Part 1 (2/2)

There are numberless plays mentioned by Laurence Hutton in his ”Curiosities of the American Stage” which, though interesting as t.i.tles, have not been located as far as ma.n.u.scripts are concerned.

Barker's ”The Indian Princess” is one of the earliest that deal with the character of Pocahontas. The subject has been interestingly treated in an article by Mr. E. J. Streubel (_The Colonnade_, New York University, September, 1915).

Barker had originally intended his play, ”The Indian Princess,” to be a legitimate drama, instead of which, when it was first produced, it formed the libretto for the music by a man named John Bray, of the New Theatre.

In his letter to Dunlap, he says:

”'The Indian Princess,' in three acts ... begun some time before, was taken up in 1808, at the request of Bray, and worked up into an opera, the music to which he composed. It was first performed for his benefit on the 6th of April, 1808, to a crowded house; but Webster, particularly obnoxious, at that period, to a large party, having a part in it, a tremendous tumult took place, and it was scarcely heard. I was on the stage, and directed the curtain to be dropped. It has since been frequently acted in, I believe, all the theatres of the United States. A few years since, I observed, in an English magazine, a critique on a drama called 'Pocahontas; or, the Indian Princess,' produced at Drury Lane. From the sketch given, this piece differs essentially from mine in the plan and arrangement; and yet, according to the critic, they were indebted for this very stupid production 'to America, where it is a great favourite, and is to be found in all the printed collections of stock plays.' The copyright of the 'Indian Princess' was also given to Blake, and transferred to Longworth. It was printed in 1808 or 1809. George Was.h.i.+ngton Custis, of Arlington, has, I am told, written a drama on the same subject.”

An account of the riot is to be found in Durang's ”History of the Philadelphia Stage,” and the reader, in order to gain some knowledge of the popularity of ”The Indian Princess,” may likewise obtain interesting material in Manager Wood's ”Diary,” the ma.n.u.script of which is now in possession of the University of Pennsylvania. When the play was given in Philadelphia, the advertis.e.m.e.nt announced, ”The princ.i.p.al materials forming this dramatic trifle are extracted from the General History of Virginia, written by Captain Smith, and printed London, folio, 1624; and as close an adherence to historic truth has been preserved as dramatic rules would allow of.”

It was given its first New York production at the Park Theatre on June 14, 1808.

[Ill.u.s.tration:

THE

INDIAN PRINCESS

OR,

_LA BELLE SAUVAGE._

AN OPERATIC MELO-DRAME.

IN THREE ACTS.

PERFORMED AT THE THEATRES PHILADELPHIA AND BALTIMORE.

BY J. N. BARKER.

FIRST ACTED APRIL 6, 1808.

PHILADELPHIA.

PRINTED BY T. & G. PALMER,

FOR G. E. BLAKE, NO. 1, SOUTH THIRD-STREET.

1808.

FAC-SIMILE t.i.tLE-PAGE TO THE 1808 EDITION]

PREFACE

<script>