''Saratoga; or Pistols for Seven'' is an 1870 American comedic play by

Bronson Howard Bronson Crocker Howard (October 7, 1842 – August 4, 1908) was an American dramatist. Biography Howard was born in Detroit where his father Charles Howard was Mayor in 1849. He prepared for college at New Haven, Conn., but instead of ente ...

. It was Howard's first successful play, and the beginning of his long career as one of the foremost American playwrights of the 19th century.

History

Howard first submitted the play to

Laura Keene Laura Keene (20 July 1826 – 4 November 1873) was a British stage actress and theatre Actor-manager, manager. In her twenty-year career, she became known as the first powerful female manager in New York. She is best known for being the le ...

, who commended but declined it, and he then took it to

Augustin Daly John Augustin Daly (July 20, 1838 – June 7, 1899) was one of the most influential men in American theatre during his lifetime. Drama critic, theatre manager, playwright, and adapter, he became the first recognized stage director in America. He ...

who had taken over management of the Daly's Fifth Avenue Theatre.In Memoriam: Bronson Howard, 1842-1908
pp. 52-54 (1910) The play debuted on Wednesday, December 21, 1870.(22 December 1870)
Amusements (review)
''

New York Herald The ''New York Herald'' was a large-distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between 1835 and 1924. At that point it was acquired by its smaller rival the '' New-York Tribune'' to form the '' New York Herald Tribune''. Hi ...

'', p. 7, col. 1(21 December 1870)
Amusements
''New York Herald'', p. 11, col. 6.(22 December 1870
Saratoga at the Fifth Avenue Theater (brief review)
''New York Tribune'', p. 4, col. 6 (the Tribune only ran a short piece on the opening night performance, devoting most of its drama column to the New York debut of Isabella Glyn) It ran for 101 performances (a very successful run at the time) and closed on March 27, 1871.(23 March 1871)
Amusements
''New York Herald'' ''The Concise Oxford Companion to American Theatre'' calls ''Saratoga'' "one of the finest American 19th-century comedies."Bordman, Gerald & Thomas S. Hischak
The Concise Oxford Companion to American Theatre, 3d ed.
p. 548 (2004) It was also among the first American plays to become popular abroad. A version in England adapted by Francis Albert Marshall was called ''Brighton'' (after the English seaside resort town), and in Germany ''Seine erste und eiznige Liebe'' (His First and Only Love), adapted by Paul Lindau. ''Saratoga'' is considered important in the success of "American plays", arriving during an age when English and French plays were dominating playhouses. As one critic wrote in 1919, at the time of the play's debut, "the American drama--that is, plays written by Americans upon American subjects, giving faithful pictures of American life and manners--virtually did not exist."Hornblow, Arthur
A History of the Theatre In America
pp. 247-48 (1919)

Adaptations and revivals

The play was performed around the United States for many years after its successful Broadway run. Daly also put it on again at his theatre. The first publication of the play in 1874 lists both the original 1870 cast and the cast of Daly's January 1874 production. The play was re-published in 1898, and newspapers reflect it still saw some productions into the first decade of the 20th century.(30 April 1909)
Saratoga - Senior Class Play
''The Virginia Enterprise'' (''Saratoga'' was the senior class play at Virginia High School in

Virginia, Minnesota Virginia is a city in St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County, Minnesota, United States. With an economy heavily reliant on large-scale iron ore mining, Virginia is considered the Mesabi Iron Range's commercial center. The population was ...

in 1909) Its strong popularity in the 1870s is evidenced by examples such as it being chosen in 1875 to be the first play performed at

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

's new Euclid Avenue Opera House.Sandusky "einst und Jetzt"
p. 329 (1889) In 1874, Charles Wyndham debuted in the English adaptation of the play called ''Brighton'', and performed in it to great success for many years. Howard married Wyndham's sister in 1880.(6 August 1908)
Bronson Howard, Dramatist, Is Dead
''Detroit Times'' In December 1978, the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

performed the play at the

Aldwych Theatre The Aldwych Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Aldwych in the City of Westminster, central London. It was listed Grade II on 20 July 1971. Its seating capacity is 1,200 on three levels. History Origins The theatre was constructed in th ...

Saratoga, or Pistols for Seven
Theatricalia.com, retrieved 22 February 2021 In 1989, playwright

Terrence McNally Terrence McNally (November 3, 1938 – March 24, 2020) was an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. Described as "the bard of American theater" and "one of the greatest contemporary playwrights the theater world has yet produced," M ...

put on "Up In Saratoga", a complete rewrite based on the original and directed by Jack O'Brien, at the

Old Globe Theatre The Old Globe is a professional theatre company in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. It produces about 15 plays and musicals annually in summer and winter seasons. Plays are performed in three separate theatres in the complex, which is collec ...

in San Diego.Drake, Sylvie (11 March 1989)
Stage Review: 'Up in Saratoga'--A Good Idea Gone Wrong
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' It opened to negative reviews, and failed to make it to Broadway.Churnin, Nancy (29 November 1990)
2 McNally Play Explore the Imperative of Love
''

Original cast

* James Lewis as Bob Sackett * D.H. Harkins as Jack Benedict * William Davidge as Papa Vanderpool * David N. Whiting as Hon. William Carter * George DeVere as Remington pere * Arthur Mathison as Major Luddington Whist * George Parkes as Sir Mortimer Muttonleg * Fanny Davenport as Effie Remington * Linda Dietz as Virginia Vanderpool * Clara Morris as Lucy Carter * Mrs. Gilbert as Mrs. Vanderpool * Fanny Morant as Olivia Alston * Amy Ames as MuffinsClapp, John Bouve and Edwin Francis Edgett
Play of the Present
pp. 238-39 (1902)

References

External links

* {{IBDB show, 10624, Saratoga
Saratoga; Or, "Pistols for Seven"
1870 plays Plays by Bronson Howard