The Peddler's Opera

In the late 1790s, John Bernard, a London stage actor, toured the new United States and wrote down his experiences which went on to be published posthumously as Retrospections of America. Bernard recorded a story about a Yankee Peddler, who hoodwinked a town into believing crockery carried the infection during the Yellow Fever outbreak. However, his wooden wares were known to be safe from spreading the infection. Told in the traditional ballad opera form as used in The Beggar’s Opera, the Peddler’s Opera serves as a hilarious morality play to show the downfalls of profiting off a tragedy. Approximately 20 minutes.