| Collection | Calthrop Boucicault Collection |
| Description | 'The Poor of New York' was written in 1857, while Boucicault was in the United States and desperately in need of money. Closely based on Les Pauvres de Paris (1856) by Edouard-Louis-Alexandre Brisbarre and Eugene Nus, it was a collaboration between Boucicault and three journalists, Seymour, Goodrich, and Warden (although the bulk of the writing was done by Boucicault) and was first advertised as being "by the **** Club". Popular with 19th century audiences but derided by critics, it was a play which Boucicault himself admitted was "guano" rather than "poetry".
The Poor of New York was first performed at Wallack's Theatre, New York, in 1857. It was revived in 1864 in Liverpool, as The Poor of Liverpool, and then frequently adapted to the location where it was to be performed, becoming The Poor of Manchester or Leeds, and then The Streets of Islington, London, or Dublin.
Material for this play includes programmes, flyers, reviews, illustrations, cuttings and photographs. There is material from twelve productions of this play, from 1857 to 1992, in its various locations. |