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''"/' r- ■35'^ . 2o /^

Tk gift of

John Craig

Bjgi: HARVARD COLLEGE LI BRARY3!fc^

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A SHORT ^HISTORY OF
THE ENGLISH STAGE^

FROM ITS BEGINNINGS TO THE
SUMMER OF THE YEAR 1908

BY
R FARQUHARSON SHARP

THE WALTER SCOTT PUBLISHING
CO., LTD., London and Felling-on-Tyne.
New York: 3 East Fourteenth Street. 1909.

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PREFACE.

In the following pages an attempt has been made to
give, within a reasonable compass, a Connected history
of the development of the English theatre from the
days of Miracle Plays to the present time. This is, of
course, necessarily involved with the history of the
English drama; but I have as far as possible dealt
with the drama only as incidental to my subject, which
is the history of English theatres and English acting.

The compiler of such a book must of necessity be
under heavy obligations to previous workers in the
same field. I acknowledge gratefully my large in-
debtedness to Genest, Doran, Fleay, Fitzgerald, Barton
Baker, and the numerous authors of monographs on
individual theatres or actors. For much of the matter
contained in my opening chapter I am indebted to
A. W. Pollard's valuable introduction to his edition of
English Miracle Plays.

In dealing with so large a subject in a comparatively
small space, it is obviously impossible to be exhaustive.
I have omitted mention of obscure and extinct theatres
whose history has no special bearing on that of the
stage, and similar considerations will explain why
Grand Opera and the Variety Theatres have seemed
to me to be outside the scope of the present volume.

R. F. S.

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CONTENTS.

CHAP. PACK

I. THE ORIGIN OF THE THEATRE IN ENGLAND:

MIRACLE PLAYS AND MORALITIES - - I

II. THE TRANSITION - - - - - lO

IIL THE FIRST THEATRES - - - - l6

IV. THE THEATRE AND THE PURITANS - - 28

V. THE THEATRES OF THE RESTORATION - - 34

VL THE UNION OF THE THEATRES, AND AFTER - 44

JVIL FROM THE DRURY LANE "TRIUMVIRATE" TO

GARRICK - - - - - - 56

VIIL THE GARRICK PERIOD - - - - 71

IX. FROM SHERIDAN TO THE KEMBLES - - 85

X. THE KEMBLES AND KEAN - - - - 105

XL THE MACREADY AND PHELPS ERA - - 1 29

XIL HENRY IRVING AND ELLEN TERRY: THE LYCEUM 161

XIIL THE BANCROFTS AND THEIR SUCCESSORS - 1 87

XIV. THE KENDALS, JOHN HARE, AND THEIR SUC-
CESSORS - - - - - - 201

XV. OTHER THEATRES CONCERNED WITH COMEDY

AND FARCE - - - - - 213

XVL MELODRAMA, ROMANTIC AND DOMESTIC DRAMA 236

XVIL MODERN BURLESQUE, COMIC OPERA, AND MUSICAL

COMEDY - - - - - - 255

XVIII. SOME PROVINCIAL ENGLISH THEATRES - - 277

XIX. THE SCOTTISH STAGE - - -293

XX. THE DUBLIN THEATRES - - - - 3^0

INDEX - - - - - - 319

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A SHORT HISTORY OF THE
ENGLISH STAGE.

CHAPTER I.

THE ORIGIN OF THE THEATRE IN ENGLAND I MIRACLE
PLAYS AND MORALITIES.

The history of dramatic representations in England
beg'ins (so far as we have any record of them) about
eight hundred years ago. They were originally entirely
religious in character ; crude plays, dealing with
biblical events or incidents drawn from the legendary
lives of the Saints, and performed by the clergy.
Their aim was obviously didactic. An appeal to the
imagination through the eyes was the most effective
method of instruction for an illiterate common-folk;
and these ** Miracle Plays" or " Mysteries," with their
subsequent developments, afford an early example of
the wisdom of tempering instruction with amusement
to render it palatable to simple minds. In the eleventh
century such plays were already popular in France,
whence came the earliest of which we have any record
in England. This play, which dealt with the life of
Saint Katharine, was given at Dunstable under the
direction of a certain Geoffrey, who had come from
France to take charge of the Abbey School at St.
Albans, where he afterwards became Abbot. Indeed,

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2 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

according to tradition, his adoption of the monastic
life was a direct result of this performance, to which an
untimely end was put by a fire amongst certain of the
** properties ** which he had borrowed from the St.
Albans sacristy. The mishap is said to have so
weighed upon him that in consequence he renounced
the world and entered the Abbey as a monk.

The Miracle Plays were at first, and for long, per-
formed by the clergy and choristers, — originally within
the churches, and then, as their popularity grew, in the
churchyards and church precincts, which were in their
turn abandoned in favour of open spaces in the towns.
As a natural result the performances gradually lost
their exclusively ecclesiastical character. Secular
scenes were tacked on to the scriptural plots ; the
"craftsmen" of the towns, and even strolling jugglers
and entertainers, were included among the actors ; and
eventually the ecclesiastical authorities recognized the
unsuitability of the clergy's any longer taking part in
the performances. This was forbidden by a Papal Bull
early in the thirteenth century, though the plays long
retained a semi-religious character. The acting of
them passed by degrees entirely into the hands of the
various ** crafts" or trade guilds, and there was
evolved a regular system for the due provision of
their representation.

Some three hundred years later than Geoffrey's day.
Archdeacon Rogers wrote an account, often cited, of
such performances at Chester, and it may be taken as
a representative description of the Miracle Play at its
fullest development.

** Every company," he says, **had its pagiant [the
erection which formed the stage was known as the
** pageant"], or parte, which pagiants were a high
scafolde with two rowmes [rooms], a higher and a

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ORIGIN OF THE THEATRE IN ENGLAND. 3

lower, upon four wheeles. In the lower they apparelled
themselves, and in the higher rowme they played, beinge
all open on the tope, that all beholders mighte heare
and see them. The places where they played them was
in every streete. They begane first at the Abay gates,
and when the firste pagiante was played it was wheeled
to the high crosse before the mayor, and so to every
streete ; and soe every streete had a pagiant playinge
before them at one time, till all the pagiantes for the
daye appoynted weare played : and when one pagiante
was neare ended, worde was broughte from streete to
streete, that soe they mighte come in place thereof
excedinge orderlye, and all the streetes have theire
pagiantes afore them all at one time playeinge together;
to see which players was great resorte, and also
scafoldes and stages made in the streetes in those places
where they determined to playe theire pagiantes."

When the direction of the performances passed from
the hands of the clergy into those of the guilds, their
organization became definite. The members of the
guilds contributed a yearly rate, known as the Pageant
Silver, to defray expenses; "foreigners** (non-members
of guilds) who took part paying twice as much as
members. This rate, it may be observed, continued to
be levied for many years after the Miracle Plays ceased
to be performed in this manner. The prototype of the
modern theatrical manager is to be found in the
** Pageant Master," who was elected from among the
craftsmen to direct the proceedings. The plays were
prepared with the utmost care, and their representation
considered an event of great moment.

From extant accounts of the expenses incurred in
performances of this kind at Coventry, many interesting
details can be gleaned. The **book of the play" was
often a traditional one, which would be reviiSed accord-

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4 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

ing to circumstances and enriched with topical allusions
of a comic nature, for such passages speedily found a
place in the plays as they became secularized in the
handling. Sometimes a fresh play was demanded, as
was the case on record at Coventry when T?ie Destruc-
Hon of Jerusalem was performed, and the sum of
;^I3 6s. 8d. was paid **to Mr. Smythe of Oxford for
his pains for writing of the tragedy." The actors were
carefully chosen, either by the Masters of the Guild or
the Town Council, for their **personne, connynge, or
voice," and a prompter appointed and instructed. The
actors were provided with food and drink during re-
hearsals, as appears from the Coventry accounts, where
** Brede," **Ale," ** Vynegre," **Wyne," and "Kechyne"
(which included such items as ** A Rybbe of Befe," or a
**Gose") are provided for. The rib of beef and the
goose together cost only sixpence, however, and ale
was twopence a gallon.

The pay of the actors varied with the length and
importance of their parts, and possibly with the reputa-
tion of the individual actor. Thus at Coventry the
impersonator of Pilate received four shillings, that of
Herod (always an exhausting part, for he was habitually
represented as in a constant rage) three shillings and
fourpence, those of God and Pilate's Wife each two
shillings ; Caiaphas, three shillings and fourpence ; the
Devil and Judas, eighteen pence; Peter and Malchus,
sixteen pence. The last two items probably imply the
** doubling" of parts by one actor, and as a rule there
was a proviso that no actor should undertake more than
two parts. Occasionally the guilds contracted with
some one person to provide and direct the whole per-
formance for a fixed sum.

The movable stage (the **pagiant" of Archdeacon
Roger's account) was a solid and substantial structure,

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ORIGIN OF THE THEATRE IN ENGLAND. 5

as indeed was necessary, seeing that it had to be
wheeled, with the performers and their accessories,
over the ill-paved streets of the day. Usually it con-
sisted of two stories ; the upper, which formed the
stage, was open on three sides and had its floor strewn
with rushes ; the lower, which served as the actor's
dressing-room, was closed in with curtains. Occasion-
ally, as is inferred from the nature of the scenes
represented, there were three stories, the two upper
being used in the representation. Trapdoors in the
floor served for the appearance of demons and the like,
as in the modern stage.

Care was taken for the due preservation and
decoration of the " pageant." In the Coventry accounts
such items of expense appear as the ** reparacion of
the pagiant," " burneysshing and paynting," and **new
wheles" for the same; also "sope," **talowe," and
** gresse " for the ** wheles."

Five shillings a year, we learn, was paid by the
Coventry guilds for the housing of their ** pageants"
when not in use. The fact of the stage being open to
the air on three sides prevented much attempt at
theatrical machinery ; but there were used such erections
as a ** practicable" Ark for the flood scenes, a ** Stable
at Bethlehem," ** Herod's Palace," or the ** Temple at
Jerusalem." Tapestries were hung at the back for the
purpose of scenery ; ** halfe a yarde of Rede Sea " is one
item recorded.

Primitive ** stage effects" were attempted, as we see
from mention of a " baryll for the yerthequake"
(doubtless to produce an alarming noise by having
weights rolled about inside it), ^'starche to make the
storm," and the like. The final destruction of the
world by fire was represented by the setting on fire of
painted globes; ** making and paynting three worldys"

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6 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

appears as an item in the expenses, also pay ''for
setting the world on fire." Hell's Mouth was a
favourite theatrical ** property," and the possession of a
really alarming Hell's Mouth (represented as the gaping
jaws of a hideous monster, with fangs and steel eyes,
into and out of whose maw devils and their victims
leapt and were thrust) was much esteemed. Contem-
porary prints show several examples of these.

In dressing their parts the actors to some extent
attained a rude appropriateness. The demons were
always attired in suitably repulsive fashion, and wore
masks, while the performer who represented God wore
a white coat and had his face gilt. Saints wore
white coats and gilt hair, Angels in addition wearing
gilt wings. Adam and Eve were clothed in fleshings ;
Christ wore a sheepskin ; Herod was dressed as a Turk,
and represented as always in a passion, Shakespeare's
"to out-Herod Herod" being an echo of this practice;
the Devil wore a coat and hose of rough hairy stuff,
horns, a tail, and a red beard, and carried (as became
the low-comedian of the cast) a leather club stuffed with
wool, to assist him in his extravagant buffooneries.

The open street was sometimes needed as an annexe
to the stage itself. Such characters as Balaam or the
Magi had to appear riding, and we find such stage
directions as that " Saul rydyth forth with hys servants
about the place," or ** Here Erode rages in the pagond
and in the streete also." A curtain could be drawn
across half the space of the stage, to provide for such
scenes as needed the sudden display of an ** interior."

The distribution of the several scenes among the
various guilds was sometimes quaintly appropriate. In
the York play the incident of **God warning Noah to
make an Ark of floatable wood " was entrusted to the
Shipwrights; " Noah in the Ark " with his family ** and

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ORIGIN OF THE THEATRE IN ENGLAND. 7

divers animals," to the Fishmongers and Mariners; the
episode of the Star in the East, to the Chandlers ; the
ofTerings of the three Kings, to the Goldsmiths ; and the
Marriage at Cana, to the Vintners.

The favourite date for the performances was the
Feast of Corpus Christi ; and, as we see from a York
proclamation of 141 59 precautions were taken before-
hand to ensure due order and decorum. Citizens were
bidden not to go into the streets armed on these
occasions; the pageants were to halt at the places
assigned, and nowhere else; officers of the peace were
to be stringent in the exercise of their duties. The
players, moreover, were to be **good players, well
arayed, and openly spekyng," and were to be ready
between four and five in the morning, in order that each
pageant should start on its rounds punctually and in
order.

The seriousness with which the performances were
regarded is shown by a Papal Bull respecting the
Chester Plays, which granted 1000 days' indulgence
to whoever assisted ''with sincere devotion "in these
representations, and pronounced excommunication on
whoever interfered with them. Till they became too
much overlaid with grossness and buffoonery, the
Miracle Plays were obviously a useful means of religious
instruction in an illiterate age; indeed, much of what
would appear to us as grossness was but a reflex of
contemporary life, and much that seems misplaced
buffoonery was then a harmless means of popularizing
what would otherwise be unknown or ill understood.
The writers of the later Miracle Plays had a sound
sense of the value of ** comic relief," and there is no
reason to suppose that Joseph's attitude towards the
fact of Mary's conception until he is enlightened by the
Angel who appears and explains matters to him, the

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8 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

publicity given to Sarah's child-bearing, or the fact
that Noah and his wife habitually indulged in a wrangle
before entering the Ark, lessened the sincerity with
which the more solemn scenes were represented or
listened to. In one play Noah*s wife insists in
remaining outside gossiping with her neighbours, until
the waves of the flood invade her toes ; then she jumps
in terror into the Ark, and is received by Noah with a
sound beating. Sheep-stealing by one of the watching
shepherds at the Nativity was another favourite comic
episode.

Owing to the arrangement for moving the pageants
so that the whole play should be consecutively per-
formed at each appointed spot, a large number of
pageants were often required, as many as thirty being
used in the Wakefield play. The Creation would be
shown on the first, the scene between Cain and Abel in
the second, and so forth through the whole biblical
story represented ; a typical Miracle Play being roughly
cast into three divisions, the first dealing with the
Creation, Flood, and subsequent Old Testament
episodes, the second with the Nativity of Christ, the
third with His Passion and Resurrection and a repre-
sentation of Doomsday.

By the middle of the fifteenth century, what were
known as "Moralities" began to displace Miracle
Plays in the public favour. In the Moralities, embodi-
ments of the Virtues and Vices were substituted for
the well-known characters of Holy Writ, a change
which marks a certain growth of subtlety in the popular
appreciation of this form of entertainment. Such
Moralities as have come down to us are, to modern
thinking, for the most part tediously didactic effusions,
losing their direct appeal as the characters in the plays
lose their personality, but they were much in favour for

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ORIGIN OF THE THEATRE IN ENGLAND. Q

some time. It is not surprising, however, that before
long new subjects were looked for to provide dramas,
and that eventually there came the transition to purely
secular subjects.
V It is easy to understand that, as its novelty wore off,
the strife between abstract virtues and vices palled on
acquaintance, and that plays were welcomed which
appealed more directly to the interest of their audiences
by means of the humanity of their characters. Just in
such a way as, in the history of painting, the repre-
sentation of sacred subjects prepared the ground for
secular arts, so, with the drama, these religious and
mcwal plays prepared the receptivities of the people for
what was soon to develop into the glorious outburst of
the dramatic spirit in the age of Elizabeth.

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CHAPTER II.

THE TRANSITION.

The rise of a new and entirely secular drama during the
latter half of the sixteenth century meant the gradual
extinction of the Miracle Plays and Moralities, though
these continued to be performed till the end of the
century. It meant, too, the development of a new
school of acting and a new class of actors.

The germs of both comedy and tragedy were already
existent; the former in the comic scenes that had in-
truded on the original solemnity of the Miracle Play,
the latter in the tales of love and valour that were kept
alive by balladry. The external stimulus that was
needed to bring both to an organic growth was furnished
by the Renaissance, one of whose conspicuous effects in
England was the imitation of classical dramatic models.
The earliest examples of English comedy and tragedy
that have come down to us bear unmistakable traces
of this influence.

Comedy seems to have developed the easier and
earlier of the two. The oldest English comedy that has
come down to us, Udairs Ralph Roister Doister^ was
one among many that followed the Plautine model
pretty closely; but such plays as those of John
Heywood (who was Udall's contemporary), or Bishop
Still's Gammer Gurton's Needle^ are comedies of simple

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THE TRANSITION. II

humours, with plots that are practically original and a
flavour distinctly national.

The first attempts at formal tragedy in England,
such as Sackville and Norton's Gorhoduc (which is
remarkable as being our earliest blank-verse drama),
Preston's Camhises^ or Gascoigne's Jocasta^ show the
classical influence markedly; but English tragedy was
saved from becoming merely imitative by the inde-
pendent growth of what are known as Chronicle Plays.
These plays, which were half dramatic and half epic,
were the lineal descendants of the Ballads, and pos-
sessed a national character that had hitherto found no
such expression. Chronicle Plays such as The Famous
Victories of Henry V. and The Historie of King Leir are
the link between the Miracle Play and the Elizabethan
historical drama; and they and their kind formed a
rich mine of subject-matter from which Shakespeare
and his contemporaries drew.

As the drama lost its semi-religious character, and
plays became more specialized, the players became
a distinct class and their calling a separate one.
In these altered conditions dramatic entertainments
passed out of the hands of the better clftss of crafts-
men, and the social level of both playwright and
playactor became considerably lowered. Patronage
was now a necessary condition of the actor's ex-
istence, and royal or noble favour was essential
to success. The earliest royal patron of the drama
was Richard III., and as such he deserves the
gratitude of all good playgoers. While still Duke of
Gloucester he attached a company of players to his
household, granting them permission to travel about
his domains and act whenever he did not require
their services. This did much to regularize the
actor's calling, and an important result of it was that

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12 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

acting became the fashion. The pastime of amateur
theatricals was taken up, first by the gentlemen of the
Ions of Court, and subsequently by those of higher
degree, with as great a zest as any displayed to-day;
and this in its turn led to the custom of regularly train-
ing the boys of the public schools to perform plays for
the amusement of the Court. Even the ** Children of
the Chapel Royal*' were instructed in the art, and
members of the clergy, again, not only wrote plays, but
occa^oaally acted in them.

