The Sea of Ice is a 19th century melodrama play in English adapted from the 1853 French play La Priére des Naufragés (Prayer of the Wrecked) by Adolphe d'Ennery and Ferdinand Dugué. [1]
French debut
The French play under the title La Priére des Naufragés was first performed at the Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique and debuted on 20 October 1853.
Original Paris cast
- Carlss by Charles de Chilly
- Barabas by Laurent
- Raoul de Lascours by Delafosse
- Georges De Laval by M. Coste
- Horace de Brionne by C. Lemaitre
- Medoc by Machanette
- Un Secretaire d'Ambassade by Depresle
- Un Intendant by Martin
- Premier Matelot by Richer
- Deuxieme Metelot by Lavergne
- Louise de Descours by Marie Laurent
- Ogarita by Idem
- La Comtesse de Theringe by Mesanges
- Diane by Snadre
- Marthe, age 6 by De Brueil
English adaptations
In London, it debuted at the Adelphi Theatre under the title The Thirst for Gold, or the Lost Ship and the Wild Flower of Mexico on 4 December 1853, with Benjamin Nottingham Webster as Carlos. It ran to great success until June 1854, and had a running length of three and a half hours. The big draw was a scene where the mutineers of a ship strand the captain and his family on a sea of ice which then breaks up. [2] [3] However, because Webster had simply pirated the play from the French version, once this was exposed a number of copycat translations popped up. [2] One adaptation appeared at the Marylebone Theatre in London in 1854 under the title The Struggle for Gold: or, the Orphan of the Frozen Sea, which added a Danish vessel breaking up the sea ice to serve as a rescue ship. [4] Webster revived the play in 1874 under the title Prayer in the Storm where it ran for 143 performances (28 March - 11 September 1874), and featured Geneviève Ward. [5] [6]
Original Adelphi cast
- Captain De Lascours - Charles Selby
- Carlos - Benjamin Nottingham Webster
- Jean Medoc - Paul Bedford
- Pieree Pacome - R. Romer
- First Sailor - C.J. Smith
- Second Sailor - Mrs. Anders
- Barabas - Robert Keeley
- Louise de Lascours - Madame Céleste
- Marie, child - Miss Stroker
- Marquis del Monte - Benjamin Nottingham Webster
- Horace de Brionne - Mr. Garden
- Georges De Laval - Mr. Parselle
- Secretary to the Spanish Embassy - Mr. Hastings
- The Countess Theringe - Mrs. L. Murray
- Mdlle. Diana De Lascours - Miss F. Maskell
American adaptation
Laura Keene produced the play in America to success as The Sea of Ice. She brought on the play at her New York theatre on 5 November 1857, where it ran until 21 December, and it saved her company financially. [4] [7] President Abraham Lincoln and his wife attended a Keene performance of the play in Washington, D.C., on 8 February 1864. [8] [9]
Original Keene New York cast (5 November 1857)
- Henri De Lascours - Charles Wheatleigh
- Louise De Lascours - Laura Keene
- Carlos - George Jordan
- Medoc - C. Peters
- Pasquin - Burke
- Marie - Mary Bullock
- Horace - G. W. Stoddart
- Don Jose - Carlton Howard
- Mlle. Diane De Theringe - Charlotte Thompson
- Barbaras - Joseph Jefferson
- Jano - F. Evans
- Georges - T. Duncan
- Countess - Mary Wells
References
- ^ Holman, Andrew & Robert K. Kristofferson, eds. More of a Man: Diaries of a Scottish Craftsman in Mid-Nineteenth-Century , p. 672 n. 70 (2013)
- ^ a b Mattacks, Ken. Acts of Piracy: Black Ey'd Susan, Theatrical Publishing and the Victorian Stage, in Moore, Grace, ed., Pirates and Mutineers of the Nineteenth Century: Swashbucklers and Swindlers, pp. 133-34 (2011)
- ^ (10 December 1853). The Theatrical Examiner, The Examiner, p. 789
- ^ a b Brown, T. Allston. A History of the New York Stage from the First Performance in 1732 ..., Volume 2, pp. 128-29 (1902)
- ^ Royal Adelphi Theatre Seasonal Digest for 1873-1874, Ed. Frank McHugh & Gilbert Cross
- ^ (4 April 1874). Adelph Theatre, The Athenaeum
- ^ Fisher, James. Historical Dictionary of American Theater: Beginnings, p. xxxv (2015)
- ^ Epstein, Daniel Mark. The Lincolns: Portrait of a Marriage, pp. 419-20 (2008)
- ^ Keene entry at The Vault at Pfaffs (Lehigh University), Retrieved 15 December 2017 ("Her production of The Sea of Ice is thought to be the turning point in her fortune.")