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y separately published work icon Captain Swift : A Comedy Drama in Four Acts single work   drama   - Four acts
Issue Details: First known date: 1888... 1888 Captain Swift : A Comedy Drama in Four Acts
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

Contemporary reviews of Beerbohm Tree's production offer the following synopsis:

'[Its] story is mainly concerned with the proceedings of a certain lawless individual who, after a career of bush-ranging in Australia, obtains a footing in an English county family, becomes engaged to a charming girl, then, being wanted by the police, takes an unceremonious leave of his fine friends, and finally cuts short his career with a revolver.'

Source:

'Haymarket Theatre', The Times, 21 June 1888, p.7.

Adaptations

form y separately published work icon Captain Swift ( dir. Edgar Lewis ) United States of America (USA) : Life Photo Film Corp. , 1914 6435184 1914 single work film/TV crime
form y separately published work icon Captain Swift Lucien Hubbard , ( dir. Chester Bennett et. al. )agent United States of America (USA) : Vitagraph Company of America , 1920 6435265 1920 single work film/TV crime

Captain Swift, a bushranger, swaps identities with a man he finds dead in the Australian bush, and returns to England to begin a new life.
form y separately published work icon Captain Swift Sydney : ABC Radio , 1950 19693440 1950 single work radio play

'Michael Wilding, an Australian in London, is invited to the exclusive home of the Seabrooks. There his stories of the Australian outback interest some of the reserved English family, while others are suspicious of his background.

'There is good reason for this suspicion. Due to a whole tissue of coincidences—which it would be unfair to disclose —it soon appears that Michael Wilding may be no other than Captain Swift, a young Robin Hood-type bushranger who has recently disappeared from Australia. But by this time Michael is deeply involved with the Seabrook family.'

Source: 'The Week's Plays Over the ABC', ABC Weekly, 15 April 1950, p.26.

Notes

  • This is the only Chambers play with Australian content.

Production Details

  • First produced by Beerbohm Tree at the Haymarket Theatre, London, 20 June 1888. First United States production by A.M. Palmer at the Madison Square Theatre, New York, on 4 December 1888. First Australian production by Charles Warner's Royal Dramatic Company at the Theatre Royal, Sydney, 16 February 1889. Also produced at the Australian Theatre, Newtown, October 1973.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

First known date: 1888
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,      :       Samuel French ,       1902 .
      Extent: 69p.p.

      Holdings

      Held at: University of Sydney The University of Sydney Library
    • Sydney, New South Wales,: Will Andrade , ca. 1902 .
      Extent: 69p.
      Note/s:
      • Andrade's acting edition
      • This is the US edition with an Australian cover.

      Holdings

      Held at: University of Melbourne The University Library

      Holdings

      Held at: National Library of Australia
VIEW PUBLICATION DETAILS FOR ALL VERSIONS ()

Works about this Work

Haddon Chambers and the Long Arm of Neglect Roger Neill , 2008 single work autobiography
— Appears in: Quadrant , July-August vol. 52 no. 7-8 2008; (p. 77-85)
y separately published work icon Australia on the Popular Stage 1829-1929 Margaret Williams , Melbourne : Oxford University Press , 1983 Z922827 1983 selected work
Untitled O.K. , 1921 single work biography
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 7 April vol. 42 no. 2147 1921; (p. 36)
Theatre Royal : Captain Swift 1889 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 18 February 1889; (p. 6)
— Review of Captain Swift : A Comedy Drama in Four Acts C. Haddon Chambers , 1888 single work drama
Untitled 1889 single work review
— Appears in: The Brisbane Courier , 23 May 1889; (p. 4)
— Review of Captain Swift : A Comedy Drama in Four Acts C. Haddon Chambers , 1888 single work drama
Untitled 1889 single work review
— Appears in: The Brisbane Courier , 23 May 1889; (p. 4)
— Review of Captain Swift : A Comedy Drama in Four Acts C. Haddon Chambers , 1888 single work drama
Theatre Royal : Captain Swift 1889 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 18 February 1889; (p. 6)
— Review of Captain Swift : A Comedy Drama in Four Acts C. Haddon Chambers , 1888 single work drama
Haddon Chambers and the Long Arm of Neglect Roger Neill , 2008 single work autobiography
— Appears in: Quadrant , July-August vol. 52 no. 7-8 2008; (p. 77-85)
Untitled O.K. , 1921 single work biography
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 7 April vol. 42 no. 2147 1921; (p. 36)
y separately published work icon Australia on the Popular Stage 1829-1929 Margaret Williams , Melbourne : Oxford University Press , 1983 Z922827 1983 selected work
VIEW ALL WORKS ABOUT (5)
Last amended 13 Sep 2013 14:53:52
Subjects:
  • 1850-1899
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