The Universities naturally caught the infection, and
tbe de^ds of the **A.D.C." at Cambridge .were fore-
shadowed by the performance in that city, in Henry
VIII. 's time, of a tragedy entitled Pammachus^ the
nature and tendency of which raised a mighty pother.
•*I haye been informed," wrote the Chancellor of the
University to the Vice-Chancellor, in March 1545, " that
the youth in Christ's College . . . hath of late played
a tragedy called PammachuSy a part of which tragedy is
so pestiferous as were intolerable. If it be so, -f intend
to. travail, as my duty is, for the reformation of it. I
know mine office there, and mind to do in it as much
as L may." The Vice-Chancellor replied that the
College authorities had approved the performance,
after expunging **all such matter whereby offence
might greatly have arisen." A stricter inquiry, how-
ever, was ordered, and made ; much was asserted on
both sides in justification, and eventually the matter
was allowed to drop.

Direct opposition between Church and Stage came in
1547, when, at Edward VI. *s accession, Bishop Gardiner
proclaimed the holding of a ** solemn dirge and mass"
in memory of the deceased King, and for the same day
the Marquis of Dorset's players advertised a ** solempne
play " — to try, as Gardiner wrote at the time, ** who

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THE TRANSITION. 13

shall have most resort, they in game or I in earnest."
The result was that these players were forbidden to
act anywhere except in their master's presence, a
regulation which they and other members of their
craft did their best to circumvent by means of forged
licences.

The strife of opinion which accompanied the develop-
ment of the Reformation found a convenient weapon in
the drama, and stage performances were ustd as party
weapons in the conflict between Protestants and Papists.
The Moralities afforded a convenient vehicle for con-
troversy and abuse ; and though those which have come
down to us are mainly anti-Catholic, and such Catholic
Moralities as have survived are non-polemical, there is
little doubt that .many Catholic plays of a highly
polemical character were acted secretly in the houses
of the great. Early in the seventeenth century a certain
Sir John York was imprisoned and fined for having a
play thus secretly performed in his house, ridiculing the
Protestants and their tenets. And, some seventy years
before this, in the Act for the Advancement of True
Religion, " plays and interludes " are referred to as
allowable * * for the rebukyng and reproaching of Vices
and the setting forth of Vertue," provided they **mcdle
not. with interpretacions of Scriptures contrary to the
doctryne set forth by the Kynges Majistie."

John Bale, the Protestant Bishop of Ossory, known
to his contemporaries as ** Bilious Bale," was one of
the most prominent figures in these ecclesio-dramatic
polemics, and became notorious as the author of a play
called Kynge Johan^ which was deliberately designed to
illustrate the attitude of Rome towards this country.
Later, in Queen Mary's time, her adherents supported
their attacks upon the Reformation by means of a
drama called Respuhlica^ which pointed out the lament-

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14 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

dble nature of the new spirit that was g;rowing to such
powerful proportions.

The players, having as yet no ** theatres " as we now
understand them, were all strolling* players, performing
(when released from attendance on their patron) in the
yards of inns and similar places. It was inevitable
that such gatherings should lead to an undesirable
amount of freedom. The inn-yard made a convenient
stage, the audience gathering in the galleries that ran
round its sides ; and one contemporary account tells us
hpw, before the performance began, the gallants would
go first into the yard and look round the galleries,
**then, like unto ravens when they spie the carrion,
thither they fly and press as neare the fairest as they
can," frequently to indulge (according to this chronicler)
in unseemly dalliance with the fair ones.

For reasons such as this, and still more for the
political reasons already alluded to, the players and
tl^eir art fell into disrepute, aiid it was not long befoi-e
stage plays were only allowed in London vinder very
stringent censorship. As early as 1545 ** common
players "had been included with ** ruflfyns, vagabonds,
masterless men, and evill disposed persons " in a pro-»
clamation. In Edward VI. 's time the representation of
plays was forbidden altogether for a stated jperibd, to
mark the royal displeasure at certain performances
Which had contained ** matter tendyng to sedicion and
contempnyng of sundery good orders and lawes."
A^ain, in 155 1 players were forbidden to act any play
in public which had not received the licence of the Privy
Council, for the reason that they were too apt to play
** whatsoever any light and phantastical head listeth to
invent." This regulation was repeated in a proclama-
tion of Mary two years later; and in 1556 players
were altogether prohibited from strolling through the

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THE TRANSITION. 1$

kingdom, as being "disseminators of seditions and
heresies."

Obviously the only solution of this tangled condition
of affairs, if the drama were to live, was in the regular-
izing of the profession and the appointing of suitable
places where the performances could be held under
proper supervision.

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CHAPTER III.

THE FIRST THEATRES.

The undesirability of the use of the inn-yards as
theatres was obvious; and the removal, by Edward VI. 's
orders, of the King's Revels and Masques from the
Warwick Inn, Holborn, to the deserted Black Friars'
Monastery on Thames-side was at once a prudent
measure in defence of law and order and a step to-
wards the regularizing of the actor's profession. A few
years later, in consequence of complaints as to the
nature of their performances, these players and all
others in the city were strictly ordered to perform only
such plays as had been approved by the authorities,
and that only in the period between All Saints' and
Shrovetide. Public dramatic entertainments were
strictly subordinate to the Court performances, so that
a close censorship was possible. It was furthermore
subsequently enacted by an oft-quoted statute of 1572
that all ** common players" (that is to say, players not
attached to the household of any nobleman or allowed
to use a nobleman's name as patron) should be dealt
with as ** rogues and vagabonds" if they were not
licensed by a justice of the peace.

It is worthy of note that in the Black Friars' house
considerable outlay is stated to have been incurred for
scenery and for machinery to assist stage effects. The

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THE FIRST THEATRES. 1/

plays and masques being originally devised as enter-
tainments for the actor's royal or noble patrons, money
was, no doubt, more readily forthcoming for these
purposes than could possibly be the case when the
theatre became primarily public places. There'is record
of a sum equivalent to some ;^6o of the money of to-
day being expended upon ** properties " for a masque
presented at Court at the end of the sixteenth century —
these being ** monsters, mountains, beasts, serpents;
weapons for war, as guns, dogs, bows, arrows, bills,
halberds, boar-spears, fawchions, daggers, pollaxes,
clubs; heads and head-pieces, armour counterfeit;
moss, holly, ivy, bays, flowers; glue, paste, paper, and
such like; with nails, hooks, horse-tails, dishes for
devil's eyes; Heaven, Hell, and the Devil."

Although the Black Friars' house was granted to the
Court players for their use by Edward VI., it was not
formally recognized as a place of public entertainment
till Elizabeth wa-s on the throne; when, about the same
time, a second theatrical licence was granted author-
izing the building of the earliest ** theatre," as we now
understand the term, in London. This licence was
g-ranted in 1574 to the Earl of Leicester's company of
players, at the head of whom was James Burbage,
father of the famous tragedian Richard Burbage.

James Burbage acquired a plot of groun^ in Shore-
ditch, on part of the site of a disused priory, and there
erected a wooden building which was known as **The.
Theatre," and was opened for public entertainments in
the autumn of 1576.

On the extensive site of the old priory there also
sprang up a number of private dwelling-houses, some
occupied by citizens of high degree ; and in so favour-
able a locality a rival theatre was not long — indeed,
barely a year — in making its appearance. This second

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1 8 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

theatre was called The Curtain, a name of which
Curtain Road still preserves an echo.

The Theatre and The Curtain no doubt shared
the important patronage of the day with the Black
Friars' house, but it must be noted that for some years
the inn-yards continued to be popular competitors in
dramatic entertainment. Five, at least, are on record
as being frequented by players after the performances
at the three recognized houses were in full swing.
Of these five, one was in Gracechurch Street, one in
Bishopsgate Street, one "nigh Paul's," one (the ** Bell
Savage," a very popular house) on Ludgate Hill, and
one in Whitefriars. There was also the ** Boar's
Head," outside Aldgate, where the performance of
what the Mayor and Corporation considered a **lewd
play " raised a considerable commotion in Mary's time.

The Theatre had a short life, for in 1597, twenty
years after its erection, the ground landlord gave
Burbage and his company notice to quit. Burbage had,
however, by the terms of the lease the right to remove
the fabric, and, in spite of the landlord's opposition,
succeeded in doing so. The house was pulled down by
the actors and some willing friends, and the materials
carried off to the south side of the Thames, where two
years later they were used in building the Globe Theatre
on Bankside, Southwark, — a house destined, together
with the Blackfriars house, to be famous from its close
connection with Shakespeare. The Globe was burnt
down in 161 3, rebuilt, and finally demolished in 1644.
The Blackfriars house, which was converted into a
regular theatre in 1596, survived till 1655, and The
Curtain had a life nearly as long. It is probable
that either at the latter or at The Theatre, Shake-
speare was engaged in some minor capacity as an
actor after his coming to London in 1586. He also

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THE FIRST THEATRES. I9

acted at the Globe Theatre and at the Rose, a house
built in 1592 close to the notorious Bear Garden on
Bankside. It was at the Globe and the Blackfriars
that his plays were produced.

Other Elizabethan playhouses were the Fortune,
built in 1599 by the actor Alleyn, in Golden Lane,
St. Luke's ; the Red Bull, in Clerkenwell ; the
Cockpit, in Drury Lane; and the Newington Butts
theatre, which was built about 1592 on a spot near the
present ** Elephant and Castle." Of these the chief
was the Fortune, which stood till 1656, a memorial
of its existence remaining in the Playhouse Yard, which
occupies part of what was its site. It has an import-
ance in Elizabethan dramatic history only second to
that of the Globe and Blackfriars houses. The Black-
friars and the Cockpit were what were known as
** private" theatres, established and maintained by the
nobility, who directed performances in them instead of,
as had formerly been the case, in their own houses.

When Elizabeth came to the throne the chief
professional actors of the day were comprised in three
or four companies of men (of which the **Earl of
Leicester's men," who had inaugurated The Theatre,
were the most esteemed), and companies of boys who
were trained as occasion required for special Court
performances. These were selected from among the
scholars of St. Paul's, the Chapel Royal, Windsor, the
Merchant Taylor's School, and Westminster School.'
As the theatrical profession began to crystallize and the
public gave a more serious patronage to the newly
established theatres, the boys' companies were less seen
by the public and only established for occasional Court
performances ; though a certain number of boys, but
these not from the above-mentioned scholars, were
always included in the ** men's" companies to play

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20 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

female parts. For a time, however, in Shakespeare*s
day the boys' companies were extremely popular, and
their vogue threatened to turn adult actors out of doors,
as we learn from the allusion in Hamlet (in the course of
Rozencrantz*s conversation with the Prince about the
players) to the **aery of children" that **are now the
fashion," and have so gained the ear of the town that
they carry all before them, ** Hercules and his load too."
The .illusion here is to the fact that the Blackfriars
theatre, one of the houses with which Shakespeare was
immediately connected, had been temporarily leased to
£he Children of the Chapel Royal, whose popularity
threatened even to draw the audiences away from the
Globe, Shakespeare's other theatre, whose sign was
that of Hercules bearing the Globe on his shoulders.

Besides the houses enumerated above, two others,
which had but a brief existence but were popular in the
days immediately succeeding Elizabeth's reign, were
the Swan on Bankside and the Hope. The latter
was a kind of *'fit up" theatre in the Bear Garden, and
was designed to provide occasional variety from the
delights of bear-baiting and cock-fighting.

Our knowledge of the internal ^arrangements of th^
Elizabethan playhouses \s to some extent conjectural,
and is gleaned from allusions, brief mentionings and one
or two drawings. Certain details, however, are fairly
well established. The .outer shape of the buildings,
taking such theatres as the Globe, the Theatre or the
Swan as typical, was usually oval .or hexagonal, the
interior being probably round or oval, approximating in
appearance to the original inn-yard model. Roughly
speaking, the plan of the .interior was that of an. open
arena, part of which was occupied by the stage, with
tiers of galleries, partly divided into bo>:es, built round
it. The structures were mostly ;of wood on a brick or

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THE FIRST THEATRES. 2i

concrete foundation, though an extant description of
tbe Swan theatre states it to have been built of a
conglomeration of flint. The interior .was to some
extent decorated, this varying with the means of the
constructor, and the pillars supporting the galleries
and the stage erection were often painted to imitate
naarble. Coryate in his Crudities (1611) says that
in Venice in 1608 he visited the theatre, and found {t
''beggarly and base in comparison with us for appareU,
shews and musicke."

The main difference from the modern theatre, except
in the matter of roofing, was in the stage itself. This
was a flat platform extending well out into the areoa,
with space for spectators to stand around it ; seats were
only provided in the galleries, part of which were
divided into boxes known as ** rooms." This last term
is an evidence of the persistence of the inn-yard model
adopted by the theatres. The arena represented the
yard itself, the boxes taking the place of the gallery
which ran round the yard and led to the rooms oi the
ian.

In the case of the ** public" theatres the arena was
open to the sky, the roofing only extending over the
galleries and the back part of the stage. The ** private"
bouses, however, 'were completely roofed in, and seats
were provided in the arena.

We have no record of what happened in the par-
tially unroofed theatres when the weather was bad.
Probably, however, a wetting was not considered of so
much account by the actors as would now be the case,
there being no women among, them. Moreover, the
performances taking place- by daylight, there was no
occasion for much facial ** make-up" upon which the
rain would produce ravages. In the roofed private
theatres the performances took place by candle-light.

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22 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

During the heat of summer the actors belonging to the
"public" theatres usually toured the country, their
houses being closed.

Scenic or pictorial effect, such as was looked for in
theatres of a later date, was naturally out of the
question when the stage was practically as much a
platform in the midst of the spectators as the *^ pageant"
had been in the old days of the Miracle Plays. It
was raised from the ground, and cellarage underneath
afforded possibilities for trap-doors and such necessary
devices as Shakespeare's stage-directions prove to have
been used. In The Tempest the banquet is to ** vanish
with a quaint device"; in Macbeth^ **the cauldron
sinks and the apparitions rise;" and so forth. It is
possible, too, that a trap-door with steps might be
used for such scenes as the approach to Juliet's tomb.
Some machinery from above must also have been in
use in the better-appointed theatres (possibly working
from above the balcony at the back of the stage),
to make possible such illusions as that directed in
Cymheliney where Jupiter ** descends in thunder and
lightning, sitting upon an eagle."

The back of the stage seems usually to have been
closed by a wall with two doors in it ; in front of this
stood pillars between which curtains could be drawn,
these pillars also supporting the pent-house roof
which descended from the top of the back wall. The
curtains formed a simple and necessary accessory for
such scenes as tented battlefields or for Desdemona's
bed-chamber (when the bed would doubtless be behind
the curtains), or to enclose the ** play-scene" of
Hamlet^ to take obvious instances. There would also
probably be, above the doors at the back, a balcony or
an enclosed portion of the gallery that ran round the
whole house. Besides serving as a balcony, this wpm14

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THE FIRST THEATRES. 23

probably also do duty for ** battlements" or "city
walls." The stage was strewn with rushes, the usual
carpet of the day ; in some cases it was bordered by
a low railing.

By degrees it became the custom to accommodate
favoured persons with stools upon the stage, an
innovation which led to intolerable abuse. The extent
to which this nuisance had grown by the beginning of
the seventeenth century is reflected in an entertaining
passage in Dekker's "Gull's Hornbook" (1609). In
this are given some satirical rules for a "gallant's"
behaviour at the theatre. He is recommended to sit
on the stage, " on the very rushes where the comedy is
to dance." He is to make an effective entry by coming
in late : " Present not yourself on the stage, especially
at a new play, until the quaking prologue hath by
rubbing got colour into his cheeks. . . . Then it's
time ... to creep from behind the arras with your
stool in one hand." Again : ** It shall crown you with
rich commendation to laugh aloud in the midst of the
most serious and saddest scene of the terriblest tragedy,
and to let that clapper, your tongue, be tossed so high
that all the house may ring of it." Should the gallant
disapprove of the piece performed, he is to ^* rise with
a screwed and discontented face " from his stool ; but,
if either " the company or indisposition of the weather "
compel him to sit it out, he should " take up a rush
and tickle the earnest ears of your fellow gallants . . *.
Mew at passionate speeches, blare at merry, find fault
with the music, whew at the children's action, whistle
at the songs," and so forth. In short, he is to do
everything to show that he goes to the play "only as
a gentleman to spend a foolish hour or two, because
you can do nothing else."

It is obvious that under such conditions as this

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24 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

anything- like scenic display, as we now understand it,
was impossible ; although the pernicious custom of
allowing spectators on the stage persisted to a much
later period, when the stage had shrunk to something
more like its present dimensions and painted scenery
was in full use. Although, as has been already said,
more or less elaborate mechanical and scenic effects
were attempted in the costly Masques performed in the
mansions of the great or in ^^ private" theatres, in the
public theatres of Elizabeth's day elaboration of effect
was practically confined to the dressing and grouping
of the characters. As Professor Raleigh suggests in
his stimulating book on Shakespeare, it must have
been ** a statuesque rather than a pictorial effect"
that was aimed at. The credit of the earliest intro-
duction of what we should call ** scenery" into ordinary
plays is usually given to the post-Restoration dramatist.
Sir William Davenant.

Behind the '*back wall" of the stage the actors*
dressing-rooms were constructed ; above these was
usually a sort of turret from which a flag^ was flown
when the house was open. From this, too, a trumpeter
used to summon the audiences at the hour for the
beginning of the play.

Elizabethan theatre prices ranged from three or four
pence for standing-room to three or four times that
sum in the best ** rooms " or boxes, (It must, of course,
be borne in mind that to approximate these sums to
their present value they must be multiplied by four or
five.) Prices in the private theatres, where there was
more comfort and more display, would naturally range
higher. In an advertisement at the end of a printed
edition of a masque performed at the Cockpit, it is
stated that ** notwithstanding the great expense
necessary to scenes and other ornaments in this ent^r-

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tainment, there is a good provision made of places
for a shilling. And it shall begin certainly at 3 after-
noon." Descriptions of the pieces to be performed
were set upon posts outside the theatres some days in
advance.

