VAN DE SANDT DE VILLIERS & Co [printers]. Theatre, Bree-Street, Corner of Dorp-Street. Positively the Last Performance this Season of the "City Amateur Theatrical Society.".

cape town theatre

VAN DE SANDT DE VILLIERS & Co [printers]. Theatre, Bree-Street, Corner of Dorp-Street. Positively the Last Performance this Season of the "City Amateur Theatrical Society." [Cape Town], 1854.

Printed on light blue thin paper in green and measuring 460 by 202 mm, this rare survival, an early South African playbill, the printer's copy, with the print run of 200 and the date, August 12, 1854, added in ink announces the staging of Gilbert Abbot à Beckett's The Swiss Mendicant, followed by two lighter pieces, a comedietta and 'by general desire' a 'much admired Burletta', all stage-managed by J. Boxer. The author of the main play was a major contributor to Punch and comedic playwright. He wrote the libretto for two operas composed by his wife Mary Anne à Beckett. The Bree Street Theatre had opened in 1852 and flourished only for a short period. - Left-hand margin unevenly cut by hand, one repaired marginal flaw.

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