Boucicault's Dramatic Works, 1838-1885
Although he divided his time (and his productions) between New York City and London, many of his plays were first produced in the English capital at twelve theatres: The Princess's (9), The Adelphi (7), The Haymarket (5), Drury Lane (4), Covent Garden (3), The Gaiety (2), St. James's (2), The Westminster (1), The Lyceum (1), Astley's (1), The Holborn (1), and The Olympia (1). This list is not exhaustive, but rather covers only those plays listed by Frances-Jane French and the Boucicault website maintained by The Princess Grace Irish Library, Monaco; doubtless many of his 200 dramatic works that were "adaptations from the French" are not in either list.
1838 A Legend of the Devil's Dyke, produced in Brighton; published by John Dicks, London, c. 1898.
1841 London Assurance, edited by Charles Mathews and Madame Vestris; produced at London's Covent Garden 4 March; published by J. Andrews, London, 1841.
1842 An Irish Heiress; or, East End, produced at London's Covent Garden in February; published by J. Andrews, London, 1842.
1842 A Lover by Proxyproduced in London; published in Webster's Acting National Drama, No. 102, London, 1842.
1842 The Bastile [sic] produced in December as an "afterpiece" at the Haymarket, London. Also published in this year was Curiosities of Literature.
1843 Alma Mater; or, A Cure for Coquettes produced in London 19 September 1843; published in Webster's Acting National Drama, No. 105, London, 1843.
1843 The Old Guardproduced in London; published by J. Douglas, New York, 184? [actually a revision of Napoleon's Old Guard, first produced in Brentford, 1838.]
1844 Used Up produced in London; published in Webster's Acting National Drama, No. 15. It is, in fact, a collaborative adaptation (with Charles James Mathews) of L'homme blasé by Augustin-Théodore de Lauzanne de Vaux Roussel and Félix Auguste Duvert (Paris, 1843).
1844 Old Heads and Young Heartsproduced in London at The Haymarket Theatre 18 November; published in Webster's Acting National Drama, No. 130.
1844 Don Caesar de Bazan, or Love and Honour.
1844 The Fox and the Goose, or the Widow's Husband.
1845 The Soldier of Fortune; or, The Irish Settler produced on 6 February.
1845 Peg Woffington; or, The State Secret produced in June; published in Dicks Standard Plays, No. 1,064 (London: John Dicks, 1907?).
1846 The Wonderful Water Cure.
1847 The School for Scheming (also called Love and Money) produced in London at The Haymarket Theatre 4 February; published in Webster's Acting National Drama, No. 140.
1848 Confidence produced in London at The Haymarket Theatre 2 May.
1848 The Knight of Arva produced in London at The Haymarket Theatre 22 November.
1851 A Romance in the Life of Sextus the Fifth entitled "The Broken Vow" (later called The Pope of Rome; or, Sixtus the Fifth; actually an adaptation of L'Abbaye de Castro by Prosper Goubaux and Gustave Lemoine, Paris, 1840); French's Standard Drama, No. 227.
1851 Love Maze produced in London; published by Hailes Lacy (London, 1851).
1851 The Queen of Spades; or, The Gambler's Secret (also called The Dame of Spades) produced in London at The Drury Lane Theatre in April; published in Webster's Acting National Drama, No. 140.
1851 Pauline produced in London, an adaptation of Alexander Dumas' Pauline; or, Buried Alive; published in Lacy's Acting Edition, No. 61 (London: T. H. Lacy, 1851).
1851 The Broken Vow produced in London at The Olympia Theatre 1 February.
1852 The Corsican Brothers; or, The Vendetta was produced at London's Princess's Theatre; an adaptation of the senior Alexander Dumas's Les Frères Corses; published by J. K. Chapman (London, 1852); n. b., Lacy's Acting edition, No. 6 is a straight translation from the French, not a text of Boucicault's play.
1852 La Dame de Pique; or, The Vampire: A Phantasm Related in Three Dramas (also called The Phantom) produced in London at The Princess's Theatre 14 June; published in French's Standard Drama, No. 165 (New York, 1856).
1852 The Prima Donnaproduced in London at The Princess's Theatre 18 September; published by Samuel French (London, 1852) and in Lacy's Acting Edition, No. 106 (London, 1852).
1853 Genevieve; or, The Reign of Terror produced in London at The Adelphi Theatre in June.
1853 The Fox-Hunt, or Don Quixot the Second produced at Burton's Theatre in New York City 23 Nov. 1853 (afterwards simply called The Fox-chase.
