''The Two Orphans'' (French:''Les Deux orphelines'') is a historical play by the French writers

Adolphe d'Ennery Adolphe Philippe d'Ennery or Dennery (17 June 181125 January 1899) was a French playwright and novelist. Life Born in Paris, his real surname was Philippe. He obtained his first success in collaboration with Charles Desnoyer in ''Émile, ou le ...

and

Eugène Cormon Pierre-Étienne Piestre, known as Eugène Cormon (5 May 1810 – March 1903), was a French dramatist and librettist. He used his mother's name, Cormon, during his career. Cormon wrote dramas, comedies and, from the 1840s, libretti; around 15 ...

. It premiered on 20 January 1874 at the

Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin The Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin is a venerable theatre and opera house at 18, Boulevard Saint-Martin in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. History It was first built very rapidly in 1781 under the direction of (1726–1810) to house th ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. A melodrama set during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

, it takes place in five acts.

In the United States

The play as translated by N. Hart Jackson into English debuted in the United States at A.M. Palmer's

Union Square Theatre Union Square Theatre was the name of two different theatres near Union Square, Manhattan, New York City. The first was a Broadway theatre that opened in 1870, was converted into a cinema in 1921 and closed in 1936.(8 October 1921)Two landmarks to ...

on December 21, 1874, played for 180 performances, and eventually proved to be one of most performed melodramas in the country for the next few decades. Odell's ''Annals of the New York Stage'' called it "one of the greatest theatrical successes of all time in America." Kate Claxton made her career in the role of Louise, and she later purchased the performance rights to the play and played it widely for years.Fisher, James
Historical Dictionary of American Theater: Beginnings
p. 436 (2015)Daly, Nichola
The Demographic Imagination and the Nineteenth-Century City
pp. 73-74 (2015)Beasley, David R
McKee Rankin and the Heyday of the American Theater
pp. 129-39 (2002) It was also the play being performed during the December 1876 Brooklyn Theatre fire that killed at least 278 people. The play was revived on Broadway in 1904 (56 performances) and 1926 (32 performances). It was also adapted to film at least four times during the silent film era starting in 1908.Notes to Journey Through the Impossible (Jules Verne)
pp. 163-64 (Prometheus Books 2003)

Original 1874 Broadway cast

* Kate Claxton as Louise * Kitty Blanchard as Henriette *

Rose Eytinge Rose Eytinge (November 21, 1835 – December 20, 1911) was a Jewish American actress and author. She is thought to be the first American actor to earn a three figure salary. Biography Eytinge was born November 21, 1835 in Philadelphia, ...

as Marianne * Charles R. Thorne Jr. as Chevalier DeVaudry * Ida Vernon as Sister Genevieve * Marie Wilkins as La Frochard

Adaptations

The play has been turned into many other works including an 1877 novel written by the same authors, an 1878 Portuguese opera,

D.W. Griffith David Wark Griffith (January 22, 1875 – July 23, 1948) was an American film director. Considered one of the most influential figures in the history of the motion picture, he pioneered many aspects of film editing and expanded the art of the na ...

's 1921 film ''

Orphans of the Storm ''Orphans of the Storm'' is a 1921 American silent drama film by D. W. Griffith set in late-18th-century France, before and during the French Revolution. The last Griffith film to feature both Lillian and Dorothy Gish, it was a commercial failu ...

'', and numerous other films.Klossner p.119

References

* Klossner, Michael. ''The Europe of 1500-1815 on Film and Television''. McFarland, 2002.

External links

* 1874 plays French plays adapted into films Plays set in France Plays set in the 18th century Plays set in the French Revolution Orphans in fiction {{1910s-play-stub