References to the price of admission are numerous.
To take one or two at haphazard, in The Roaring Girl
(161 1) there is allusion to ** the twopenny gallery ** at
the Fortune. In Sir Thomas Overbury's ** Characters"
(1614) it is said of a spendthrift that **if he have but
twelve pence in his purse, he will give it for the best
room in the play house." Again, in Henry VIIL^
Prologue says that spectators ** may see away their
shilling in two short hours." Stools on the stage, in
the houses where this was allowed, were usually priced
at six or twelve pence. Smoking was freely indulged
in, lackeys attending their masters to attend to the
necessary filling of the pipes. Performances were given
on Sundays as well as on week days.

In some of the theatres the stage platform was mov-
, able, and could be taken away or moved back when
other favourite entertainments (such as bear-baiting, or
exhibitions of fencing or broadsword play) were pre-
pared for the public's delectation.

An orchestra of musicians was provided, stationed
probably at the side of the hindermost portion of the
stage, and apparently the music was frequently of no
mean quality. It was probably not till late in the
seventeenth century that the orchestra was placed
-where we now expect to see it. In an arrangement of
The Tempest as acted at the Duke's Theatre in Lincoln's
Inn Fields in 1667, it is directed that the **band of
violins, harpsicords, and theorbos which accompany
the voices" are to be placed ** between the pit and the
stage " ; and, as Malone remarks, had this not been an

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26 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

unusual arrangement, the direction would have been
unnecessary.

The foregoing may perhaps serve to give some idea
of the conditions under which the splendid Elizabethan
drama saw the light. It is practically impossible for
us, familiar as we are with ** stage pictures? of a
greatly different nature, to realize the effect produced
by the materials used, or to estimate how vividly the
imagination of the spectators was stirred by the mere
effect of language. The pleasure in that, being more
direct, was probably keener, the critical faculties of the
audience being directed to the drama itself and un-
diverted by extraneous attractions. Be that as it may,
the Elizabethan public was conspicuously a theatre-
loving and a discriminating one.

That the level of acting in the Elizabethan theatres
was high (despite the difficulty, as it seems to us, of
beardless boys giving satisfactory renderings of the
great female roles in the drama) is indisputable.
Hamlet's advice to the players, which is obviously
founded on close observation, remains to all time as
a manual for professors of the craft, and reveals per
contra the certainty that the performances of Shake-
speare's time could reach as high a level as the most
exacting required. More than this, there is contem-
porary evidence to show that the actor's position was,
as far as personal conduct was concerned, respectable
and respected, and that the majority of actors showed a
proper feeling for the dignity of their art.

Some of the most prominent of the day were James
Burbage, of the Blackfriars house, the Theatre, and
the Globe; his son, the more famous tragedian, Richard
Burbage, who also had some repute as a painter;
Edward Alleyn, the founder of Dulwich College, who
was connected with the Bear Garden, the Hope, and

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THE FIRST THEATRES. 2/

the Fortune; Philip Henslowe, who was Alleyn*s
partner in the latter house; John Hemminge, chief
proprietor of the Globe Theatre, fellow-actor of
Shakespeare, and part editor of the first folio of the
latter's plays, famous also as the original impersonator
of Falstaff ; Richard Tarleton, the comedian, a popular
favourite of Elizabeth's day ; and Shakespeare himself,
of whose acting at the Rose, the Curtain, and the
Blackfriars Theatres in his early days scanty traditions
have been handed down, mentioning him as having
taken the part of the Ghost in Hamlet and Adam in
As You Like IL

Of the dramatists of these days, Shakespeare, Beau-
mont and Fletcher, Webster, Ben Jonson, Ford,
Massinger, Middleton, Chapman, Shirley, and Cyril
Tourneur were mostly connected with the Globe and
Blackfriars Theatres; the others, such as Marlowe,
Dekker, Drayton, Greene and Peele, writing mainly
for the Fortune.

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CHAPTER IV.

THE THEATRE AND THE PURITANS.

With the actor's position assured and the popularity of
the theatre increasing, it was not surprising that the
drama should be used as a mouthpiece of public opinion.
On the other hand, the unmistakable allusions to
public affairs that were heard from the stage, and the
accompanying opportunities for ridicule, were naturally
little to the taste of the civic authorities. Court
influence, moreover, was behind the players, and
the latter's shafts were, in return, least seldom aimed
at the fountain-heads of the patronage to which the
stage owed so much.

The strongest power of opposition to the theatre lay
in the growth of the Puritan spirit; and this was
assisted by two external circumstances — the visitations
of the Plague and the outbreak of the Civil War. The
spreading of the Puritan tendency to regard all amuse-
ment (and especially stage entertainments) as iniquitous
soon resulted in definite attacks. These began in
Elizabeth's time, with a treatise in which John North-
brooke, in 1577, inveighed against ** dicing, dancing,
plays, and interludes " as immoral and corrupting. In
the following year, John Stockwood, a schoolmaster and
preacher celebrated in his day, attacked The Theatre by
name in a sermon, speaking in terms of the gravest
reprobation of what went on at ** the gorgeous playing-

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THE THEATRE AND THE PURITANS. 29

place erected in the fields." In 1579, Stephen Gosson,
Rector of St. Botolph's, Bishopsgate, and himself a
writer of ** pastoralls," published his "School of Abuse,"
in which he included **a pleasant invective against
poets, players, jesters, and such like caterpillars of a
commonwealth." His invective, however, fails from its
over-eag-erness, and from the fact that he cannot conceal
a certain liking for what he professes to attack. He
makes a great deal of the overmuch gallantry amongst
the audiences, and assails the playwrights with a
bitterness which inevitably suggests that he was a
disappointed candidate for their ranks, while at the
same time he is fain to admit that certain plays (such
as his own) may be **good plays and sweet plays." A
year or two later Philip Stubbes, a Puritan pamphleteer,
followed up the attack with an ** Anatomie of Abuses."

Meanwhile the Plague, of which there were constant
terrible visitations in England during the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries, proved a useful auxiliary to the
opponents of the theatre. It enabled them to maintain,
not without reason, that the concourse of folk in the
theatres meant the creation of centres of infection.
••To play in plague time," they said, '•was to court
infection ; " and to this they added as a rider that •• to
play out of plague time was to call down plague from
heaven."

The Puritans continued to bombard the players'
stronghold during the early years of Charles I.'s reign,
and at least their noisiest, if not their most effective,
shell fell within the players' lines when Prynne in 1632
published his famous Htsirto-Masttx. Stage plavs, he
affirmed, were the incentive to every kind of immorality,
theatres were **the devil's chapels," and the drama
and all its works obviously forbidden by Holy Writ.
Prynne's zeal, as far as his own fate was concerned,

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30 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

overshot the mark. A too-outspoken declaration of his
opinion concerning female actors (he having in a
previous tract stigmatized some French actresses as
** impudent, shameful, unwomanish, graceless") was
construed as an indirect reproof to the Queen and her
ladies for having taken part in a masque ; and certain
other passages, comparing the authorities to Nero in
consequence of their having encouraged the play-actors,
were taken to be an attack upon the King and Court.
The result was that Prynnc was sentenced by the Star
Chamber to a large fine, public degradation, and the
cutting off of his ears.

His action had its effect, however, and was for a
time a powerful weapon in the hands of the strong
Puritanical party among the citizens. The Plague, as
we have seen, strengthened their hands, and the climax
came with the outbreak of the Civil War, when, in
September 1642, an Order of Parliament definitely
forbade all public performances. '* Whereas public
sports," it ran, **doe not well agree with publike
calamities, nor publike stage-playes with the seasons of
Humiliation, . . . being spectacles of pleasure too
commonly expressing lascivious mirth and levitie, it is
therefore thought fit and ordained . . . that while
these sad causes and set times of humiliation doe
continue, publike stage-plays shall cease and be for*
borne."

The fortunes of the stage had already been in sad
case, as is graphically set forth in a pamphlet called
"The Stage-Player*s Complaint," published in 1641.
This is in the form of a ** pleasant dialogue" between
two favourite actors, **Cane of the Fortune and Read
of the Friers." It laments the bad times that have
fallen upon actors and deplores their sad condition for
want of employment. ** Oh, the times," says the one,

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THE THEATRE AND THE PURITANS. 3 1

** when we have vapoured in the streets like courtiers."
Everything is ** down," he says, and soon they will be
**down" too. The other replies, to cheer him, that
players and plays **are very necessary and commodious
to all people ; first for strangers who can desire no
better recreation than to come and see a play ; then for
citizens, to feast their wits ; then for gallants, who
otherwise would spend their money in drunkenness and
lasciviousness, but doe find a great delight and delecta-
tion to see a play ; then for the learned it does increase
and add wit constructively to wit ; then for gentle-
women it teacheth them how to deceive idleness ; then
for the ignorant it does augment their knowledge ;
Pish, and a thousand more arguments I could adde,
but that I should weary your patience too much. Well,
in a word, we are so needfull for the common good that
in some respect it were almost a sinne to put us downe ;
therefore let not these frivolous things perplex your
vexatious thoughts.*'

In spite, however, of these weighty reasons for the
opposite, they were ** put downe " within the year.

Another curious pamphlet, ** The Actor's Remon-
strance," which appeared in 1643, complains with some
justice that, while stage-plays were banned, the Bear-
Garden, where all sorts of abuses prevailed, was
tolerated; while ** Puppet Plays, which are not so
valuable as the very musicque between each act at ours,
are still kept up with uncontrolled allowance, witness
the famous motion of Bel and the Dragon, so frequently
visited at Holborne Bridge these passed Christmasse
holidays." The author draws a sad picture of the
probable result to his profession. **Our boyes," he
says, **ere we shall have libertie to act againe, will be
growne out of use, like crackt organ-pipes, and have
faces as old as our flags. . . . Our musike, that was

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32 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

held so delectable and precious that they scorned to
come to a taverne under twentie shillings salary for
two hours," now have to take any alms they can get !
**Our ablest ordinarie poets, instead of their annual
stipend and beneficiall second days," are, he says,
** compelled to get a living by writing contemptible
penny pamphlets, feigning miraculous stories and un-
heard of battles." The pamphlet is drafted in the form
of a petition to the authorities, and ends with a recital
of the reforms that shall be made in the theatres if only
they may be allowed to continue. No female shall be
allowed to enter the playhouse unaccompanied, so that
there may be no more of the ladies of light virtue ** that
sit in the sixpenny seats." It is even undertaken that
** the tobacco-men, that used to walk up and down
selling for a penny pipe that which was not worth
twelve pence an horse-load," shall sell none, **not so
much as in threepenny galleries, unlesse of the first
Spanish leafe." In short, so this fruitless petition runs,
they will so conduct themselves that none shall be able
to bring the charge of ungodliness against them.

Evidently the edict of 1642 was occasionally evaded,
for five years later another ordinance enacted that
any one found playing ** stage-plays, interludes or other
common playes " should be imprisoned and punished
as rogues ; and in the next year this was repeated in a
more stringent form. ** Whether wanderers or no, and
notwithstanding any license whatsoever from the King
or any person," they were to be punished. Further,
the authorities were required to have all places de-
molished where plays should be found to be acted, and
any one caught playing in them was to be publicly
whipped and to enter into recognizances never to act
any more. If they offended again, they were to be
proceeded against as incorrigible rogues ; any moneys

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THE THEATRE AND THE PURITANS. 33

paid to them were to be forfeited for the good of the
poor, and every spectator was to pay a fine nearly
equivalent to a pound of our money.

Thus there fell upon the stage a dark and disastrous
cloud which did not lift till the more tolerant days of
the Restoration. To the credit of the actors, there
may be quoted a mention in a newspaper of 1654 of
•* the poor actors, who have a long time lingered under
the heavy yoke of poverty, and fed themselves and
families with hunger, sighs and tears; yet not one of
these poor men, during this long winter of many years
debarment from the exercise of that quality wherein
they were bred, but have continued always civill and
honest in life and conversation." So glowing an
eulogium may be a trifle over-coloured ; but apparently
there was but little fault to be found with the demeanour
in adversity of these men who had been the spoilt
darlings of fashion. Many of them risked their lives in
the ranks for the Royalist cause, a circumstance which
was not forgotten when Charles II. came to the throne
and the Puritan gloom was dispelled.

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CHAPTER V.

THE THEATRES OF THE RESTORATION.

The love of the drama — or, perhaps, merely the love of
amusement of which the drama was one of the most
popular expressions — was only dormant during the
gloom and distress of the Civil War, and not dead.
Once the crisis of affaits was past and the Common-
wealth established, dramatic performances began to
crop up again. At first this happened in the way of
private entertainments at the houses of the great,
Holland House being one of the most conspicuous of
these; but public performances were also begun
tentatively at such places as the - Red Bull, where a
company was got togetlier by Rhodes, former prompter
at the Blackfriars house. The performances there and
at other of the inn-yards, if not openly tolerated, were
winked at by the authorities. As soon, however, as the
Restoration was an accomplished fact, and it was felt
that the Puritans* domination was gone, dramatic
performances began to be frequented, and the oppressed
actors to hold up their heads and take courage. '* To
the Red Bull," wrote Pepys in March 1661, ** where I
had not been since plays came up again " ; though he is
obliged to record that there was '* confusion and
disorder " among the j!)erformers, and not more than ten
besides himself in the pit, and not one hundred in the
whole house.

At the Cockpit in Drury Lane, Davenant had already
34

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THE THEATRES OF THE RESTORATION. 35

produced some of the entertainments of ''declamation
and music'* with which he had achieved success at
noblemen's houses, — one of these entertainments, The
Siege of Rhodes^ being memorable for the fact that in the
records of it we have the earliest mention of English
women performing upon the public stage. This was in
1656. Four years later, Pepys records his seeing
female actors for the first time, the play being The
Beggar^ s Bush^ which he describes as " very well done,
and here the first time that ever I saw women come
upon the stage." In the same year, Davenant opened
a theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields, where he is credited
with having used the earliest movable scenery that was
seen on the English stage. Before his death he built a
larger theatre in Dorset Gardens, whither the company
migrated in 1652, to play for ten years with growing
success.

Soon after Charles II. 's entry into London, theatrical
matters were regularized by the granting of two patents,
the one to Davenant's company at Lincoln's Inn Fields
(and subsequently at Dorset Gardens), the other to
Thomas Killigrew's company at the Cockpit in Drury
Lane. These date from 1662 and 1663 respectively.
Davenant's players were known as the ** Duke of York's
Company," Killigrew's as the '* King's Servants."
The latter were technically part of the royal household •
they took an oath of loyalty at the Lord Chamberlain's
office, were privileged to wear his Majesty's uniform,
and ranked as ** Gentlemen of the Chamber." In 1682
the two companies were united, and opened in November
of that year, under the designation of the '* King's
Company," at the Drury Lane Theatre built by Sir
Christopher Wren.

The arrangement of the house and stage at this
period was a modification of what had been familiar in

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36 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

the more fortunate days before the turmoil of war. The
stage had shrunk, and was no longer, as in Elizabethan
days, merely a platform in the midst of the spectators ;
but it still projected some way into the body of the
theatre, in a fashion long preserved in certain houses.
At each side of this projecting portion was a door,
through which the characters in the play made their
entrances and exits. Boxes were built above these
doors, behind the drop-scene, an arrangement which
lingers still in some of the older opera-houses. The
curtain thus hung behind the projecting portion of the
stage, and in front of it were spoken the Prologues and
Epilogues which were so prominent a feature in seven-
teenth-century plays. So much did this arrangement
seem a necessary part of the order of things, that Colley
Cibber in his "Apology'' complains of the curtailment
of the stage that took place when Drury Lane Theatre
was remodelled.

There were usually, besides a cheap **pit," three
tiers of seats. Seats in the lowest of these tiers, which
was all arranged in boxes, were priced at three or four
shillings ; the second tier was mostly occupied by open
seats, with a few boxes, the price here being one shilling
and sixpence; the topmost tier was a shilling gallery.
It must be borne in mind that these sums equalled twice
or thrice their value in the money of to-day. Per-
formances were in the afternoon, usually at half-past
three; but at the court theatre at Whitehall, the play
began about eight and lasted till near midnight.

The theatre, besides being a much-frequented source
of entertainment, became also a sort of lounge and
rendes-vous. For a while the custom existed that any
one could walk into the pit without payment, so long
as he retired before the conclusion of the act that was
in progress ; so that a gallant could go in, look round

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THE THEATRES OF THE RESTORATION. 37

for his friends, join them if he saw them, or, if not,
walk out again unchallenged. Pepys records how on
one occasion he saw an act of two or three plays
successively on one day without payment ! It is
obvious that a liberty of this sort was bound to be
abused, and it was soon forbidden. It had frequently
resulted in disorderly scenes in the pit, and even in
disturbances between members of the audience upon
the stage. Ultimately it became necessary to issue
edicts to prevent spectators forcing themselves into
the playhouses without payment.

Satirical advice to a ** young blood" as to his
behaviour in the theatre is given in the following
passage from Samuel Vincent's ** Young Gallant's
Academy," published in 1674: —

**Let our gallant (having paid his half-crown and
given the doorkeeper his ticket) presently advance
himself into the middle of the pit, where, having made
his honor to the rest of the company, but especially
to the Vizard-Masks, let him pull out his comb and
manage his flaxen wig with all the grace he can.
Having done so, the next step is to give a hum to the
China-Orange Wench, and give her her own rate for
her oranges (for 'tis below a gentleman to stand hag-
gling like a citizen's wife), and then to present the
fairest to the next Vizard-Mask."

Pepys frequently records his visits to the pit, when
he went alone to the play; on one occasion he com-
plains of the growing number of ** ordinary 'prentices
and mean people " that frequent it. In his less prosper-
ous days he favoured the less expensive seats, till an
embarrassing occasidn occurred when he was "troubled"
at being seen in the one-and-sixpenny seats by four ot
his office clerks who were in the half-crown places.
Ladies usually sat in the first or the second circle;

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38 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

never in the pit. Commonly they wore masks, to hide
the blushes that the licentiousness of many of the plays
would at all events be expected to produce. The pit,
however, with the attractions of diversion that it offered
from the presence of the impudent orange-girls and
other wenches of easy manners, was popular with the
men, who apparently were not unwilling even to leave
their fair companions sitting in the boxes and slip away
downstairs. ** I will not go," says Alithea in Wycher-
ley's Country Wife^ **if you intend to leave me alone in
the box, and run into the pit, as you use to do.!'

