mary in J.W. Boulding's The White Queen - a play written specially for her. From 1-3 July,

Performance history of the various stage versions in South Africa

1867: The Woman in White performed (possibly in the Sutton Vane version and billed as "Wilkie Collins's Popular Sensational Play") on 21 and 24 October in the Theatre Royal, Harrington Street, Cape Town, by the Le Roy and Duret Company, with a "Grand Pas Seul" by Miss Clara and A Model Husband (Wooler).

1867: Performed as The Woman in White by the Le Roy and Duret Company in the Theatre Royal, Harrington Street, Cape Town, on 4 November, with The Loan of a Lover (Planché) and the "Grand Scarf", a dance by Miss Clara.

1876: Performed as The Woman in White by Disney Roebuck and his company in the Athenaeum Hall, Cape Town, on 26 and 27 April and 29 May. The text used was probably the Sutton Vane version, since he was in the company.

1877: Performed as The Woman in White by Disney Roebuck and his company in the Theatre Royal, Cape Town, on 22 October, as a benefit performance for Sutton Vane (and billed as his "Last Appearance"). The text used was probably once more the Sutton Vane version.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Woman_in_White_(novel)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilkie_Collins

https://wilkiecollinssociety.org/opening-up-the-secret-theatre-of-home-wilkie-collinss-the-woman-in-white-on-the-victorian-stage

https://www.andrewlloydwebber.com/show/the-woman-in-white/

Laurence Wright. "Shakespeare in South Africa: The Nineteenth Century". Internet Shakespeare Editions[online]. University of Victoria, Accessed 16 July 2020[4]

"A Grass Widow Now, Lillian Beddard Will Face the Footlights and Her Diamonds Alone", in The San Francisco Call, Monday, March 30, 1896[5]

D.C. Boonzaier, 1923. "My playgoing days – 30 years in the history of the Cape Town stage", in SA Review, 9 March and 24 August 1923. (Reprinted in Bosman 1980: pp. 374-439.)

F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1916. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp. 206, 230, 234, 294-5, 338-9, 344, 361.

http://wilkiecollinssociety.org/newsletter-spring-2010/

Go to ESAT Bibliography