The Sea of Ice is a 19th century melodrama play in English adapted from the 1853 French play La Priére des Naufragés (Prayer of the Wrecked) by Adolphe d'Ennery and Ferdinand Dugué.Holman, Andrew & Robert K. Kristofferson, eds. More of a Man: Diaries of a Scottish Craftsman in Mid-Nineteenth-Century , p. 672 n. 70 (2013)
French debut The French play under the title La Priére des Naufragés was first performed at the Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique and debuted on 20 October 1853.
Original Paris cast Carlss by Charles de Chilly Barabas by Laurent Raoul de Lascours by Delafosse Georges De Laval by M. Coste Horace de Brionne by C. Lemaitre Medoc by Machanette Un Secretaire d'Ambassade by Depresle Un Intendant by Martin Premier Matelot by Richer Deuxieme Metelot by Lavergne Louise de Descours by Marie Laurent Ogarita by Idem La Comtesse de Theringe by Mesanges Diane by Snadre Marthe, age 6 by De Brueil
English adaptations In London, it debuted at the Adelphi Theatre under the title The Thirst for Gold, or the Lost Ship and the Wild Flower of Mexico on 4 December 1853, with Benjamin Nottingham Webster as Carlos. It ran to great success until June 1854, and had a running length of three and a half hours. The big draw was a scene where the mutineers of a ship strand the captain and his family on a sea of ice which then breaks up.Mattacks, Ken. Acts of Piracy: Black Ey'd Susan, Theatrical Publishing and the Victorian Stage, in Moore, Grace, ed., Pirates and Mutineers of the Nineteenth Century: Swashbucklers and Swindlers, pp. 133-34 (2011)(10 December 1853). The Theatrical Examiner, The Examiner, p. 789 However, because Webster had simply pirated the play from the French version, once this was exposed a number of copycat translations popped up. One adaptation appeared at the Marylebone Theatre in London in 1854 under the title The Struggle for Gold: or, the Orphan of the Frozen Sea, which added a Danish vessel breaking up the sea ice to serve as a rescue ship.Brown, T. Allston. A History of the New York Stage from the First Performance in 1732 ..., Volume 2, pp. 128-29 (1902) Webster revived the play in 1874 under the title Prayer in the Storm where it ran for 143 performances (28 March - 11 September 1874), and featured Geneviève Ward.Royal Adelphi Theatre Seasonal Digest for 1873-1874, Ed. Frank McHugh & Gilbert Cross(4 April 1874). Adelph Theatre, The Athenaeum
Original Adelphi cast Captain De Lascours - Charles Selby Carlos - Benjamin Nottingham Webster Jean Medoc - Paul Bedford Pieree Pacome - R. Romer First Sailor - C.J. Smith Second Sailor - Mrs. Anders Barabas - Robert Keeley Louise de Lascours - Madame Céleste Marie, child - Miss Stroker Marquis del Monte - Benjamin Nottingham Webster Horace de Brionne - Mr. Garden Georges De Laval - Mr. Parselle Secretary to the Spanish Embassy - Mr. Hastings The Countess Theringe - Mrs. L. Murray Mdlle. Diana De Lascours - Miss F. Maskell
American adaptation Laura Keene produced the play in America to success as The Sea of Ice. She brought on the play at her New York theatre on 5 November 1857, where it ran until 21 December, and it saved her company financially.Fisher, James. Historical Dictionary of American Theater: Beginnings, p. xxxv (2015) President Abraham Lincoln and his wife attended a Keene performance of the play in Washington, D.C., on 8 February 1864.Epstein, Daniel Mark. The Lincolns: Portrait of a Marriage, pp. 419-20 (2008)Keene entry at The Vault at Pfaffs (Lehigh University), Retrieved 15 December 2017 ("Her production of The Sea of Ice is thought to be the turning point in her fortune.")
Original Keene New York cast (5 November 1857) Henri De Lascours - Charles Wheatleigh Louise De Lascours - Laura Keene Carlos - George Jordan Medoc - C. Peters Pasquin - Burke Marie - Mary Bullock Horace - G. W. Stoddart Don Jose - Carlton Howard Mlle. Diane De Theringe - Charlotte Thompson Barbaras - Joseph Jefferson Jano - F. Evans Georges - T. Duncan Countess - Mary Wells
References
External links Full text of play, English La Priére des Naufragés (1853) La Priére des Naufragés, Google books (1853) Illustration from December 1853 Illustrated London News