The ** booking" of seats being still a thing of the
future, gentlemen's servants used to -be sent to occupy
seats in the better parts of the house and keep them
till their masters arrived. **The stinking footman's
sent to keep your places," is a line that occurs in a
prologue to a play of 1672. On their master's arrival
the servants would retire to the gallery, which became
practically thqjr perquisite. This invasion of the gallery
by the ** gentlemen's gentlemen" became in time a
nuisance with which managers found it very difficult to
cope. The lackeys aped their masters' want of courtesy
to the players and to the less sophisticated part of the
audience, and their chatter and jesting vied success-
fully with that of the dearer parts of the house, while
the soberer spectators protested in vain against this
ill-bred interference with their pleasure. Dryden con-
trasts the different elements in the audience in his
** Prologue for the Wpmen, when they acted at the Old
Theatre, Lincoln's-Inn-Fields'*: —

" Here's good accommodation in the pit;
The grave demurely in the midst may sit,
And so the hot Burgundian on the side
Ply vizard mask and o*er the benches stride.

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THE THFATRES OF THE RESTORATION. 39

Here are convenient upper boxes too,
For those that make the most triumphant show ;
All that keep coaches must not sit below.
There, gallants, you betwixt the acts retire,
And at dull plays have something to admire."

For all this peacocking of the gallants and fair ladies
at the theatres, and despite th^ fact that the theatre of
the seventeenth century was to many merely a fashion-
able lounge, there was still a very keen appreciation of
the drama. Plays were ruthlessly criticized by the more
intelligent part of the audience, and their good and bad
points taken with a quick appreciation. New plays in
preparation were previously announced from the stage
at the close of a performance, and advertised by broad-
sheets stuck on posts in the town, as had been the old
custom.

The genial and oft-quoted Pepys is a mine of illustra-
tion as to the theatres of his day ; and, though he does
not shine as a judge of plays, he had a keen sense of
gfood acting, and was an excellent chronicler of the
tattle of the coulisses. From him, too, we know of the
King's visits to the play, and, in consequence, of the
various changes in the royal favourites. Pepys had a
heart very susceptible to the charms of the actresses ;
**but Lord!" he says, ** their confidence! and how
many men do hover about them as soon as they come
off the stage, and how confident they are in their
talk!"

A revolution in the scenic setting of the plays was
gradually taking place. In the ** Masques," which
were performed mainly in the houses of the nobility,
scenery and mechanical effects had reached a consider-
able elaboration, particularly under the ingenious
hand of Inigo Jones, who designed dresses, movable

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40 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

scenery, and mechanical devices for a number of
masques by Ben Jonson, Heywood, Davenant, and
others. This, as the vogue of the public theatres
revived, exercised a great influence upon the staging
of plays there. Another indirect result was the com-
plete roofing-in of the theatres and the giving of the
performances by artificial light, although the hour of
performances remained about the same as heretofore.
Wren's Drury Lane was at first open to the sky over
the pit, as in the old days, but the space was eventually
covered in by a glass cupola.

Before the union of the two ** patent ** theatres there
was of necessity a keen rivalry between the two troops
of actors. Both included men of worth and ability —
**the best set of English actors yet known," Cibber
calls them — though Davenant's company contained on
the whole the greater talent. Among the most notable
in the ** King's" company were Charles Hart, Michael
Mohun, John Lacy, Edward Kynaston and William
Cartwright. Of these, Hart and Mohun had fought in
the Civil War. The former, who was a grandnephew
of Shakespeare, was a lieutenant in Prince Rupert's
regiment; Mohun was also in the Royalist ranks.
Hart has a further claim to remembrance as having
coached the famous Nell Gwynne for the stage; she
was a later addition to this company, which at the
Restoration included amongst its ladies the more faintly
remembered Rebecca Marshall and the Mrs. Knipp
who figures prominently in portions of Pepys' records.

Lacy was dramatist as well as comedian, and is
memorable as the original Bayes in The Rehearsal when
it was produced in 1671. Kynaston was famous for
his impersonation of female characters in his youth, and
was one of the last male actors of such parts, for the
new fashion of ** women actors" was imported from

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THE THEATRES OF THE RESTORATION. 4I

France in his day," in his maturity, too, he was no mean
performer in more serious parts. Cartwright, who
during the Civil War had started a bookseller's busi-
ness, and resumed acting at the Restoration, died a
man of some substance, and bequeathed his books and
pictures to Dulwich College, an institution founded
some sixty years before by another actor, the famous
Edward Alleyn, who had been the original Tamburlaine
and Faustus of Marlowe's dramas.

The mainstay of Davenant's company was Thomas-
Betterton. He joined the company as a young man of
about five-and- twenty, and made an immediate and
remarkable success as Hamlet in 1661. In this part
Davenant taught him the true Shakespearean ** tradi-
tion," Davenant having seen it played, as we are told,
at the Blackfriars Theatre by Joseph Taylor, who was
instructed by Shakespeare himself. As • Mercutio,
Othello, Brutus, and Macbeth, Betterton afterwards
repeated, if he did not eclipse, his first success. Besides
his supremacy as an actor, he was also distinguished
as a theatrical manager, his ability in this direction
being so well recognized that he visited Paris, at the
King's command, to become acquainted with various
details of stagecraft in which it was thought the
English stage could bear improvement. He went to
the new Drury Lane at the amalgamation of the two
companies in 1682, was a member of the company at
the Lincoln's Inn Theatre, which was opened some
twelve years later, and opened Sir John Vanbrugh's
theatre in the Hay market in 1705. It was in the last-
named theatre (which was on the site of the present
His Majesty's) that he made his final appearance, as
Melantius in The MdicTs Tragedy ^ only a couple of days
before his death, when he was weak and in pain, but
still capable of efforts that roused his audience to

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42 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

enthusiasm. Testimony to his lovable and admirable
character as a man is as strong as it is to his pre-
eminence as an actor; and as an actor this ** phoenix of
the stage," as Colley Gibber calls him, was as remark-
able in comedy as in tragedy. In tragedy he was
perhaps at his greatest. **I never heard a line in
tragedy come from Betterton," says Gibber, ** wherein
my judgment, my ear, and my imagination were not
fully satisfied; which, since his time, I cannot equally
say of any one actor whatsoever."

Nell Gwynne appeared as a member of the King's
Gompany at the original Drury Lane Theatre in 1665,
when she was fifteen or sixteen. In the serious part in
which she made her d^hut (that of Gydaria in Dryden's
Indian Emperor) she made no great impression ; it was
not until she undertook comic parts that this most
impudent of orange-girls, whose rough wit and ready
repartee had made her the darling of the pit, showed
any particular histrionic ability. The speaking of pro-
logues and epilogues, where natural wit was of obvious
service, was her strong point. She had the charm of
audacity and irrepressible merriment; and, moreover,
she danced remarkably well. What she knew of the
technique of acting had been taught her by Hart. She
played for five years at Drury Lane; then, after an
interval of a year or two, at the Dorset Gardens Theatre
with Davenant's company; then again at Drury Lane.
After the union of the theatres she retired from the stage.
Her amours were many, her lovers including the king
and the erratic and brilliant Lord Buckhurst; one of
her sons, of whom the king was father, was created
Duke of St. Albans. A spasmodic generosity, not
uncharacteristic of her type, gained her among the
groundlings a popularity that overlooked her frailties ;
but it is not too much to sav that an undue flavour of

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THE THEATRES OF THE RESTORATION. 43

romance has been allowed to gather round the repute of
this ** impudent comedian."

The rivalry between the two companies became
intolerable, particularly to the King's Company, many
of whose players had deserted to the opposition; in
1682 the two were united and the two patents merged
into one. The King's Company was decaying rapidly,
and would have disappeared under the stress of
competition. It was, indeed, virtually extinguished
when the union was accomplished, for the other and
robuster company contained the bulk of the available
talent. The public was the gainer by the change,
and the event inaugurated a second short era of
successful achievement.

Of the Restoration dramatists, Dryden and Otway in
tragedy, and D'Urfey, Etherege, Sedley, Aphra Behn,
and Wycherley in comedy, are the most conspicuous.
French influence was very strong in both departments
of the drama, and continued so for some time. In
comedy it was a particularly good model, and the
attempt to imitate it led to a greater effort to depict
character and manners, with less reliance upon mere
licentiousness and buffoonery. That taint, it is true,
lingered for some time, but comedy presently developed
on far more individual lines than the artificiality of its
conditions allowed to tragedy.

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CHAPTER VI.

THE UNION OF THE THEATRES, AND AFTER.

The union of the two companies was, as we have seen,
for all practical purposes the absorption into Davenant's
company of the talent that remained in the King's
Company. There had already been serious defections
from the latter. Kynaston, amongst others, had joined
the rival house ; Hart, Mohun, and Nell Gwynne left the
stage after the amalgamation ; and Davenant*s players
already included Betterton in their ranks.

The amalgamation only lasted twelve years. It was
a period of great initial promise, and of some achieve-
ment; but by degrees bad management, seconded by
outside influences, produced the inevitable disruption.
Our knowledge of the internal politics of the stage
during these years and those that immediately succeeded
them is fairly full, thanks to the vivid account of
contemporary affairs given by Colley Gibber in his
** Apology," as he named his vigorous and entertaining
account of his dramatic career. He joined the company
in ifigo, when, besides Betterton and Kynaston, it
included Mr. and Mrs. Leigh, Nokes, Mrs. Barry, Mrs.
Mountfort, and Mrs. Bracegirdle. Gibber made only a
moderate success at first, but eventually became distin-
guished for his performance of certain comic parts, and
still more by his ability as a playwright. His first play,
Love's Last Shifty produced in 1696, was one of the few
of its day that escaped condemnation at the hands of

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THE UNION OF THE THEATRES. 45

intelligent contemporary criticism. He wrote some
thirty plays in all, and was appointed Poet Laureate in
1730, soon after which he retired from the stage.

During the time that the ** union '* lasted, the Theatre
Royal was indebted to the pens of many able writers —
Dry den, D*Urfey, Congreve, Wycherley and others —
who to a great extent created a ** comedy of manners,"
though licentiousness coloured their work to a degree
that now seems amazing. The level of acting was !
high, and a considerable advance was made in what '
we should now call diaracter-acting. in the matter of ;
costume some curious^^lJonventions grew up, and were
in some cases maintained till Garrick*s time. Among
these were the wearing, by all ** heroic " jcharacters, of
a headdress of nodding plumes, the ** forest of feathers **
that HamTet-aHudes to in his scene with the players ;
coarse black wigs and whitened and disfigured faces \
for * 'murderers'* and the like; brilliant red wigs 1
for Jews, and so forth. The actors themselves were '
courted and made much of, and for the most part
acquired such an overweening idea of their importance
as has not been paralleled till the present day. They
enjoyed, it must be remembered, certain very definite
privilegesL as ** His Majesty's Servants," one of the
most convenient of these being immunity from ordinary
arrest for debt. The tastes of the Court and the tem- 1
perament of the monarch were such as to encourage
the actors to make very free with their opportunities
and to breed an overbearing spirit in those that were
popular favourites; while, at the same time, the pro-
clivities of both monarch and audiences were such as to
lead to the gradual debasement of the drama. Charles's
predilections were more for the elaborate display of the
masque than for the poetry of the drama, and still more
for the licentiousness of an Aphra Behn than for honest

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46 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

fun or clean wit. The flood of viciousness which over*
spread the comedy of the time — a time which could
tolerate Dryden's Limberhani^ Wycherley*s Country
Wife^ or the obscenities of Aphra Behn — reflected the
manners that were in vogue at Court and among the
Court's followers, manners that were an inevitable
accompaniment of the reaction from the recent tram-
mels of Puritanism. It is instructive to remember that
Aphra Behn is buried in Westminster Abbey.

The tide of indecency was eventually checked to a
considerable degree, and the acceptance of wholesome
work made possible, by Jeremy Collier's ** Short View
of the Profaneness and Immorality of the English
Stage," which appeared in 1698. This work, whose
earnest purpose was immensely aided by the author's
keen and vivacious style (** harmoniously and becom-
ingly blending mirth with solemnity," as Macaulay
afterwards said of it), nobly swept the ground from
under the feet of the licentious writers and their
apologists. Collier brought to bear upon his argument
not merely prejudice, for that alone would have been
ineffectual, but a thorough knowledge of his subject, a
searching humour and an uncompromising courage.
Vanbrugh, Congreve, and others attempfted replies,
but to these Collier furnished rejoinders that amply
upheld his case ; and the result of his crusade was a
stricter restraint and the possibility of a finer and more
decent style of writing. It is rarely that a single
controversial work has had so complete an effect, nor
is it less rare for a book written from so thoroughly
unpopular a standpoint to be penned in so vivaciously
attractive a style and to prove itself so thoroughly
informed with knowledge.

The management of the Theatre Royal rapidly
deteriorated after 1690. At that time an enterprising

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THE UNION OF THE THEATRES. 47

and unscrupulous attorney^ Christopher^ Richx. h^id by
piirchasel3ecome joint owner with Charles Killi^rew of
the patents which governed theatrical performances.
Killigrew took no active share in the management, and
so became a negligable quantity ; while Rich, who thus
practically had everything in his hands, was from the
first continually entangled in quarrels with actors,
authors, shareholders, in fact with every one connected
with the theatre. His legal training enabled him to
take advantage of every quibble and trick to best his
opponents, who usually gave up the fight from sheer
exhaustion ; consequently he secured his position as a
rapac ious, d ictatorial and not oygr-honest manager who
had littTe-^oT^^j^yalifications to fit him to direct ^he
theatre oygi^jvliich Tie^^rad-^ssumed the sole control.
The theatrical historian Genest sums him up as **a
despicable character, without spirit to bring the power
of the Lord Chamberlain to a legal test, without honesty
to account to the other proprietors for the receipts of
the theatre, without any feeling for his actors, and
without the least judgment as to plays and players."

It was impossible that his company should be loyal
to such a manager as this. The pieces presented began
.to lose their power of attracting audiences, and the
receipts to diminish. Thereupon Rich tried the fatal
expedient of diminishing the actors* salaries and employ-
ing inferior players to play prominent parts. As a
result, he soon had the principal members of the company
in open revolt; and a seeming way out of the difficulty
was found by King^William's g^ranting (in 1695) a
separate p ateat-lQ-J3ettertojx, Mr§. Barry _jsuid Mrs.
Bracegirdle»_and licensing them and their company to
play Tn a separate theatre which they fitted up in a
disused tennis-court in Lincoln's Inn Fields. These
actors found a useful auxiliary in Congreve, the most

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prominent dramatist of the day, who cast in his; lot
with them and took an active share in the management
of the new theatre. This opened with Congfreve's
Love for Love, ** which," says Gibber, ** ran on with
such extraordinary success that they had seldom occasion
to act any other play till the end of the season."

At first the new house had all the best of it. The
ablest actors from the old theatre had seceded to it, and
its novelty drew the town in spite of Rich's attempts to
make Drury Lane attractive. By degrees, however,
the novelty wore off, and the management felt the pinch
of the heavy expenses incurred in starting the new
venture. At Drury Lane, moreover, the younger
actors were improving with practice, Vanbrugh had
stepped into Congreve's shoes, and, with the help of
the few experienced seniors who had remained there,
the old house came by degrees to give performances
not much inferior to those of the seceders.

Colley Gibber had become a member of the Drury
Lane company before the disruption, and remained
faithful to it. Besides his ** Apology," another enter-
taining source of information as to the theatrical events
of these days is a work entitled **A Gomparison
between the two Stages," which appeared in 1702,
when the rivalry was at its keenest. It is attributed
to Gharles Gildon, a miscellaneous writer who was also
a dramatist. In the form of dialogues between friends
who meet to discuss the stage and its concerns, it not
only contains some searching criticism and much detailed
information about the fortunes of individual plays and
players, but also sheds some interesting side-lights on
the social life of the day.

In this work one of the interlocutors confesses him-
self to be ** in a perplexity" concerning the success of
the two play-houses. ** I have often wondered," he

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THE UNION OF THE THEATRES. 49

says, ''how they have so long subsisted in an age so
barren of good plays and in such a dearth of wit.'* He
notes that **the emulation betweem 'em" had (in 1702)
already lasted for seven years, in spite of the difficulties
that beset both houses. Sixteen of the old company
had left Drury Lane, thus robbing it of its best talent;
and yet it held on pertinaciously, though '* sunk into
a very despicable condition" as the result of Rich's
methods of management. The new house, on the other
hand, though better equipped with actors and more
honestly managed, had with difficulty tided over its
initial expenses, and there was much '* dunning the
noblemen" to finance it. It had the advantage in
popularity at first, but the audiences, says Gildon,
*V being in a little time sated with the novelty of the
new house, returned in shoals to the old," where the
younger talent was beginning to mature. By degrees
it became evident that the town could not furnish two
regular audiences, and theatre-goers took to visiting
JLincohi's Inn for tragedy and Dxury Lane for comedy^

The necessity of attracting an audience by hook or
by crook made the rivalry more desperate, and to this
end devices of all kinds were tried. If Rich played
what he considered to be a good card at Drury Lane,
Betterton was obliged to try and trump it in Lincoln's
Inn Fields, and vice-^ersa. Extraneous attractions of
all kinds were introduced — singing, dancing, ** foreign
postures and pantomimists" — anything, in fact, that
would create any sort of sensation. The old house,
says Gildon, called in " the Fiddle, the Voice, the
Painter, and the Carpenter to help 'em; and what
neither the Poet nor the Player could do, the Mechanic
must do for him. . . . The Opera now possesses the
Stage." So Lincoln's Inn had to follow Drury Lane's
lead and take to opera also, but the restricted size of

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50 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

the stage was so much against this that Betterton gave
it up and tried revivals of Shakespeare. Rich, not to
be outdone, replied with revivals of Ben Jonson. **They
fell to task," says Gildon, ** on the FoXy the Alchymisty
and Silent Woman, who had lain twenty years in peace.
They drew these up in battalia against Harry the 4th
and Harry the 8th, and then the fight began."

Gildon, who has a very proper sense of the dignity
of the drama, draws a sad contrast between this state
of things and what was the case in the "palmy days."
Then, he says, the Duke of Monmouth brought a
French dancer to London, but no one would go to see
him, for "the plays were then so good, and Hart and
Mohun acted 'em so well, that the audience would not
be interrupted for so short a time, though 'twas to
see the best Master in Europe." Whereas now, he
says, a stage that had "kept its purity a hundred
years (at least from this debauchery) is prostituted to
Vagabonds, to Caperers, Eunuchs, Fiddlers, Tumblers,
and Gipsies."

