The Fair Penitent

"Some of the more decent class of prisoners, male and female, having some time since obtained permission to prepare a playhouse at Sydney, it was opened on Saturday, January 16, 1796, under the management of John Sparrow, with the play of "The Revenge," and the entertainment of "The Hotel." The building cost upward of one hundred pounds. The names of the principal performers were: H. Green, Sparrow, William Folkes, G. H. Hughes, William Chapman, and Mrs Davies. Of the men Green best deserved to be called an actor. They had fitted up the house with more theatrical property than could have been expected, and their performance was far above contempt. Their motto was modest and well chosen. "We cannot command success, but will endeavor to deserve it." Of their dresses the greater part was made by themselves; but we understand that some veteran articles from the York Theatre were among the best that made their appearance.

At the licensing of this exhibition they were informed that the slightest impropriety would be noticed, and a repetition punished by the banishment of their company to the other settlements. There was, however, more danger of improprieties being committed by some of the audience than by the players themselves. A seat in their gallery which was by far the largest place in the house, as likely to be most resorted to was to be procured for one shilling.

"In the payment of this price for admission, one evil was observable, which in fact, could not be prevented; In lieu of a shilling, as much flour, or as much meat or spirits, us the manager would take for that sum, was often paid at the gallery door. It was feared that this, like gambling, would furnish another inducement to rob; and some of the worst of the convicts, ever on the watch for opportunities, looked on the playhouse as a certain harvest for them, not by picking the pockets of the audience of their purses or their watches, but by breaking into their houses while the whole family might be enjoying themselves in the gallery. This actually happened on the second night of their playing.

"In February the players, with a politic generosity, performed the play of the "Fair Penitent," with a farce, for the benefit of the family of a soldier who was accidentally drowned. The house was full, and it was said that they got upward of twelve pounds by the night."