This article is about the English play. For other uses, see Black-eyed Susan.
Black-Eyed Susan; or, All in the Downs is a comic play in three acts by Douglas Jerrold. The story concerns a heroic sailor, William, who has been away from England for three years fighting in the Napoleonic Wars. Meanwhile, his wife, Susan, has fallen on hard times and is being harassed by her crooked landlord uncle. A smuggler named Hatchet offers to pay her debts because he wants her for himself; he tries to persuade her that William is dead. Soon after William returns to solve this problem, his drunken, dastardly captain tries to seduce Susan. William, not recognising his captain from behind, strikes him with his cutlass. He is court-martialled for attacking a senior officer and sentenced to be hanged. But it turns out that he had been discharged from the navy before he struck his captain, so all ends well. Much of the humour in the piece centers on the sailor's nautical dialect, combined with his noble character. The play is a nautical melodrama (with all its stock characters) that praises the patriotic British tar (sailor) while critiquing authoritarianism in the British Navy. Aspects of the story were later parodied in H.M.S. Pinafore (1878).[1]
Black-Eyed Susan on the bill of the Theatre Royal, Jersey, in December 1829
The play was Jerrold's first big success, premiering on 8 June 1829 at the Surrey Theatre[2] and running for a new record of over 150 performances.[3] Britain at the time was recovering from the fallout of the Napoleonic Wars and was in the midst of a class war involving the Corn laws, and a reform movement, which resulted in the Reform Act of 1832 aimed at reducing corruption. Black-Eyed Susan consisted of various extreme stereotypes representing the forces of good, evil, the innocent and the corrupt, the poor and the rich, woven into a serious plot with comic sub-plots. Its topical subject contributed to the play's enormous success. T. P. Cooke starred as William, the nautical hero, becoming a star, and the producer, Robert William Elliston, became rich. The piece played simultaneously at Covent Garden Theatre for part of the original run, and soon after it closed at the Surrey, it was revived at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, for a total run of over 300 nights, which was extraordinarily successful for the time.[4] After this, it was frequently revived.[5]
^Walbrook, H. M. (1922). "Chapter V: The Adventures of H.M.S. Pinafore". Gilbert & Sullivan Opera, A History and a Comment. London: F. V. White & Co. Ltd.
^"Dramatic Gossip", The Athenaeum: A Journal, 16 August 1884, p. 220.
External linksedit
Text of the play
December 20, 2023
black, eyed, susan, this, article, about, english, play, other, uses, black, eyed, susan, downs, comic, play, three, acts, douglas, jerrold, story, concerns, heroic, sailor, william, been, away, from, england, three, years, fighting, napoleonic, wars, meanwhil. This article is about the English play For other uses see Black eyed Susan Black Eyed Susan or All in the Downs is a comic play in three acts by Douglas Jerrold The story concerns a heroic sailor William who has been away from England for three years fighting in the Napoleonic Wars Meanwhile his wife Susan has fallen on hard times and is being harassed by her crooked landlord uncle A smuggler named Hatchet offers to pay her debts because he wants her for himself he tries to persuade her that William is dead Soon after William returns to solve this problem his drunken dastardly captain tries to seduce Susan William not recognising his captain from behind strikes him with his cutlass He is court martialled for attacking a senior officer and sentenced to be hanged But it turns out that he had been discharged from the navy before he struck his captain so all ends well Much of the humour in the piece centers on the sailor s nautical dialect combined with his noble character The play is a nautical melodrama with all its stock characters that praises the patriotic British tar sailor while critiquing authoritarianism in the British Navy Aspects of the story were later parodied in H M S Pinafore 1878 1 Black Eyed Susan on the bill of the Theatre Royal Jersey in December 1829The play was Jerrold s first big success premiering on 8 June 1829 at the Surrey Theatre 2 and running for a new record of over 150 performances 3 Britain at the time was recovering from the fallout of the Napoleonic Wars and was in the midst of a class war involving the Corn laws and a reform movement which resulted in the Reform Act of 1832 aimed at reducing corruption Black Eyed Susan consisted of various extreme stereotypes representing the forces of good evil the innocent and the corrupt the poor and the rich woven into a serious plot with comic sub plots Its topical subject contributed to the play s enormous success T P Cooke starred as William the nautical hero becoming a star and the producer Robert William Elliston became rich The piece played simultaneously at Covent Garden Theatre for part of the original run and soon after it closed at the Surrey it was revived at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane for a total run of over 300 nights which was extraordinarily successful for the time 4 After this it was frequently revived 5 The play was revived at the Warehouse Theatre in Croydon in 1986 and the same production played at the Playhouse Oxford in 1987 It was directed by Ted Craig and designed by Michael Pavelka The cast included Simon Slater Rita Wolf and Burt Caesar 6 The piece was given a 2007 revival at the Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds The play was made into a 1914 film directed by Maurice Elvey 7 Among the numerous Victorian burlesques and later parody versions of the play was an 1884 version by F C Burnand called Black Eyed See Usan first produced at the Alhambra Theatre 8 Characters editDoggrass a wealthy publican Gnatbrain a gardener and waterman Tom Hatchet a smuggler who covets Susan Jacob Twig a ploughboy turned bailiff Susan married to William and niece to Doggrass Dolly Mayflower a spinner in love with Gnatbrain William a sailor married to Susan Blue Peter a sailor Ploughshare a farm labourer Lieutenant Pike of William s ship Captain Robert Crosstree of William s ship The Admiral in charge of the court martial Master at Arms Country girls and sailorsReferences edit Walbrook H M 1922 Chapter V The Adventures of H M S Pinafore Gilbert amp Sullivan Opera A History and a Comment London F V White amp Co Ltd London Evening Standard 9 June 1829 p 1 Parker John ed 1925 Who s Who in the Theatre fifth ed London Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons OCLC 10013159 pp 1196 1197 Douglas Jerrold T P Cooke and Black Eyed Susan The New York Times 29 November 1885 p 11 Melville Lewis and Lewis Saul Benjamin Victorian Novelists p 59 London A Constable and Company limited 1906 Theatre programme Warehouse Theatre Croydon December 1986 Black Eyed Susan 1914 film Dramatic Gossip The Athenaeum A Journal 16 August 1884 p 220 External links editText of the play Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Black Eyed Susan amp oldid 1067742376, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