One piece of criticism of Gildon's, to quote him yet
once more, is of general application. " Sometimes,"
says he, " a song or a dance may be admitted into a
play without offending our reason. I won't say it is
at any time necessary, for some of our best tragedies
have neither; but perhaps it may be done without
offence, sometimes to alleviate the attention of the
audience, to give the actors time and respite, but
always with regard to the scene, for by no means must
it be made a business independent of that. In this
particular our operas are highly criminal, the music in
them is for the most part an absurd impertinence. For
instance, how ridiculous is it in the scene in The
Prophetess, where the great action of the drama stops
and the chief officers of the army stand still with their

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swords drawn to hear a fellow sing, * Let the soldiers
rejoice'; faith, in my mind, it is as unreasonable as if
a man should call for a pipe of tobacco just when the
priest and his bride are waiting* for him at the altar.
The examples are innumerable, no opera is without
them."

The popularity of opera led to the planning of a
special theatre for such performances. The project
was favoured by the Court, perhaps because it offered
an opportunity of closer control than was possible with
the older patents. Capital was advanced by ** persons
of quality," and by the spring o^^fZ^Sthe town was
possessed of a new and magnificent house built in the
HaymarketjLipon the. site. ncMLQCCupied by His Majesty's
Theatre. It^as designed by Sir John Vanbrugh, who,
besides being a dramatist, was an architect of no mean
powers; but the original building, being faulty in its
acoustic qualities, was subsequently a good deal re-
modelled. The Queen's Theatre, as the new house
was called, was opened in April 1705 with an opera
performed by a company of singers from Italy — ** the
worst," says a contemporary, **that ever came from
thence " — with the result that the players were at once
hissed off the stage. Thereupon B^tterton, who was
finding the strain of his Lincoln's Inn Fields venture too
great for him, joined forces with Vanbrugh and iis^nsr
ferred_his company to the new^heatre. Except for a
considerable success with Vanbrugh^Z"^^ Confederacy
(in which Doggett, of ** Doggett's Badge " fame, made
one of his greatest hits) affairs did not prosper under
the new conditions. Betterton, now an old man of
failing powers, was compelled to leave the greater part
of the management in Vanbrugh's hands, and Vanbrugh
was not a good manager. Nor does he seem to have
been particularly scrupulous; for, whereas those who

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52 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

had supported the scheme for the new house had done
so in the belief that it would constitute an opposition
to the old patents, Vanbrugh contrived that his theatre
should be leased to Owen Swinny, who was a hanger-
on of Rich's, thus paving the way for an admixture of
Rich's Drury Lane company with the attenuated
remains of the old Duke of York's. Cblley Cibber
was amongst the Drury Lane players who acted under
Swinny, whose first season was successful. According
to Cibber, however, the new house was too much out
of the way. **The City, the Inns of Court and the
middle part of the town," he says, ** which were the
most constant support of a theatre and chiefly to be
relied on, were now too far out of the reach of an easy
walk, and coach-hire is often too hard a tax upon the
Pit and Gallery."

By the end of 1707 various causes (among which
were a quarrel between Swinny and Rich, and persistent
wire-pulling on the part of Rich's backers at Court)
resulted in an edict of the Lord Chamberlain to the
effect that only operas should be performed at the
Queen's Theatre, and only plays without singing or
dancing at Drury Lane. The obvious effect of this was
to recreate Rich's monopoly at Drury Lane ; and in
spite of its protests the older house, whose players
petitioned that they had ** by their long labours and
diligence (notwithstanding many discouragements) im-
proved themselves into an able and active company, to
the general satisfaction of the town," was obliged to
receive the Haymarket actors, the amalgamated com-
pany being announced as the ** United Company of
Comedians." Under this style an opening was made
at Drury Lane in January 1708. Rich professed
sympathy with the abortive petition of his Drury Lane
company, but it is difficult to believe that he can have

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THE UNION OF THE THEATRES. 53

been displeased at the disappearance of competition
that was bound to result from the order limiting plays
to Drury Lane and opera to the Queen's Theatre.

The ** United Company" included the names of
Betterton, Wilks, Booth, Gibber, Estcourt, Pinketh-
man, Doggett, Mrs. Knight, Mrs. Barry, and Mrs.
Oldfield. Betterton acted but seldom, owing to age
and physical infirmities ; but the company was a
powerful one and the performances reached a high
level. All went prosperously for a time and fairly
smoothly, the more so as Rich's autocracy had been
a good deal impaired by the growing influence of a
certain Henry Brett, who had acquired a considerable
share in the patent. This share Brett assigned (in
1708) to Wilks, Gibber, and Estcourt, and with this
transference began the final decline of Rich's power.
Wilks was stage-manager ; Gibber, Doggett, and
others had the advantage of a popularity that Rich's
chicanery had alienated from him ; and circumstances
culminated in a revolt against Rich. This meant the
end of his reign, for he was peremptorily ordered to
close the theatre until he had satisfied the grievances
of his company, which he never did.

The salaries of the chief actors at this time are on
record. Betterton received £^ a week, and £1 for
his wife, "although she does not act"; Gibber, ;^5 ;
Mrs. Oldfield, jQ/^; Estcourt, ;^5 ; Wilks, £7, he
being stage-manager as well as actor ; each of these,
moreover, claiming a considei'able sum by the customary
•• benefit nights" that were their perquisite.

When Rich was ousted from Drury Lane, his
financial interest in the theatre passed (not without
considerable wrangling) to William Gollier, a member
of parliament. He, in his turn, found theatrical
management a more formidable task than he had

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54 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

anticipated, and the combination of ill-success with
frequent defections of prominent members of his com-
pany led him to invite Gibber, Wilks, and Doggett to
assume the management, he himself remaining merely
a "sleeping partner" with a monetary stake in the
business.

The prosperity that the new triple management
brought to Drury Lane was happily not endangered
by the fact that at first its existence depended solely on
licence granted by favour of the authorities ; this was
so from the fact that Rich, in whom the old ** patent
rights" to produce plays were still vested, was pro-
jecting a new theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields. He
died, however, before it could be opened.

In contrast to the new prosperity at Drury Lane,
opera at the Queen's Theatre ended in ruining Swinny,
who eventually bolted in 171 1, leaving only debts behind
him. His period of management is chiefly notable as
marking the establishment of Italian opera as a form of
entertainment in England. At first it was a hybrid
entertainment, Italian *' principals" singing in their
own tongue to the accompaniment of English from the
rest of the singers, a condition of affairs which Addison's
ridicule helped to kill. Just before Swinny's collapse,
however, Handel's RinaldOy the first opera he produced
in England, was performed at the Haymarket house.

The disturbed years just described, anterior to the
famous triple management of Drury Lane, were
remarkable for the production of a number of brilliant
plays, or, at any rate, of a number of plays from brilliant
pens. Dryden, Congreve, Wycherley, Gibber, Farquhar,
Vanbrugh, Sedley, Steele — these are names that mean
much in the history of the drama. The post-Restora-
tion drama had not, indeed, the solid qualities of the
Elizabethan, and had but little of its grandeur of aim ;

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THE UNION OF THE THEATRES. 55

it was overlaid with licentiousness to an extent that is
unforgivable ; but it atoned for this in some measure by
sheer brilliance and audacity of wit. As was but natural
under these conditions, comedy was its best outcome ;
the poetic drama had become stilted in form and
altogether unreal in sentiment, or, at any rate, must
seem so to us to-day.

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CHAPTER VII.

FROM THE DRURY LANE *< TRIUMVIRATE" TO GARRICK.

CoLLEV Gibber's well-known and much-quoted account
of the Drury Lane management in his time is justifiably
coloured with pride at the achievement he and his
fellow-managers accomplished. The prosperity of the
theatre was doubled; the company worked loyally
together; honesty and decency of behaviour were the
rule instead of the exception. ** In the twenty years
while we were our own directors," says Gibber, **we
never had a creditor that had occasion to come twice for
his bill; every Monday morniiig discharged us of all
demands, before we took a shilling for our own use."
A welcome contrast this to the bygone Richian methods !
Ghetwood, who was the prompter at Drury Lane, fully
bears out all that Gibber says on this score.

In their time, Ghetwood maintains the stage to have
been **in full perfection; their green-rooms were free
from indecencies of every kind, and might justly be
compared to the most elegant drawing-rooms of the
prime quality; no fops or coxcombs ever showed their
monkey tricks there, but, if they chanced to thrust in,
were awed into respect; even persons of the first rank
and taste of both sexes would often mix with the
performers without any stain to their honour or
understanding." They also achieved the feat of
securing a clear stage for the actors, forbidding the

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spectators to come upon the boards as they had formerly ^fv^
done to the embarrassment of the performers.

Each of the three managers was a capable actor.
Wilks possessed great personal charm, and was seen to
best advantage* in parts of an easy and natural kind;
Gibber had a particular aptitude for parts that cari-
catured affectation; Doggett, for those of broad farce.
On the business side of their collaboration, Gibber
seems to have supplied the critical, as well as the
venturesome, element ; Wilks, the important element of
personal charm and a capacity for smoothing down
feathers ruffled by his colleague's manner ; Doggett, in
his turn, was an admirable business man, and his
conscientious care of the theatre's accounts was
invaluable.

How greatly this new tone in theatrical life was
appreciated in the highest quarters is evident from a
Royal Order of November 171 1 forbidding any one to go
behind the scenes at a performance. In the preamble to
this it is admitted that the orders already given for the
reformation of the Stage '*have in great measure had
the good end we proposed," and satisfaction is expressed
that nothing is ** acted contrary to religion or good
manners." The three managers, besides winning good
opinions, had substantial reward in the shape of receipts
far greater than any theatre had hitherto reached.
Congreve, Gay, Rowe, and Addison are the most
famous of the many playwrights who were concerned
with the earlier days of this management. Addison's
Cato and Rowe's /ane Shore (two plays of widely
opposite character), which were produced in 17 13 and
17 14 respectively, were among the most prominent of
all their productions;

CatOy which Doran characterizes as **a compound of
transcendent beauties and absurdity," is remarkable,

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58 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

besides its intrinsic merits, as having established the
'^ position of Barton Booth, who as a Westminster boy
} had attracted attention by the ** musical sweetness of
his voice and his elegance of deportment" in the
Westminster Plays. Betterton befriended and ad-
vanced Booth when the latter took to the stage as a
profession, and Booth's impersonation of Cato in
Addison's play now made him a personage to be
reckoned with.

So popular did he become, both with the public and
at Court, that before long he used all his efforts to be
included in the management. Doggett was obstinately
opposed to any such course; and, finding his opposi-
tion fruitless, resigned active participation in the
management, and had recourse to lawsuits which
ended in his discomfiture. He was obliged to acquiesce
in being bought out of his share in the patent, and in
seeing Booth take his place in the " triumvirate."
Being subsequently fortunate in several financial
ventures, he died a rich man some seven years later.
Besides his reputation as an actor, he left behind him
an abiding memento in the shape of the **Coat and
Badge" annually competed for by Thames watermen
on the first of August in commemoration of the
accession of the House of Hanover to the English
throne.

Doggett's businesslike qualities must have been
missed, but the new management nevertheless enjoyed
a long period of prosperity. This was, no doubt, in
great measure due to the fact that all the three
managers were able and popular actors, and fortunate
in having a strong company under their command.
Gibber became inflated with a sense of his importance
and played the autocrat; but the deserved popularity
that his two colleagues enjoyed among the rest of the

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DRURY LANE "TRIUMVIRATE" TO GARRICK. 59

company, and with the public, helped the management
over many difficult places.

There were, indeed, plenty of troubles to assail them
from without. There were squabbles with the Lord
Chamberlain and difficulties with Sir Robert Steele,
besides the energetic competition of John Rich at
Lincoln's Inn Fields, which he had opened under
Letters Patent in 17 14. There Quin (who made his
d^but at Drury Lane, but had gone over to Lincoln's
Inn Fields in 17 17) was becoming a serious rival to
Booth in popular favour. Rich, moreover, had given a
fillip to the languishing fortunes of his house by the in-
troduction of ** pantomimes," dumb-show plays dealing
with the adventures of Harlequin and Columbine, and
presented with considerable elaboration of scenery and
machinery. Rich himself was an excellent mimic, and
excelled in the part of Harlequin* •* New-fangled
foppery," Cibber called it; nevertheless it proved so
much to the taste of the town that Drury Lane was
obliged to follow suit. Pantomime after pantomime
was brought out at both houses, each trying to outdo
the latter's last effort ; and for a long time this form of
entertainment remained a standing dish, to be returned
to when other fare did not please the audiences' palate*

A curious feature of the competition between Drury
Lane and Lincoln's Inn Fields was a mutual engage-
ment entered into by the rival managers in 1722. By
this they bound themselves not to engage each other's
actors without consent, under penalty of a forfeit of
£,20, This high-handed arrangement quietly ignored
the wishes of the actors themselves ; no doubt it was
designed to prevent such defections as that of Quin
from Drury Lane.

The growing ill-health of Booth was the first portent
of the dark days that were looming ahead. The death

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60 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

of two of the triumvirate and the retirement of the
third were not far off; the deaths of Anne Oldfield,
Congreve, and Steele were, as will presently be seen,
additional disasters, and the break up of the manage-
ment could not long be delayed.

Meanwhile the centre of interest shifts for a while
from Drury Lane to Lincoln's Inn Fields. At the latter
house Gay's ** Newgate pastoral," The Beggar* s Opera;,
was produced in 1728 with a success that put the older
theatre entirely in the shade. This satire • aga?ifet
ministers and court favourites was offered to (andipjost
unfortunately declined by) Gibber. Rich accepted it;
and was rewarded by one of the most remarkaBW
I successes in dramatic history. The piece, which was
a comedy interspersed with songs, was performed ^
1 during two seasons with ever-increasing favour. The
! oft-quoted saying, that it ** made Gay rich and Rich
gay," was more than justified. Nothing that Gibber
could do at Drury Lane made any impression upon its
popularity or power of attraction ; according to its
foster-father, Swift, it even drove ** Gulliver" out of<.
people's heads. It brought money in welcome abuadf.r
ance to its producers, and made the fame of its per-
formers, — notably of two, Thomas Walker, who played
Macheath, and Lavinia Fenton, who drew the town
with her impersonation of Polly Peachum. The latter
became the craze of the day and captured the affections
of the Duke of Bolton, who some twenty-three years
afterwards, on the death of his wife, made the sprightly .
Lavinia his duchess.

For a long period this attraction, alternating with
Quin's performances in tragedy, drew the town to
Lincoln's Inn Fields ; while Old Drury was as unlucky
in its plays as in the fortunes of its players and its
dramatists. Besides this, there was the additional

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DRURY LANE "TRIUMVIRATE" TO GARRICK. 6l

competition of a new tlieatre-X5^ned in the JHaymarket
_in^.^*7ao, and of a theatre (for which Fielding was
writing) in Goodman's Fields. The life of thetincoTh's
Inn Fields house practically ended in 1732, when John
Rich migrated to the newly-built Covent Garden
Theatre. Although in a season from 1733 to 1734 an
Italian Opera company performed at Lincoln's Inn
Fields under Porpora^s direction, as an opposition to
Handel at the Queen's Theatre, there is practically
nothing else to note in its history. Subsequently
it was utilized as a barrack, an auction hall, and a
warehouse, and was ultimately pulled down in 1848.

The series of disasters from persopal causes that
befell the Drury.L,ane triumvirate during the last five
years of their reign was overwhekning. To* begin
with, Booth retired in 1723. He had been overtaken
by severe illness, after a season of particularly brilliant
acting ; and when he reappeared it was obvious that he
was a doomed mar^. His last, season wa$ simultaneous
with the vogue of the Beggar's Opera at the rival house.
For five years after his retirement he struggled against
increasing illness, and wandered from place to place in
search of health ; eventually he fell into the relentless
hands of a London quack, whose nostrums almost
certainly killed him. He died in May 1733, ^"^ ^^^
buried at Cowley, near Uxbridge. Barton Street in
Westminster perpetuated his memory in its name.

Booth's acting was the ** grand style" at its best^
Parts such as Cato in Addison's play of the name,
Othello, or Pyrrus in The Distressed Mother ^ are those
with which his name will always be bound up. He was
a man of education and imagination, but was apt in his
acting to set too much store upon moments of supreme
effectiveness. For such moments he would save his
^nerg^ies, while, as a contemporary critic tells us, he

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62 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

would ** soften and slide over with an elegant negli-
gence " the weak places in his parts. The adulation he
received, coupled with his own sense of his powers, led
him into occasional contempt of unappreciative audi-
ences, for whom he would act indolently ; ill-health had
probably also something to do with this; but let him
only realize that there was one intelligent spectator
among his audience, and he would be on his mettle and
all alert. While (as Doran tells us) he once so markedly
refrained from exerting himself before a cold audience
that '* a note was addressed to him from the stage box,
the purport of which was to know whether he "^a's
acting for his own diversion or in the servfce and for
the entertainment of the public," on the other hand,
when one night he was acting Othello rather languidly
to a poor house, **he suddenly began to exert himself
to the utmost in the great scene of the third act. On
coming off the stage, he was asked the cause of this
sudden effort. * I saw an Oxford man in the pit,' he
answered, * for whose judgment I had more respect than
for that of the rest of the audience ' ; and he played the
Moor to that one but efficient judge."

The tale of misfortunes at Drury Lane was continued
by the deaths of Congreve and Steele in 1729; by the
death, in the following year, of Anne Oldfield, whose
acting, as Dibdin declares, "embraced every descrip-
tion of tragedy and comedy," she possessing ** some
portion of every requisite that characterized the method
of the old school"; the death, in 1732, of Wilks, a
generous and kind-hearted man and a fine actor,
inimitable as Macduff and Sir Harry Wildair, equally
at home in both comedy and tragedy, described by
Steele as unsurpassed in representing ** the graces of
nature," and yet excellent in such heavier parts as
Hamlet, Othello, Jaffier in Venice Preserved^ or Edgar

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DRURY LANE "TRIUMVIRATE" TO GARRICK. 63

in King Lear; and, finally, the retirement (in 1733) of
Cibber, who had been appointed Poet Laureate three
years previously. A useful and shrewd manager,
Cibber was also an excellent actor in a certain range
of characters, a good writer of comedy, an industriousi
poet, and an honest man. His conceit was his weaki
point; still, as Dr. Johnson said, ** Colley Cibber, sir,'
was by no means a blockhead; but by arrogating to\
himself too much he was in danger of losing that degree f
of estimation to which he was entitled." He reappeared
at intervals on the stage, after his "retirement," until
1745, published his entertaining autobiographical
*' Apology" in 1740, and died in 1757. Doran de-
scribes him as a man who to the end excelled in making
the best of circumstances. To illustrate this he quotes
an anecdote of Horace Walpole's hailing Cibber on his
birthday (just two years before his death) **with a
*' good-morrow,' and - 1 am glad, sir, to see you looking
so well.' * Egad, sir,* replied the old gentleman, all
diamonded and powdered and dandified, ' at eighty-four
it's well for a man that he can look at all.'"

