The Correct Identity of J. Halford, Dramatist and Actor

In the summer of 1854, when at the Princess's Theatre Charles Kean was triumphant as Mephistopheles in Faust and Marguerite, a burlesque play of the same title was staged at the Strand Theatre. The burlesque, A Grand Operatic Extravaganza, was a success. It was published in Thomas Hailes Lacy's Acting Edition of Victorian plays (volume 73) and its author, cited as John Halford, earned his place in the history of nineteenth-century drama.