1854 Andy Blake; or, The Irish Diamond (afterwards called The Dublin Boy) was produced in Boston; published in French's Standard Drama, No. 266 (New York, 1856).
1854 Faust and Marguerite was produced in London; the authorship of this adaptation from the French play by Michel Carré (Paris, 1849) is still in question, since there is a case for the English version being a translation by Tom Robertson. It was published in Lacy's acting Edition, No. 213 (T. H. Lacy, London, 1850) and in French's Standard Drama, No. 279 (Samuel French, New York, 185?).
1855 Louis XI was produced at London's Princess's Theatre, an adaptation of a French play of the same title by Jean François Delavigne (Paris, 1832). Boucicault's translation was published privately by John K. Chapman (London, 1855).
1855 The Life of an Actress (also entitled Grimaldi; or, Scenes in the Life of an Actress and Grimaldi) was produced in Cincinnati, Ohio, and subsequently at London's Adelphi Theatre on 1 March 1862; it was published in French's Standard Drama, No. 159, and in Dicks Standard Plays, No. 440 (London: John Dicks, 1886).
1855 Eugenie produced in London at The Drury Lane Theatre 1 January.
1855 Janet Pride produced in London at The Adelphi Theatre 5 February.
1856 The Willow Copse produced in Boston.
1856 Blue Belle.
1857 The Poor of New York (produced subsequently under many titles, including The Poor of Liverpool and The Poor of London) was first staged in New York City, and subsequently in Liverpool (1864), London (1857), Philadelphia, and Dublin. It was actually an adaptation of Eugène Nus and Édouard Brisebarre's Les Pauvres de Paris (Paris, 1856). Boucicault's version was published in French's Standard Drama, No. 189 (New York: Samuel French, 1857) and in Dicks Standard Plays, No. 381 (London: John Dicks, 1883).
1857? Wanted a Widow, with Immediate Possession.
1857 George Darville. produced in London at The Adelphi Theatre 3 June.
1858 Jessie Brown; or, The Relief of Lucknow was produced at London's Astley's Theatre in 1862, although produced four years earlier in New York. Published in New York by Samuel French in 1858, the play tells the story of an incident in the Sepoy Rebellion in India; also published in Lacy's Acting Edition, Vol. V, No. 10 (London: T. H. Lacy, 1858).
1858 Pauvrette, also called The Snow Flower published in New York.
1859 The Octoroon; or, Life in Louisiana produced in New York at The Winter Garden Theatre in December 1859, and in London at The Adelphi Theatre 18 November 1861; it was published in French's Acting Edition, No. 962 (London: Samuel French, 1859) and Lacy's Acting Acting Edition, No. 963 (London: T. H. Lacy, 1861).
1859 Dot, an adaptation of Charles Dickens's The Cricket on the Hearth (December 1845) produced in London at The Princess's Theatre 14 April 1862; although the holographic manuscript is still available in the Lord Chamberlain's Collection of The British Library, it has yet to be published.
1860 The Colleen Bawn [The Fair-Haired Girl]; or, The Brides of Garryowen produced in New York and in London at The Adelphi Theatre 18 November. It is based on Gerald Griffin's novel The Collegians (London: Saunders and Otley, 1829), three volumes. It was published in French's Standard Drama, No. 366, and in Lacy's Acting Edition, No. 932.
1862 The Lily of Killarney was a grand opera with libretto by John Oxenford and Dion Boucicault, with music by Sir Julius Benedict (overture and 22 songs); it was produced in London, and subsequently published by Boosey & Co. (London and New York, 187?).
1863 The Trial of Effie Deans an adaptation of Sir Walter Scott's The Heart of Midlothian produced in London at The Westminster Theatre 26 January.
1864 Arrah-na-Pogue [Arrah of the Kiss]; or, The Wickling Widow was produced in Dublin at The Theatre Royal 5 November; it was published in Sergel's Acting Drama, No. 365 (Chicago: Dramatic Publishing, 1865).
1866 Rip Van Winkle; or, The sleep of Twenty Years was produced in London in 1865; it is an adaptation by American comic Joseph Jefferson in collaboration with Boucicault of the short story by Washington Irving. It was published by French's (New York, 1866) in The Acting Edition, No. 174, and in Toronto, Ontario, by S. N. Morang & Co. with an introduction by Joseph Jefferson.