From the hands of the triumvirate Drury Lane
passed into those of a ** young man of the town " of the
name of Highmore, who speedily ruined himself over
it; and fronTTiTs^nto those of a similar individual
named Charles Fleetwood, an unthrifty and not over-
scrupulous manager, whose sole claim to recognition
■ is the fact of his having engaged Macklin to act at
Drury Lane. His reign lasted some twelve years, and
then the management came into the hands of James
Lacy, who had been Rich's assistant manager at the
new Covent Garden Theatre. To further anticipate the
sequence of events, it will be convenient to state here
that in 1746 Lacy took into partnership David Garrick,
who had already acquired fame and a considerable

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64 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

fortune. Garrick was to be sole manager of the stage,
Lacy of business matters; and froni this time there
began for Drury Lane, under Garrick's direction, a
brilliant epoch of thirty years, which demands separate
consideration.

Meantime, in the period between CoUey Gibber's
retirement and Garrick's assumption of management
there intervened some ten years that in many ways
proved important to the fortunes of the various theatres.
These, it may be convenient to recall, were Drury Lane,
the King's Theatre (as the opera-house in the Hay-
market was now called), Goodman's Fields, and the
newly-erected Haymarket and Covent Garden Theatres.
At Drury Lane, as has been already said, the en-
gagement of Charles Macklin, with his appearance as
Shylock, was the only memorable incident during this
period. Intrigues and discord were continually up-
setting a management that was feeble and reckless by
turns; and at the bottom of most of the trouble was
Theophilus Gibber, the entirely discreditable son of the
famous Golley. He seems to have been but an in-
different actor, with a love for notoriety that knew no
checking by the bounds of good taste or good manners.
His life closed in disgrace, and ended by his being
drowned in shipwreck in 1758, when he was on his way
to Dublin as member of a miscellaneous troupe of
I players.

I Macklin, who had earned his discharge from the
^ I Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre some years previously,
owing, as it is said, to his obstinacy in persisting in a
more ** natural" style of acting in opposition to the
traditional stilted method, triumphed over strong
opposition when he appear«d early in 1741 at Drury
Lane in The Merchant of Venice. For many years the
play had only been presented in a mutilated and per-

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DRURY LANE "TRIUMVIRATE" TO GARRICK. 65

verted version called The Jew of Venice^ in which
Shylock was played as a low-comedy part. Macklin's
determination to use the original text and to play the
character as he conceived it was rewarded with a
success that is historical, immortalized in Pope's **This
is the Jew that Shakespeare drew." He was a brusque
and irascible, but honourable and generous man, and a
fine actor within certain limits.

As we shall see, his stage career was of unique
length, lasting till he was in his ninetieth year. ** Not
a great tragedian," says Doran, **nor a good light
comedian ; but in comedy and farce where rough energy
is required, and in parts resembling Shylock in their
earnest malignity, he was paramount." In any case he
dealt a blow to the old style of acting, and began a '
reform in that respect that his greater successor Garrick
was to complete.

Partly by accident, and partly owing to the constant
troubles at Drury Lane during Fleetwood's manage-
ment and the era of Theophilus Gibber's mischievous
ascendancy, the history of Drury Lane is, during the
period we are considering, connected with that of the
new theatre that had been built in the Haymarket in
1720. This was popularly known, in contradistinction
to the King's Theatre, as the ** little house" in the
Haymarket. This house was the ancestor of the
Haymarket Theatre of the present day, and stood next
door to where the present house stands. There is
extant a drawing, made in 1 821, of the ** little house "
still standing at the north side of the present theatre,
at whose completion it was demolished. It was built
on the site of an old inn, by John Potter, a carpenter
who had bought the site. It had no patent or licence^
and existed practically on sufferance.

A ** French comedy, with actors from Paris," with

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66 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

which it opened, failed entirely; and for the first ten
years of its life it was given over to miscellaneous
entertainments, mainly musical or acrobatic when pro-
fessional, occasionally dramatic when provided by
) amateurs.
y^ Stilt-walking, acrobatic performances, and tight-rope

dancing were to be seen there ; among the professors of
the latter was Madame Violante, who is chiefly remem-
bered as having trained Peg Wofiington for the stage.
The first name of any consequence to be met with
in connection with the Haymarket Theatre is that of
"^- . Fielding. The great humorist of Tom/ofieshsid already
written several comedies after the Congreve model, and
in 1730 produced at the Haymarket his Tom Thumby
a burlesque which unsparingly ridiculed the ** grand
manner'* of contemporary tragedy, and at the same
time tickled the ears of the groundlings with audacious
personal satire. From 1735 to 1737, again. Fielding
was managfer of the theatre, and produced various of
his comedies there until the Licensing Act of 1737
(which the nature of one of his productions had no
small share in bringing about) put an end to his
managerial career.

During the intervening years, from 1733 to 1735, the
Haymarket was occupied by a group of actors who, in
consequence of squabbles with the Drury Lane patentee,
had seceded from there with Theophilus Cibber at their
head. In spite of attempts on the part of the accredited
patentees of the two old houses to dislodge them,
they managed to hold the boards for a time. Eventu-
ally, as a result of further legal proceedings, they were
ordered to return to Drury Lane. Macklin alone
remained at the Haymarket under the brief Fielding
management.

f he famous Licensing Act of 1737 was the result of

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official indignation at the freedom of satire that had
been displayed on the stage, notable in Fielding's
comedies and burlesques. It established the Censor-
ship of Plays under the authority of the Lord Chamber-
lain's Office, and definitely forbade the licensing of any
more theatres in London than the two patent houses,
Drury Lane and Covent Garden. The King's Theatre
was held to exist for Opera, and the Goodman's Fields
house before very long closed its doors for ever ; while \
the Haymarket managed to exist in defiance of the law,
or by ingenious evasion of it, until its obtaining a
partial patent (many years later) gave it an accredited^
status.

The last days of the Goodman's Fields house were\
rendered memorable by the appearance there, in October

1 741, of David Garrick as Richard III. The Licensing
Act, it may be mentioned, was evaded by plays being
inserted in the programme as a nominally gratis
** Interlude" between two parts of a** Vocal and
Instrumental Concert " for which admission was paid.
The playbill stated that the name-part in Richard III,
would be played **by a young gentleman who never ^^
appeared on any stagfe." This was not exactly true;
for Garrick, who was now twenty-four, had played
there already as an amateur, and had performed
pfofessionally with its company at Ipswich under the
north de guerre of Lyddal. It was, however, his

*.* official ** d^buL He made an extraordinary impression
upon the public and his critics, and played at Good-
man's Fields till the theatre was finally closed in May

1742. After that he was at Drury Lane from 1742 to
1745, acted in Dublin in 1745 and 1746, and also at
Covent Garden between 1745 and 1747. In the latter
year he became joint manager of Drury Lane with ^
Lacy, /

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68 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

To bring" the history of the other theatres up to the
point when the Garrick era at Drury Lane began — a
period when the history of the English Stage centred
for many years in the old house — it will be convenient
to trace briefly here what was transpiring at the King's
Theatre, where the history of opera in England was in
the making, and at the newly-built Covent Garden
theatre, for which John Rich had abandoned the old
Lincoln's Inn Fields house.

Since the restriction of the King's Theatre to operatic
performances, its fortunes had mainly depended upon
the genius of Handel, who since 17 lo had practically
established himself in this country. His first opera,
RinaldOy was performed there in 171 1 with such success
that he followed it up with a series of similar works.
Royal patronage was bestowed upon him, and per-
mission given to establish at the King's Theatre
a company of Italian opera singers under the strange
title of the Royal Academy of Music. This enterprise
proved a complete failure. It lasted some seven years
with gradually waning fortunes, and collapsed in 1728
under the combined pressure of exhausted finances and
the ridicule of the Beggar's Opera^ which killed serious
opera for the time being. After a short interval, how-
ever, Handel managed to carry on another operatic
enterprise at the same house, and produced several
new operas, as also his Esther and Acts and Galatea in
1732. A couple of years later this enterprise failed,
largely on account of the vigorous opposition of the
Italian composer Porpora, who managed, with another
Italian operatic company, to make the moribund
Lincoln's Inn house for a brief period the resort of
fashion. Handel then threw in his lot with Rich at
the new Covent Garden Theatre.

That was opened with gfreat flourish in December

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DRURY LANE "TRIUMVIRATE" TO GARRICK 69

1732 with a revival of Congreve's The Way of the
Worlds with Quin, Ryan, Pinkethman and others in
the cast. It was a small house, well decorated and
well equipped, but neither Congreve nor subsequent
Shakesperean revivals seemed able to attract good
fortune to it. Handel brought his operas to it in 1735,
and for two years these alternated there with plays
under Rich's direction, while Porpora took Handel's
place at the King's Theatre with such success that
Handel's connection with Covent Garden ended in 1737
with his bankruptcy.

Miscellaneous plays old and new, interspersed withN^
Shakespeare, kept Covent Garden going in a modest
way of merit for some years after 'this, without any
particularly interesting features until the advent of the
fascinating Peg Woffington. After her apprenticeship
in a juvenile troupe which Madame Violante had taken
from London to Dublin, where Peg had worked her
way to popularity, the brilliant girl at the age of
twenty-two induced Rich to engage her. She appeared
at Covent Garden in 1740 as Sylvia in The Recruiting
Officer^ and subsequently in Wilks' old part of Sir
Harry Wildair in The Constant Couple. During her
brief career (for she was stricken down upon the stage
in 1757 and died three years later) she oscillated
between Covent Garden and Drury Lane. She played
a wide range of characters, even undertaking Lady
Macbeth, but is chiefly remembered for her impersona-
tion of the gay, good-natured rake. Sir Harry Wildair.
She was a jovial, witty, charitable woman, to whom
for these qualities much may be forgiven, and an actress
of remarkable charm and considerable native talent.

Rich had now a strong company at Covent Garden, j
including, besides the brilliant Woffington, Mrs. Horton, /
Ryan and Theophilus Cibber. Garrick was acting with /

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70 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

ever-increasing popularity at Drury Lane between 1742
and 1745, and to meet this opposition Rich engaged
Quin and Mrs. Gibber. The latter, who was a charming
singer and actress, was the sister of Thomas Augustine
Arne, who had been latterly appointed '* composer" to
Prury Lane.

In 1743 Handel was again heard at Covent Garden,
this time in Oratorio, his Sampson being first performed
there in February and his Messiah in March of that
year. On the triumph of The Messiah it is unnecessary
to dilate ; but it is curious to observe that an extra
hundred were enabled to squeeze into the audience for
its performance after an advertisement had been issued
begging " ladies to come without their hoops and
gentlemen without their swords.'*

From 1744 to 1745 Drury Lane had the best of it in
the matter of actors. Garrick and Macklin were acting
there, and Peg Woffington and Mrs. Gibber had gone
over to them ; to which powerful combination Rich
could only offer Quin and Kitty Glive as a counter-
attraction. For the succeeding two years better
fortune attended Govent Garden, for Garrick joined its
company and remained there, as fellow-player with
Quin and Mrs. Gibber, until he joined Lacy in the
management of Drury Lane in 1747. Garrick's natural
and apparently unstudied method of acting was steadily
making its way in the face of the ** traditional " style
of which Quin was still a vigorous exponent, and the
contrast was admittedly instructive.
\ One more event of note remains to be recorded in
the history of Govent Garden during these few years—
namely, the production in 1747 of Handel's Judas
Maccabceus.

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CHAPTER VIII.

THE GARRICK PERIOD.

After Fleetwood's collapse, the management of Drury
Lane had passed into the hands of James Lacy, who
from being an unsuccessful business man at Norwich
had developed into a fairly able theatrical manager,
owing a good deal to the experience he had gained at
the new Covent Garden theatre as assistant to Rich.
He was, at all events, honest ; and if his initial manage-
ment at Drury Lane was none too successful, it was
more from want of knowledge than want of pains.
Garrick had acted at Covent Garden when Lacy was
there, and had a respect for him, although Lacy had
endangered that respect by making proposals to
Garrick that the latter did not consider consonant with
his rapidly improving position in public favour. When,
however. Lacy now approached him with the offer of
an equal share in the management of Drury Lane,
Garrick accepted it, and henceforward their mutual
relations were harmonious.

Drury Lane began the autumn season of 1746 under
these auspices. Garrick had sole control of the stage,
and was successful in enforcing discipline among the
actors as well as decorum among the audience. The
most significant of his reforms in the latter direction
was his resolutely clearing the stage of spectators. It
appears almost inconceivable to us that for so long,

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72 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

even at an epoch of fine acting and sometimes
elaborately staged plays, spectators should have been
allowed to sit upon the stage, sometimes so encumber-
ing the actors that these were obliged to shoulder their
way through the fops to gain a clear space in which to
perform. Rich had endeavoured to reform this abuse
when he was at Lincoln's Inn Fields; but the only
result at that time was a riot which led to the closing
of the theatre, and was followed by a royal command
that a guard of soldiers should attend during the per-
formances at the patent houses. For many years after
the presence of soldiers in the house ceased to be
necessary the custom of stationing sentries outside the
theatres in question was maintained.

Garrick*s reputation was by this time assured. The
striking triumph of his natural style of acting over the
artificiality of the old school has already been adverted
to. There was truth in Quin's saying, ** If this young
man is right, we are all wrong." A contemporary
' comment on Garrick*s performance in Richard II L
shows by implication where the difference lay. After
paying a tribute to the easy naturalness of his voice, it
goes on to say: ** He is not less happy in his mien
and gait, in which he is neither strutting nor mincing,
neither stiff nor slouching. When three or four are on
the stage with him, he is attentive to all that is spoke,
and never drops his character when he has finished a
speech by either looking contemptuously on an inferior
performer, unnecessary spitting, or suffering his eyes
to wander through the whole circle of spectators.**
Besides a number of fine Shakespearian impersonations,
Garrick*s record includes his appearance in a host of
plays which can only appear to the reader of to-day as
grandiloquent rubbish. We have, however, the testi-
mony of his contemporaries as to the effect his genius

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THE GARRICK PERIOD. 73

produced in such plays, transmuting their poor material
into the semblance of something finer. Great actor as
he was, it is quite possible that his superlative fame
owed a little to his social success, for which he strove
eagerly. Betterton, before him, was probably as fine
an actor, if not finer ; and his equals have no doubt
been seen in some that followed him ; but, when all is
said, Garrick's is by far the most noteworthy figure in
eighteenth century acting. In judging the histrionic
successes of the period, it must be remembered that
the sensibility of eighteenth century audiences was a
very different thing from the comparative stolidity to
which we are accustomed. For instance, Doran'
incidentally mentions in his account of a drama, now
entirely forgotten, that at one pathetic passage **all
the critics in the pit burst into tears, and then shook the
house with repeated and unbounded applause,"^ — and
all this caused merely by the attitude and touching
voice of Spranger Barry in exclaiming the words, ** Oh,
look there ! " as he pointed to Mrs. Gibber swooning
in a pathetic part !

At the beginning of Garrick's management at Drury
Lane there was no great opposition at the other houses.
Quin soon acknowledged his inability to keep up a
rivalry with the new star, and in a year or two left the
stage altogether. As soon as he realized that Garrick
was to be manager of Drury Lane, he abandoned Rich
at Covent Garden and retired in a huff to Bath.
Soberer reflection led him to wish that Rich would
recall him, and there followed a terse correspondence :
'* I am at Bath. Yours, James Quin," wrote Quin to!
Rich; to which Rich replied: **Stay there and b
damned. Yours, John Rich." | (

Quin returned, however, and played at Covent
Garden till 1751, when he withdrew from the stage.

6 )

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He died five years later, after a period of retirement as
happy as it was brief. His society, as that of a man of
taste and culture, was soug^ht after ; old jealousies were
forgotten, even between Garrick and himself, and new
friendships were formed ; and after his death his
personal kindliness was as much in people's mouths
as his excellence in some departments of acting.

Garrick had now command of a notable company.
It included his old rival, Macklin, who after two years
seceded to Covent Garden ; Spranger Barry and Mrs.
Gibber, both much in favour with the public, their
subsequent defection to Covent Garden (in 1750) being
a serious blow to Drury Lane; Mrs. Pritchard, **by
nature for the stage designed, in person graceful and in
sense refined,*' as Churchill sang ; the brilliant Peg
Woffington, now at the zenith of her brief career ;
Kitty Clive, matchless in certain kinds of comedy, who
remained faithful to Drury Lane for the rest of her
stage life, and survived that long enough to see the
early triumphs of Mrs. Siddons, whose acting she
enthusiastically described as** all truth and daylight";
Delane, Barrington, Yates, Sparks, and other minor
favourites.

Despite the praise that attended Garrick's acting as
Hamlet, Macbeth, Lear, Othello, Benedick, Henry V. ,
or in the low-comedy parts in which he showed an equal
mastery, the competition of Covent Garden became
formidable when the break-up of Garrick's company
began and Spranger Barry and Mrs. Cibber enlisted
under Rich. Barry appeared at Covent Garden as
Othello, Julius Caesar, Tamerlane, and King John ;
Quin still held his own there, and appeared with Peg
Woffington in Macbeth; the versatile Peg and the
charming Mrs. Cibber shone in everything they
attempted ; and no sooner did one house mount an

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THE GARRICK PERIOD. 75

attraction than the other followed suit. To Garrick's
great disgust, even Rich*s pantomimes drew the public
away from Drury Lane ; so much so, that Garrick
acted Harlequin himself, and proved to be one of the
best the stage had seen, surpassed only by the older
Rich, whose inimitable Harlequin has already been
mentioned. ** If they won't come to Lear and Hamlet^
I must give them this,'* said little Davy, and entered
into the spirit of it as earnestly as into the portrayal
of his finest parts. Doran tells us that ** Theobald's
Hfiirlequin Sorcerer^ which had often filled Lincoln's
Inn Fields, was even more attractive at Covent
Garden above a quarter of a century later. The
company assembled at midday, and sometimes broke
the doors open, unless they were opened to them, by
three o'clock, and so took the house by storm. Those
who could not gain admittance went over to Drury
Lane, but Garrick found them without heart for
tragedy ; " the grown-up masters and misses had been
deprived of their puppet show and rattle, and were
sulky accordingly." And so it came about that
Garrick played Harlequin in self-defence.

