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Eighth of January, The
Eighth of January, The (1829), a play by Robert Penn Smith. [Chestnut Street Theatre (Philadelphia), in repertory.] The War of 1812 has divided the Bull family. John Bull ( William Warren), its aging patriarch, remains loyal to England, although he refuses to take an active part in the battle. His son Charles ( Mr. Southwell) is a loyal American and willing to lay down his life for his country and for General Jackson ( Mr. Rowbotham). Jackson fights the battle of New Orleans on January 8, unaware a peace treaty has been signed. A lovable Cockney, Billy Bowbell (the first Joseph Jefferson), wanders in and out of the play. One of the few plays written about the war, it was inferior as drama to the best play about the conflict, The Triumph at Plattsburg. Indeed, the United States Gazette complained of its “peculiarly undramatic nature.” Actually, however, it was hastily written to celebrate Jackson's 1828 election. For all its faults, the Gazette welcomed it as “uncommonly interesting,” especially in that it “displays effectually more variety of humor than the generality of pieces in which national peculiarities are harped upon.”
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Cite this article
Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Eighth of January, The." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Eighth of January, The." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-EighthofJanuaryThe.html Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Eighth of January, The." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-EighthofJanuaryThe.html |
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Eighth of January, The
Eighth of January, The, play by R.P. Smith, produced and published in 1829. It contrasts the loyal American soldier Charles Bull with his father, John Bull, an Englishman who will fight against neither his native nor his adopted country, and centers on Jackson's victory at New Orleans (Jan. 18, 1815). It celebrates the success of popular government by Jackson's election (1828). G.W.P. Custis wrote a play with the same title (1834).
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Cite this article
James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Eighth of January, The." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Eighth of January, The." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-EighthofJanuaryThe.html James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Eighth of January, The." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-EighthofJanuaryThe.html |
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