The Three and the Deuce is a 1795 English afterpiece with libretto by Prince Hoare and music by Stephen Storace.The Three and the Deuce! (1806) (Google books)
It was first performed at the Theatre Royal Haymarket on 2 September 1795.London Stage Database(July 1807). Prince Hoare, Esq., The Cabinet, p. 291 It was later revived at Drury Lane,(November 1808). The London Theatres, The Cabinet, p. 354 ("The Three and the Deuce, which followed it, is another instance of it. It has been twice damned; on its original representation at the Haymarket, and afterwards on its revival at Drury-Lane; and now it is received with reiterated shouts of praise.") and "with great success" by Robert William Elliston. The piece was first printed in 1806.Biographa Dramatica, Vol. III, p. 333 (1812) Some sources suggest it was originally not very popular but grew into a very favorably received piece.Encyclopedia Britannica, Volume 22, p. 605 (1891).(August 1805)Memoranda Dramatica, The Monthly Mirror, p. 130 ("another performance which could scarcely obtain an audience at this house when first produced, and afterwards in vain attempted to establish itself at Drury-Lane, has also become a special favourite")
The piece was known for having one actor play three different roles, the three "Singles". One song in the piece. "Little Taffline", is referenced in the Dickens' novel David Copperfield.David Copperfield, p. 897 n. 411 (Oxford University Press Ed. 2008 reissue)
The Memoirs of John Bannister published in 1839, provide this summary of the play:Adolphus, John. Memoirs of John Bannister, Vol. 1, p. 356 (1839) Toward the close of the season, (2nd September,) "The Three and the Deuce," a new comedy by Prince Hoare, called forth Bannister's versatile powers. The author has placed in the same inn at Cheltenham three brothers, Pertinax, Peregrine, and Percival Single, not less alike than the Menaechmi of Plautus, or the Antipholises of Shakspeare, but very different in their propensities. Pertinax is studious, grave, sententious; Peregrine volatile, active, enterprising; while poor Percival, a mere idiot, is only permitted to leave home under the protection of an Irish tutor (God save the mark!) named Mac Floggum. Bannister played the three brothers, and preserved, with admirable fidelity, their separate identity. The mistakes and confusion which arise from each being seen separately, and mistaken for one of the others, form an amusing, and sometimes interesting entanglement. Grizzle, a servant of Pertinax, is driven almost beyond his senses at the unexpected sallies of his master; and, at last, Percival is rescued from the stern dominion of Mac Floggum, to undergo a more gentle captivity with Taffline, an interesting little Welsh girl, admirably played by Mrs. Bland. The piece was very favourably received; and Bannister, and, after him, Elliston, acquired great applause in the three Singles.
The story was said in contemporary British sources to directly derive from the Spanish comedy Los Tres Mellizos popular in Madrid, though remodeled and made English by Hoare.1831 printing, p. 3 Italian playwright Antonio Collalto wrote Tre gemelli veneziani (Three Venetian Twins) in 1773, which was inspired by The Venetian Twins (1747) by Carlo Goldoni, but to which the twins were made into triplets.,MATTIUZZI, Antonio, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (2008) (in Italian) The Collalto play was translated into French by P.-A. Lefèvre de Marcouville as Les Trois Jumeaux Vénitiens, and the Spanish translation upon which Hoare is said to have relied was Los Tres Mellizos.
Original 1795 Haymarket cast Mr. Milford by Mr. Benson Justice Touchit by Mr. Suett Pertinax Single / Peregrine Single / Percival Single by John Bannister Mac Floggan by Mr. Johnstone Humphrey Grizzle by Mr. Fawcett Frank by Mr. Wathen Renard by Mr. Caulfied Freeman by Mr. Bannister Pinch by Mr. Cross Tippy by Mr. Ledger Cramp by Mr. Abbot Gregory by Mr. Evans Emily by Mrs. Gibbs Phoebe by Miss Leak Taffline by Mrs. Bland
References
External links 1806 printing 1831 printing