The most famous incident in the rivalry of this
period was wh^n, on the same night in September
1750, both houses put up Romeo and Juliet, Garrick
played Romeo to the Juliet of Miss Bellamy and the
^fercutio of Woodward ; at Covent Garden Barry was
the Romeo, Mrs. Gibber the Juliet, and Macklin the
Mercutio. Garrick, though physically not the ideal
Romeo, was the more ardent and impassioned, Barry
the more tender and seductive; of the two Juliets,
the natural style of the lovely Bellamy found champions
as vigorous as those of the maturer beauty and tragic
force of Mrs. Gibber. There is on record the remark
of a fair critic of the rival Romeos, to the effect that if

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76 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

she had been Juliet to Garrick's Romeo she would have
expected him to climb up to her on the balcony, but
that had Barry been the Romeo she would certainly
have gone down to him ! In this day of long ** runs"
one can hardly appreciate the sensation among the
public when the play was performed for twelve con-
secutive nights at Covent Garden and thirteen at Drury
^Laae, where Garrick was not to be beaten ! This
constituted a grievance to a play-going public of limited
numbers that was always at the theatre and so ex-
pected a constant change of bill. Epigrams resulted
from the wits* sense of the grievance, one of the best
known being —

Li"* Well, what's to-night ?' says angry Ned,
As up from bed he rouses;
* Romeo again !' he shakes his head:
1 * A plague on both your houses 1 '"

j '

Barry's success as Romeo resulted in Garrick dropping
it out of his repertory; but in another part in which
they were contrasted — that of Lear, which was probably
Garrick's finest effort — the tables were turned. In this
part Garrick's finer intellectual equipment easily gave
him the advantage. Another set of doggerel verses
that took the town records this success: —

" The town has found out different ways
To praise its different Lears;
To Barry it gives loud huzzas,
To Garrick only tears.

A king, aye, every inch a king.

Such Barry* doth appear;
But Garrick's quite another thing —

He's every inch King Lear."

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THE GARRICK PERIOD. y^

And this despite the fact that Garrick dressed King Lear
as an old gentleman of the eighteenth century, and used
a crutch ! Astonishment, however, at the illusron that
was accomplished in spite of sublime anachronisms and
incongruities in the way of dress need not be so great.
The dresses worn were conventions, or at all events the
distinguishing marks of certain characters were so;
such as, for instance, the monstrous feathered turbans
worn by ** heroic" characters, a custom Garrick very
properly abandoned. It is difficult for us to bear in
mind, in these days of historical ** accuracy** on the
stage, that ever since the drama had emerged from its
beginnings the actors had worn every-day dress, in-
tensified in certain directions and made fanciful in
others, but still without an attempt at synchronism.
So that the sense of incongruity was not present; all
was a matter of convention, down to such points as that
of a comic character being denoted by the wearing of a
red wig, and so forth. Garrick played Macbeth in a
Hanoverian military uniform to a Lady Macbeth in
hoops and feathers, but that fact disturbed no one*s
appreciation of their performances. This is further
shown by the fact that later actors revived the feathered
headgear for ** heroes," without adverse comment until
the day when a more fastidious taste for accuracy
began to make itself felt.

To eighteenth century audiences the acting was every-
thing, and was more thought of than the play, as we
may fairly infer from the lamentably distorted and per-
verted shape in which the Shakespearean plays were
produced even by Garrick. How little the matter of
creating scenic illusion was considered, will be realized
when we think of the crowd of spectators on the stage,
and the edifice (like a ** grand stand**) that was cus-
tomarily erected at the back of the stage to hold highly-

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priced seats for patrons on ** benefit" nights; though
Garrick, to his credit, managed to do away with both
abuses. It was the difficulty of providing compensation
for the loss caused to ** benefit-takers " by the abolition
of the ** building" on the stage that J^ed Garrick ,to
enlarge the auditorium of Drury Lane in 1762. : ,

We need not pity eighteenth-century audiencesj ^r
what they had to put up with in those respects, fp^jit
did not trouble them in the least. Whether they lacjl^e^
imagination, or had so much that it rose superior^ jtp
such obstacles, need not be argued. We • m\ist . a^sp
bear in mind the comparatively dim illumination of the
stagfe, lit from above by some dozens of candles on two
or three chandeliers ; though Garrick established^ la^tejr
in his career, the custom of footlights, an.ionovatipn
which he introduced after a visit to Paris. >>

> (garrick undoubtedly, as far as his ** acting versions "
went, maltreated Shakespeare's plays sadly, as in his
additions to Macbeth^ or his retention of Tate*s tiappy
ending to King Lear and Howard's similar perversion
pf the end of Romeo and Juliet. Still, as Mrs. Parsons
points out in her ** Garrick and his Circle," he. M all
events acted the plays magnificently, and 'f nobpdy in
his senses could think that Gibber and Garrick did
Shakespeare as much harm as the poppy oi, obliyiop*"
Garrick's own conviction that he was a purist in the
matter of Shakespeare, and his claim that he * Most no
drop of that immortal man," are significant testimony,
per contra^ of the condition into which appreciation of
Shakespeare had fallen. ,: ,

Besides the weighty rivalry of Covent Garden,
Garrick had to contend with a smaller but very active
opposition in the shape of the growing popularity of
Foote at the Haymarket. Foote, who was an in-
different actor but a superb mimic, was drawing crowds

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THE GARRICK PERIOD. 79

to the ** little house" by his daring mimicry of public
characters of all sorts. The entertainments (which
were of a nondescript character, but always devised as a
vehicle for showing off Footers powers) at first existed
on sufferance. They were not ** stage plays," but Mr.
Foote ** inviting his friends to tea," or to an ** auction
of pictures," the pictures being the portraits his mimicry
produced. In 1766, however, thanks to the sympathy
aroused in certain quarters by an accident which de-
prived him of a leg, he was granted a patent, and it
was to this accident that the Haymarket house owed
the beginning of its life as a properly accredited theatre.
Foote continued there till 1777, and died only a few
months after his retirement in the latter year.

During the whole of the Garrick period at Drury
Lane this merciless wit offered a powerful opposition to
the ** legitimate " actors. His success was not only one
'* of scandal " by reason of his mimicry and caustic wit.
He was a dramatist of considerable merit, and wrote a
number of plays and comedies that reflected contem-
porary manners with great spirit; but it is as a mimic
that he will always be remembered. No one escaped
his satire ; and the town flocked to see him, every one
eager to laugh at the reproduction of his friends'
peculiarities while dreading an exhibition of his own.
He is said to have been dowered with exactly the right
physiognomy for a mimic — **a large, inexpressive
apology for a face," one writer calls it — but a face
which could take on any expression at its owner's will.
His native wit was bitter, and knew little or no restraint
by the bounds of decency or good feeling; and his
recorded hon-motSy authentic and apocryphal, are legion.
He bore the loss of his leg, and the tragic-comical
result of the necessity for a false one, with considerable
pluck. One of his best repartees was in this connec-

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80 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

tion. Some one had the ill-taste to make fun of his
misfortune, whereupon Foote snapped out, **Make no
allusion to my weakest part; did I ever attack your
head?"

Various other circumstances led to a drop in the
fortunes of Drury Lane. There were riots in 1755,
resulting from the importation of French dancers to
grace a spectacular piece by means of which Garrick
hoped to cope with the Covent Garden pantomimes,
and riots again in 1763 on account of a change in
prices. Moreover, Garrick had been deserted a year
or two previously by Woodward, an accomplished light
comedian, who was almost irreplaceable. Old
favourites, such as The Beggar s Opera^ were revived
and enthusiastically received at Covent Garden, and the
prestige of that house was still further increased by the
success (in 1757) of the tragedy of Douglas^ written by
a young Presbyterian minister, John Home. With
Barry as the Shepherd Nerval (whom he dressed in a
white satin suit !), supported by Peg Woffington, this
drew the town, and Garrick had the mortification of
seeing the triumph of a play which he had refused when
it was, first of all, offered to him.

It was at this time that Garrick, relying on the old
adage of the effect of absence on the heart, withdrew
for more than a year and travelled with his wife in
France and Italy. His progress abroad was a triumph.
He was acclaimed everywhere, praised by men of
distinction in all walks of life, and uniformly received
with every sign of admiration. The happy result was
that, on his return and reappearance at his own theatre
in September 1765, the old enthusiasm was revived.
He had made a pretence, on his return, of not intending
to act any more, but it was probably never more than a
pretence; and the rather embarrassing success of his

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THE GARRICK PERIOD. 8 1

understudy in his absence was an additional spur to his
desire to regain his ascendency over his public. The
latter in their turn realized, on Garrick's reappearance,
how much they had missed during- his absence (which
was exactly what he intended) and welcomed him with
exuberant warmth. His acting was pronounced finer
than ever before, and until his retirement it was now
** roses, roses all the way" so far as his personal
reputation was concerned.

Lapse of years, however, was bringing about the
inevitable break-up of his company. Only a few
months after his return Mrs. Cibber died. In 1767
Powell, a capable young actor whom Garrick had
trained till he was fitted to understudy him and to be
his deputy while he was abroad, deserted him and went
over to Covent Garden to share in the management.
A year later Mrs. Pritchard retired, and her example
was soon afterwards followed by Kitty Clive. As an
offset to these defections, Barry returned to Drury
Lane, but his best days were over; he did not carry his
age in the wonderful way Garrick did, and his energies
were failing. He reverted to Covent Garden two years
before Garrick*s retirement, played for the last time
in the winter of 1776, and died a few months after-
wards.

In spite of all this, and in spite of the fact that
Garrick now no longer studied any new parts, the
** great little man's" powers and popularity made
Drury Lane the more important house ; though it must .
be admitted that one event at Covent Garden, the
production of Goldsmith's S/ie Scoops to Conquer in '
1773, overshadowed it so far as the history of the drama
is concerned.

Garrick determined to retire in 1776, being then in^
his sixty-ninth year. He gave a series of farewell

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82 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

performances of his most famous parts, and at last in
June 1776 made his final bow to the public. He
survived his retirement but little more than two years,
dying in January 1779, ^^^ was buried with every mark
of respect in Westminster Abbey, not far from where
Betterton, his great predecessor, slept. His widow
survived him for many years and died a centenarian.

A notable incident of Garrick's later years, though
one that at the time passed almost unnoticed, was the
ddbut of Miss Sarah Kemble, afterwards the renowned
Mrs. Siddons, as Portia, in December 1775. She was
helpless with nervousness when the critical moment
came, completely failed to make any impression, and
retired disappointed to the provinces to gain the further
experience and confidence that were afterwards to make
her the foremost actress of her time.

Garrick, as an actor, must have occupied a position
in the public's regard very similar to that held by Henry
Irving in our own day. He was ungrudgingly admitted
to be at the head of his profession and accepted both at
home and abroad as its representative. There were
those who belittled his powers, but that was probably
largely on account of the forcible contrast between his
methods of acting and the stilted style that had become
a beloved convention. Whereas (for instance) Quin,
pompously declaiming heroic parts, had all the old
stager's love for speeches **to dig his teeth into" (as
Pinero has it in Trelawny of the Wells) ^ Garrick was
conspicuous for what was at all events a comparatively
natural method of speech and acting; and whereas the
actors of his day had in many cases come to regard
their parts merely as vehicles for the display of declama-
tory powers, to the disregard of appropriateness, his
great merit lay in his complete identification of himself
with the character he represented, a point on which his

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THE GARRICK PERIOD. 83

French critics (who were keen observers) laid great
stress.

His literary taste was far from faultless, as his
maltreatment of Shakespeare shows ; but his acting was
for the most part a triumph of realization of the author's
intention. He was fond of insisting that to be a fine
tragic actor a man must also be a fine comedian, and
that comedy was the harder of the two branches of the
art ; and the equal excellence of his Abel Drugger and
his King Lear proved that he was a practical example
of the truth he maintained. His physical qualifications,
in spite of some want of stature, were considerable ; a
well-shaped form, suppleness of limb and energy of
gesture, a remarkably mobile face and particularly
expressive eyes. ' Privately, he was a man worthy of
esteem. He was accused by some of meanness, and of
an over desire to cultivate the favours of the great ; but
the latter trait was probably the outcome of sagacity,
and, as for the former, he was undoubtedly liberal-
hearted, and was enabled to be generous in important
matters by being careful in small, as is often the case
with men who have had a hard struggle to win affluence.
He. was at least a gentleman, and as free from pro-
fessional jealousy as human nature allowed.

His disappearance from Drury Lane synchronizes
roughly with well-defined epochs in the histories of the
other houses. The Haymarket lost Foote in 1777 ; the
history of the King's Theatre, which was confined to
operatic performances, offers at this time no very
marked features, after Handel's abandonment of opera,
save the production of Arne's Artaxerxes in 1762 and
Gluck's Orfeo in 1770, and the house was burned down
in 1789.

In 1789 Macklin, who was now over ninety, made
his farewell to the stage at Covent Garden in the part

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of Shylock. Rich's reign at Covent Garden had ended
with his death in 1761, and before many years the want
of a firm guiding hand made itself felt. The elder
Colman, Powell, Rutherford and Thomas Harris had
bought the patent in 1767 from Rich's successor, and
this divided authority developed dissensions such as
were to be expected. Powell died two years later, and
Colman sold his share to Harris, who now became auto-
crat. Death was busy in the company. Spranger
Barry (once Garrick's rival) and the popular Harry
Woodward both died in 1777; and so the beginning of
the Harris management at Covent Garden, with these
old favourites gone and Macklin soon to disappear,
meant the beginning of a new epoch at that house and
the end of the epoch closed by Garrick's death.

A name famous in English literature is bound up
with the history of Covent Garden in these years.
Goldsmith's play. The Good-natured Man ^ which Garrick
had rejected, was (through the offices of Goldsmith's
friend Colman) produced at Covent Garden in 1768, but
without any great success. The dramatic taste of the
day had been too plentifully fed on tragedy and the
sentimental drama to relish a play which deliberately
ridiculed sentimentality. Five years later, however,
backed again by Colman 's friendly services and the
enthusiastic support of Dr. Johnson and his adherents.
Goldsmith's immortal She Stoops to Conquer saw thfe
light at Covent Garden, in March 1773. ^^^ public
now knew better what to expect from the author; the
new comedy delighted them, and Goldsmith's triumph
was complete.

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FROM SHERIDAN TO THE KEMBLES.

The first season of Thomas Harris's management at
Covent Garden is memorable for the production, in
January 1775, of Sheridan's comedy The Rivals, At
first the play failed, but it was not long before it won its
w^ay into favour with the public. The reasons given
for the initial failure are various. Sheridan is said to
have attributed it at the time to the bad acting of one
of the company; it is more likely, however, that it
suffered at first (just as Goldsmith's plays had suffered)
from the inability of a public accustomed to a senti-
mental pabulum to relish a work which ridiculed affecta-
tion and sentimentality. Besides this, the piece, as at
first acted, suffered from hurried writing and excessive
length. This Sheridan explicitly admits in his apolo-
getic preface to the published version of the play.
** Hurry in writing," he says, '*has long been exploded
as an excuse for an author ; however, in the dramatic
line, it may happen that both an author and a manager
may wish to fill a chasm in the entertainment of the
public with a hastiness not altogether culpable. The
season was advanced when I first put the play into Mr.
Harris's hands ; it was at that time at least double the
length of any acting comedy. I profited by his judg-

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ment and experience in the curtailing of it, till, I
believe, his feeling for the vanity of a young author
got the better of his desire for correctness, and he left
many excrescences remaining because he had assisted
in pruning so many more."

Sheridan followed up this success quickly. TJie
Scheming Lieutenant was produced in May and The
Duenna in November of the same year. It is more
than likely that Covent Garden would also have seen
the production of The School for Scandal^ had it not
been that before the play was ripe for performance
(and this time the author was devoting every -care to
the form and finish of his work) Sheridan became
interested in Drury Lane. He had purchased part of
Garrick's share of the patent and now assumed the
management of the house, his partners in the venture
being Thomas Linley (his father-in-law) and a certain
Dr. Ford. Two years later Sheridan bought out Lacy
from his share in the patent, and so became autocrat.
How he ever managed to pay the large sums demanded
for these shares (;£5ooo in Garrick*s case and ^,45,000
in Lacy's) has puzzled his biographers ; but the question
has been illuminated by a quotation from Sir Walter
Scott's ** Journal," in which, referring to Moore's
reference to the fact in his biography of Sheridan, Scott
says " all the world knows he never paid it at all, and
that Lacy was reduced to want by his breach of
faith."

In his first season Sheridan made a brilliant start
with an amended version of The Rivals and an
adaptation from Vanbrugh's Relapse under the title of
A Trip to Scarborough, He apologized for his treatment
of Vanbrugh's comedy — Vanbrugh who, as Pope wrote,
** wants grace, who never wanted wit" — in an enter-
taining rhymed prologue, in which he says :

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" What various transformations we remark
From east Whitechapel to the west Hyde Park !
Men, women, children, houses, signs and fashions,

* State, Stage, trade, taste, the humours and the passions ;

. The Exchange, ^Change Alley, wheresoc'er you're ranging,
Court, City, Country, all are changed or changing ;
The streets, some time ago, were paved with stones
Which, aided by a hackney coach, half broke your bones.

But now weak nerves in hackney coaches roam,
And the cramm'd glutton snores, unjolted, home.

As change thus circulates throughout the nation,
Some plays may justly call for alteration ;
At least to draw some slender covering o'er
That graceless wit which was too bare before."

In May 1777 The School for Scandal was produced at
Drury Lane, with immediate success. Mrs. Abington
was the Lady Teazle ; Thomas King, Sir Peter ; William
Smith, Charles Surface; and John Palmer, Joseph.
The idea of the comedy had been germinating in
Sheridan's mind for some years, and he had spent much
labour on its writing. The two plots which run side
by side in the play gave him considerable trouble ; and
tradition has it that the finishing of it, after his changing
his mind several times as to its design, was a matter of
such diflficulty and caused so much suspense to his
actors, that as an antiphon to the ** Finished at last,
thank God !" which Sheridan scribbled at the foot of the
last sheet of his manuscript, the prompter added a
fervent **Amen!" The brilliant wit of the comedy and
its wealth of humorous incident more than covered up
its structural weakness, and its triumph was complete.