1866 The Long Strike was produced in New York City, and in London at The Lyceum Theatre in September; it is actually a synthesis of two stories by Elizabeth Gaskell, Mary Barton: A Tale of Manchester Life and Lizzie Leigh: A Domestic Tale. It was published by French's (New York, 1866) and in French's Standard Drama, No. 360 (London, 1871).
1866 The Flying Scud; or, A Four-Legged Fortunewas produced in London at The Holborn Theatre 6 October.
1866 The Parish Clerk was produced in Manchester in May.
1866 Hunted Down was produced in London at The St. James's Theatre in November.
1868 After Dark: A Tale of London Life was produced in London at The Princess's Theatre 12 August. An authorised adaptation of the French play Les Bohemiens de Paris by Eugène Grange and Adolphe d'Ennery, it was published by De Witt's (New York, 1868) and in French's Standard Drama, No. 360 (London, 1871).
1868 How She Loves Him published in London. Also published in this year Foul Play, a novel written with Charles Reade.
1869 Formosa, The Most Beautiful; or, The Railroad to Ruin was produced in London at The Drury Lane Theatre August. See Sergel's Acting Drama and the Dramatic Publishing edition (Chicago, 1869).
1869 Presumptive Evidence was produced in London at The Princess's Theatre in May;
1870 The Rapparee; or, The Treaty of Limerick was produced at London's Princess's Theatre; see De Witt's Acting Plays (New York, 1882).
1870 Paul Lafarge was produced at London's Princess's Theatre.
1870 A Dark Night's Work was produced in London at The Princess's Theatre.
1870 Jezebel; or, The Dead Reckoning produced in London at The Holborn Theatre in December; see De Witt's Acting Plays (New York, 1870).
1871 Night and Morning produced in Manchester in 1871, and at London's Gaiety Theatre in 1872; see Sergel's Acting Drama, No. 370, and a version published by Dramatic Publishing (Chicago), 1871.
1872 Babil and Bijou; or, The Lost Regalia was produced in London as "A Grand Fairy Spectacular Opera" written in conjunction with James Robinson Planché; with new lyrics by Frank W. Smith and music composed by Georges Jacobi; it was produced in London in 1882 and subsequently printed by J. Miles (London), 1882.
1873 Daddy O'Dowd; or, The Turn About is Fair Play was produced in New York City in 1873; revised as The O'Dowd; or, Life in Galway it was dramatised at London's Adelphi Theatre in 1880; revised again as Suil-a-Mor; or, Life in Galway it was published by Samuel French in London, 1909.
1873 Led Astray was produced in New York City in 1873, and at London's Gaiety Theatre in June 1874; it was published by Samuel French (NY) in 1873, and in French's Acting Edition of Plays, No. 1834.
1874 The Shaughraun produced in New York City in 1874, and in London at The Drury Lane Theatre 4 September 1875; it was published in French's Acting Edition of Plays, No. 1834 (New York: French, 1875).
1878 Forbidden Fruit was produced in New York in 1878; although privately printed beforehand (1876), it was regularly published long after Boucicault's death by Allardyce Nicoll and F. Theodore Cloak in Forbidden Fruit and Other Plays (Princeton, NJ: Princeton U. P., 1940).
1884 Robert Emmet was produced in Greenwich, England, in 1884, and published by Samuel French (New York) and in the Standard Acting Drama, No. 295.
1881 The Story of Ireland published in Boston.
1885 The Jilt was produced in San Francisco in 1885, and published in London and New York in 1904; see French's Acting Edition, No. 2266.
1932 Belle Lamar, revised as Finn MacCool of Skibbereen in Plays for College Theatre, ed. Garrett H. Leverton (New York: Samuel French).
1974 Lost at Sea; or, a London Story in Michael Kilgarrif, ed., The Golden Age of Melodrama (London).
Undated Elfie; or, The Cherry Tree Inn, published in Chicago.
Bibliography
French, Frances-Jane. "A Selected Checklist." Boucicault, Dion. Selected Plays, ed. Andrew Parkin. Irish Drama Selections, 4. Washington, D. C.: The Catholic Press of America, 1987. Pp. 399-406.
"Dion Boucicault: Sensation and Melodrama." http://www.btinternet.com/~torichard/victorianplays/Boucicault1.htm
"Dion Boucicault: Life, Works, Criticism, Commentary, Quotations, References, Notes." http://www.pgil-eirdata.org/html/pgil_datasets/authors/b/Boucicault,D/life.h tm Princess Grace Irish Library (Monaco): 2001.
Kilgarrif, Michael, ed. The Golden Age of Melodrama. London 1974.
Last modified 17 December 2002