The Bandit of the Rhine explained

The Bandit on the Rhine
Premiere:[1]
Place:Launceston
Orig Lang:English

The Bandit on the Rhine is a 1835 Australian play by Evan Henry Thomas. It was once considered the first play written and published in Australia although it seems to have been preceded by The Bushrangers and The Tragedy of Donohoe.[2] [3] [4]

An October 1834 advertisement asked for subscriptions so the play could be published.[5] [6]

It debuted in Launceston in 1835. One review said "We cannot do justice to ourselves, if we omit to notice the very little anxiety shewn on the part of the performers generally, to the success of the piece. It is not a production of Shakespeare, certainly, but, with so careless a performance, Shakespeare's best piece must have failed in effect."[7]

The play was performed again in Hobart in 1836.[8]

No copy of the play has been located.[9]

Thomas announced he would publish a romantic drama in five acts, entitled The Rose of the Wilderness, or Emily the Maniac but this does not seem to have happened.[10]

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: THEATRE. . . 1 . XXXVII . Tasmania, Australia . 17 October 1835 . 11 May 2024 . 2 . National Library of Australia.
  2. News: HLRALD SATURDAY MAGAZINE . . 35,707 . New South Wales, Australia . 31 May 1952 . 11 May 2024 . 6 . National Library of Australia.
  3. News: The Courier. . . VII . 425 . Tasmania, Australia . 19 September 1834 . 11 May 2024 . 2 . National Library of Australia.
  4. News: CORRESPONDENCE . . XCI . 199 . Tasmania, Australia . 5 November 1932 . 11 May 2024 . 11 (DAILY) . National Library of Australia.
  5. News: Advertising . . IV . 204 . Tasmania, Australia . 24 September 1834 . 11 May 2024 . 1 . National Library of Australia.
  6. News: TO THE EDITOR. . . 7 . 376 . Tasmania, Australia . 20 August 1835 . 11 May 2024 . 3 . National Library of Australia.
  7. News: THEATRE. . . 1 . XXXVII . Tasmania, Australia . 17 October 1835 . 11 May 2024 . 2 . National Library of Australia.
  8. News: Advertising . . X . 510 . Tasmania, Australia . 21 October 1836 . 11 May 2024 . 3 . National Library of Australia.
  9. News: PLAYERS GROUP BUILDS ON PAST EFFORTS . . CLXXIII . 25,650 . Tasmania, Australia . 7 March 1953 . 11 May 2024 . 17 . National Library of Australia.
  10. E. Flinn, 'Thomas, Evan Henry (c. 1801–1837)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/thomas-evan-henry-2725/text3841, published first in hardcopy 1967, accessed online 11 May 2024.

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