Dickens and the Revision of Wilkie Collins's The Storm at the Lighthouse: A Note

Dickens himself composed the needed lyrics,6 which increased the original manuscript to 13,634 words. however, no manuscript survives of the play as performed by Dickens, collins and Egg, which was retitled The Lighthouse. collins secured the professional premiere of The Lighthouse at the royal olym...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Dickensian 2015-04, Vol.111 (495), p.23
Main Author: Hanna, Robert C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
British & Irish literature
Collins, Wilkie (1824-1889)
Costumes
Diaries
Dickens, Charles (1812-1870)
Electroglottography
English literature
Johnson, Charles
Lighthouses
Reading
Theater
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Summary:Dickens himself composed the needed lyrics,6 which increased the original manuscript to 13,634 words. however, no manuscript survives of the play as performed by Dickens, collins and Egg, which was retitled The Lighthouse. collins secured the professional premiere of The Lighthouse at the royal olympic Theatre, with performances between 10 august and 21 november 1857.7 This necessitated the play's submission to the lord chamberlain's office for performance authorisation,8 resulting in the sole surviving copy that includes not only Dickens's song lyrics, but also his original prologue.9 The royal olympic Theatre text, therefore, is the closest approximation to that used in Dickens's amateur production, as the two other surviving manuscripts omit Dickens's additions and delete the scene in which Phoebe Dale sings.10 The lord chamberlain's copy of The Lighthouse contains 10,240 spoken and sung words.11 in comparison to The Storm at the Lighthouse, as adjusted above for the required lyrics, The Lighthouse had its word count lowered by a quarter.
ISSN:0012-2440