A further attraction at the old house was now the
popular John Henderson, an actor who, having won
his spurs at Bath, had . increased his reputation by his

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Shylock at the Haymarket. He played at Drury Lane
till 1779, and then went to Covent Garden. Besides
inheriting, by the popular vote, the mantle of Garrick,
he was a man of considerable general attainments,
being an etcher of no mean skill and the author of some
poems. He died, a comparatively young man, in 1785,
and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

Towards the end of 1779 Sheridan produced his
** dramatic piece" The Critic y one of the wittiest
satirical farces ever penned ; and in 1781 a well-
deserved success was won by the veteran Macklin's
comedy. The Man of the Worldy which is not only
a wonderful effort from a man of over eighty but a
really admirable comedy as well. Things went well
with the Drury Lane management so far as public
favour was concerned, and would have gone better in
the matter of internal economy had Sheridan been less
careless and unscrupulous in financial matters. The
month of October 1782 was rendered memorable by
the reappearance of Mrs. Siddons, now with her powers
matured and her art established on the firm basis of
experience^ gained by some five years of hard work at
Bath and Bristol. The play in which she appeared was
Garrick*s adaptation of Southerners Isabella^ or the
Fatal Marriage^ as the heroine of which she melted
every heart and aroused such enthusiasm as had not
been heard in Drury Lane since Garrick's retirement.
She was joined there by her brother, John Philip
Kemble, who had gained considerable reputation at
the Edinburgh and Dublin theatres. He was accepted
with satisfaction by the public as a more than adequate
support to his gifted sister, but his personal successes
were to come later.

In 1784 Sarah Siddons essayed Lady Macbeth, the
part with which she is chiefly identified, her finely

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impressive rendering of the character remaining for
long the standard by which others who attempted the
part were judged. ** Power was seated on her brow ;
passion radiated from her breast as from a shrine ; she
was Tragedy personified," says the enthusiastic Hazlitt.

We find it noted in a contemporary newspaper that
in February 1785 the Drury Lane stage was first lighted
with ** patent lamps." **The effect of this light . . .
was brilliant beyond all expectation," says the journalist;
** we doubt not the very sensible advantages which the
scenes, dresses and decorations of this theatre must
derive from this improvement will instantly induce
Covent Garden and the Opera House to follow so
commendable an example."

Another paragraph in the same paper a few months
later shows that the ** jnatin6e hat" nuisance is no new
thing. Noting the fact as if it were a thing almost too
good to be true, the paragraphist says: **The box-
keepers at Drury Lane actually refuse permission to
any lady in a hat to sit in the front boxes. Mr. Harris,
it is to be hoped, will do the same at Covent Garden."

About the same time Dora Jordan, who liad served
her apprenticeship in Ireland and in Yorkshire, was
charming her audiences at Drury Lane by her per-
formance of Peggy in The Country GirL She is always
spoken of as the ideal ** hoyden," an adorable incarna-
tion of fun and mischief, but she had qualifications for
more serious work as (according to Charles Lamb)
her Ophelia, her Viola and her Rosalind showed.

The ravages of time had produced their effect so
markedly on the Drury Lane house that, in considera-
tion of its state of decay, it was decided to pull it
down ; and so in the summer of 1791 Sir Christopher
Wren's building, which had stood for more than a
hundred years and had been the nursery of English

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acting at its best, was given over to the house-breakers.
The foundation-stone of the third Drury Lane Theatre
was laid in December of the same year ; and during the
interval between that and the completion of the new
building the company played at the King's Theatre,
itself a new house which had been opened in March
1791. The old King's Theatre had been burned down
in 1789, and its company had found a temporary home
at the Pantheon.

On 1 2th March 1794 the new Drury Lane opened its
doors and began its brief and chequered career. In
spite of elaborate precautions against fire, it was burned
to the ground fifteen years later ; and while it stood,
its fortunes were constantly imperilled by the reckless
extravagance (and, occasionally, barefaced dishonesty)
of Sheridan. It was quite the exception for him to
meet his liabilities when he could possibly escape from
them, and many were the ludicrous shifts to which he
resorted to avoid his creditors. It is related that
Holland, the architect of the theatre, could never get
Sheridan to pay him for his work ; and finally, tired of
being put off with excuses, he resolved to call upon the
manager at rehearsal time. Before Holland had tjme
to speak, Sheridan seized his hand and exclaimed :
**Dear Holland! — the very man I wished to see — you
want a cheque, of course ? Beautiful building ! Every-
thing one could desire, save a trifle, but important to
me. My shilling-gallery customers can't hear a word
that's spoken on the stage." ** Impossible ! " said
Holland. *'Is it? You shall judge. Remain at the
footlights ! " Running upstairs to the gallery, Sheridan
began to gesticulate and apparently to declaim, but in
reality without uttering a word. Descending to the
stage, he asked, ** Well, my boy, did ypu hear me?"
**Not a word," replied the architect in confusion.

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**Are you convinced?" said Sheridan; "no? Well,
then, you go up and listen while I speak from here ? "
Holland climbed to the upper gallery, while Sheridan
rushed out at the stage door, leaving the unfortunate
architect to make the best of circumstances.

The new house, which fronted where the colonnaded
side of the present theatre stands, held nearly twice as
many spectators as its predecessor, and more than the
present building. At the inauguration, we are told,
**a huge iron curtain was let down and ostentatiously
struck with a hammer. When this screen was raised,
a lake of real water was discovered, on which a man
rowed about in a boat, with a cascade tumbling down
behind." This occurred after the delivery of an epilogue
in which it was boasted that —

"The very ravages of fire we scout,
For we have wherewithal to put it out;
In ample reservoirs our firm reliance
Where streams set conflagrations at defiance."

And yet a few years later the fine building was a prey
to the elements these words had so boldly defied. The
house was, by its construction, better fitted for scenic
display than for the subtler effects of acting; and
epigrammatists were not behindhand in declaring that,
though fire could not touch the audience, a little of it
would do the actors no harm. ** You are come to act
in a wilderness of a place," Mrs. Siddons said to a new-
comer whom she was welcoming there; and it was
noticeable how of necessity her own methods of acting,
as those of her fellows, broadened in consequence and
lost in delicacy.

A year or two after the opening, Kemble began to act
as Sheridan*s manager ; and a thankless and difficult
part he found it. Not only was his own salary generally

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in arrears, but he had to act as buffer between Sheridan
and his creditors. Things went from bad to worse.
Being only stage manager, Kemble could not control
the finances of the theatre ; he could only suffer under
the disastrous effect of Sheridan's mismanagement.
The latter seemed to look upon the theatre merely as a
milch-cow to be drained for his own convenience. He
was eager at pocketing the receipts, but not a penny
would he disburse if he could help it. New and
promised plays were either insufficiently equipped or
not equipped at all and therefore shelved, while the
scenery and dresses of the ** repertory" plays were
neglected* Clap-trap plays were mounted that were a
disgrace to a theatre with Drury Lane's traditions, and
the house fell more and more into discredit.

The general dissatisfaction with Sheridan's manage-
ment, as well as with inroads of another nature, is
reflected in a caustic note culled from a daily paper of
January 1802. ** Should Mr. Sheridan," it says, **find
the future direction of Drury Lane Theatre incompatible
with his avocations as a statesman, it is hoped . . .
that the town will not be exposed by other management
to a surfeit-sickness from what is called first-rate /amt'fy
acting; a little of the Jewish gabardine may be well
enough, but that a National Theatre should be totally
converted into a monotonous synagogue must be too
great a public sacrifice to any race of actors whatever."

In 1802 Kemble and Mrs. Siddons severed their con-
nection with Sheridan. A portion of the Covent Garden
patent was for sale, and Kemble purchased it, with the
proviso that he was to be stage-manager. Mrs.
Siddons went with him from Drury Lane, and the fate
of the old house was sealed. It is true that the order
of the entertainments at Covent Garden was not always
very high, though Kemble altered matters there when

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he took up the management ; but Drury Lane sank even
lower in pandering ±0 a depreciated taste instead of
attempting to lead it.

In February 1809, Drury Lane was burned down.
It was perhaps as well for the repute of the theatre, for
it enabled the proprietors to decline the honour of
Sheridan's participating in any way in the management
of the new house. Sheridan, who had been elected
Member for Stafford in 1780, and had held a ministerial
post, was in the House of Commons when the fire broke
out. As a mark of sympathy, the unprecedented
suggestion was made that the House should adjourn,
but this Sheridan had the grace to decline. Rushing to
the burning theatre, he was forcing his way through
the crowd when one of the soldiers who were keeping
order, not recognizing him, endeavoured to keep him
back. ** Surely, my friend," Sheridan is said to have
protested, ** a man may warm himself by his own fire !"

During his nine years at Drury Lane, Kemble had
played a very wide range of characters including most
of the principal Shakespearean parts — Hamlet, Othello,
King Lear, Coriolanus, Henry V., Romeo, Macbeth,
Petruchio, Wolsey— supported in most of them by Mrs.
Siddons. He was in the cast of Ireland's notorious
** Shakespearean " forgery Vortigem in 1796. Of con-
temporary plays those that were serious were of little
worth, being mainly of the ** fustian drama" type;
showy, unreal, declamatory pieces, with but little except
a certain effective theatricality to recommend them.
In comedy and farce, however, the workmanship was
better; the names of Colman, O'Keefe, Mrs. Inchbald,
Cumberland and Morton, amongst others, bear witness
to good work in this line.

This pause in the history of Drury Lane affords a
convenient opportunity to turn back tp that of Cpvent

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Garden, which, by a curious parrallelism of fate, had
also fallen a victim to the flames only a few months
earlier than Drury Lane. We have seen how Thomas
Harris had begun his management brilliantly with
Sheridan's comedies. After that erratic author had
gone to Drury Lane, Covent Garden dealt largely in
pieces in which incidental music had a large share.
Charles Dibdin's operas and musical farces were
popular, and his sea-songs were in every one's mouth.
Thomas Augustine Arne, immortal as the author of
**Rule Britannia," had been ** composer and musical-
director " at Drury Lane for some sixteen years when he
transferred his services to Covent Garden. Dibdin
succeeded him in 1778, when Arne died. In the same
year (1778) history repeated itself in the shape of a
working arrangement between the managers of the two
patent theatres, by which they occasionally ** loaned "
their actors to one anothen

Death was making gaps in the Covent Garden ranks.
Henry Woodward (an excellent comedian and a famous
follower of Rich in ** Harlequin" parts), who had
alternated between the two houses for many years, but
spent the last fourteen years of his life at Covent
Garden, died in 1777. In the same year Spranger
Barry, who had been one of Garrick's most serious
rivals, died,* not long after a farewell performance given
at the age of fifty-seven; and in 1785 John Henderson,
who had been a great attraction there — **a truly great
actor," Samuel Rogers calls him — died at the early age
of thirty-eight. On the other hand, there were two
notable accessions to the Covent Garden company at
this period in the persons of Mrs. Inchbald, who
appeared there in 1780, and Mrs. Abington in 1782.
Five years later a Jewish boy of the name of Abram,
who afterwards became, as Henry Braham, the most

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noted tenor singer of his day, was first heard there at
the age of fifteen ; and in the same year appeared the
famous Mrs. Billington, a beautiful woman and accom-
plished singer, beloved of Haydn and immortalized as
Saint Cecilia by Sir Joshua Reynolds* brush.

The year 1789 saw the retirement of the veteran
Mac^klin, then nearly ninety. This remarkable man
and remarkable actor is entitled to share to a consider-
able extent in the credit universally allowed to Garrick
for a reform of the style of acting in his day. His
technique was not always equal to the carrying out of
his conceptions, but within certain limits he was an
admirable actor. ** Essentially manly," is the descrip-
tion Doran gives of his acting. He seems to have set
his face against what he considered to be tricks of
acting of any kind; even Garrick*s wealth of gesture
and variety of action displeased him. In him the ** old
school" of acting was probably at its best. He had
what were then revolutionary theories as to the dressing
of characters, and endeavoured to some extent to put
them into practice. Doran states him to have been ** an
excellent teacher," and an honourable, generous and
humane man. He was, moreover, a dramatist of no
mean powers, and had a very proper objection to his
actors ** gagging," a vice which is as old as the drama
itself. O'Keefe relates how at Covent Garden, at a
rehearsal of Macklin's Love a la Mode^ an actor of the
name of Lewes interpolated into his part something
that he thought very smart. ** Ho! ho !" said Macklin,
** what's that?" ** Oh," replied Lewes, **'tis only a
little of my nonsense." **Ay," replied Macklin, **but I
think my nonsense is rather better than yours ; so keep
to that if you please, sir."

From 1780 onwards, 0'Keefe*s name is a prominent
one in the Covent Garden bills; amongst other of his

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plays, his Castle of Andalusia^ which was afterwards
revived by Buckstone, was produced there in 1782, and
his Wild Oats, which has kept the boards to the present
day, in 1790. He was one of the most brilliant writers
of his time in the domain of broad farce.

Of other notable names met with in Covent Garden's
history before the beginning of Kemble's management,
two more must be mentioned, — the famous tenor
Charles Incledon, who first appeared there in 1790 and
was connected with the house for some thirty years,
and George Frederick Cooke, an able actor, who was
considered the best Richard III. since Garrick, but was
overcome by the fault of intemperance. It must be
noted, too, that the spring of 1799 saw the first per-
formance of Haydn's Creation, In 1792 the house had
been almost entirely remodelled, at such expense that
the management determined upon an advance of prices
which was sternly resented and speedily abandoned.
Further improvements were made in 1796.

Kemble's first appearance under his own manage-
ment at Covent Garden was as Hamlet, in September
1803; a few days later Mrs. Siddons appeared there in
her favourite Isabella, Kemble as a manager was as
admirable as Sheridan had been the reverse. He was
scrupulously honourable, and conducted his affairs in
proper order. That he was tactful as well as generous
was soon proved by his treatment of the popular actor
Cooke, who seems to have anticipated an unpleasant
rivalry with the new actor-manager. Kemble, however,
showed him every consideration, and endeavoured
good-naturedly to overlook and disguise Cooke's fail-
ings as a drunkard, until things became so bad in that
respect that concealment was useless. In his first
season Kemble produced eleven of Shakespeare's plays,
as w^ll as a host pf n^w works, including" Kenney's

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entertaining farce of Raising the Wind^ in which many
an actor since those days has diverted audiences with
the quaint figure of Jeremy Diddler.

The season that began in the winter of 1804 is
remarkable for one of those unaccountable fits of .
hysterical enthusiasm which at times overtake the play-
going public. The occasion was the appearance of
William Betty, known as the ** Infant Roscius,*' who as
a boy of twelve had played Romeo and Hamlet in the
provinces. His performances (which were merely the
result of the careful and minute schooling of a clever
boy's ability) aroused an insane enthusiasm; and, when
he came to London, Drury Lane and Covent Garden
eagerly competed to secure him. Drury Lane began
by offering him ;^20 a night for his services, but
Covent Garden offered him J[^yy\ and as the latter's
engagement of him was not ''exclusive" the lucky boy
was able to act alternately at the two theatres. All the
** great parts" were given him, and adult actors (even
Kemble and Mrs. Siddons) were, for the time being,
ignored in favour of this lad. Eventually, however, the
town recovered its senses, and in his second season
Master Betty fell to his proper level and by degrees was
forgotten. When that took place. Fox must have been
ashamed of having said, as Rogers records, that
Betty's acting of Hamlet was ** finer than Garrick's."
There were, fortunately, saner contemporary judgments
formed of him. Mrs. Inchbald said that he was a
clever boy, and that **had she never seen boys act
before, she might have thought him extraordinary";
and the poet Campbell pronounced that though he was
** painted by Opie and Northcote, and his bust stuck up
in marble by the best sculptors," while verses **in a
style of idolatrous adulation were poured out upon
hijn," still ** the popularity of this baby-faced boy, who

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possessed not even the elements of a good actor, was
an hallucination in the public mind and a disgrace to
our theatrical history."

The same year (1805) saw the first appearance at
Covent Garden of the comedian Charles Mathews,
afterwards designed for a great and deserved fame.

For the next three years Kemble and Mrs. Siddons
appeared in a number of Shakespeare plays, varied with
other plays good and bad, oratorio performances, and
pantomimes, among the latter being the Mother Goose
pantomime that for long was so great a favourite.
Among the performers in this was the famous clown
Giuseppe or **Joe" Grimaldi, whose name has given the
generic title of **Joey*' to all the race of clowns since
his day. Things went prosperously with the Kemble
management, and fairly smoothly, although there were
occasional ebullitions of those riots among the audience
which were a curious feature of the relations then exist-
ing between the public and their dramatic servants.
Kemble met these outbreaks with spirited determination
and no little tact, and, by so doing, further secured his
position in the public's favour.

On 30th September 1808 Covent Garden was burned
to the ground, to the pecuniary disaster of the pro-
prietors, for their insurance did not cover more than a
third of their loss. In less than a twelvemonth, how-
ever, thanks to the generous assistance prompted by the
universal regard felt for Kemble, a new Covent Garden
rose from the ashes. In the interim the company had
performed at the King's Theatre. Before, however, we
consider the fortunes of the new Covent Garden, as
well as those of the new Drury Lane whose erection
was being planned, it will be well to realize that by this
time a crop of smaller theatres had sprung up, all
existing^ more or less upon sufferance.

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The oldest of these was that at Sadler's Wells, where
the theatre which was destined to become historic as a
home of the "legitimate drama** was built in 1765, in
succession to the ''musick house** that had been set up
there at the end of the previous century by a surveyor
of the name of Sadler, some years after his re-discovering
the chalybeate spring there. The **musick house,**
where a miscellaneous entertainment had been in vogue,
had become frankly disreputable. A builder of the
name of Rosoman (who has given his name to a street
in Clerkenwell) was responsible for the new theatre,
whose arrangement and conduct were much the same
as was found in the now almost extinct old-fashioned
music-hall. At times dramatic performances were
given there ; Dibdin wrote for it, and Thomas King the
actor (afterwards Sheridan*s manager before Kemble
undertook that post) managed it for ten years; tight-
rope and acrobatic shows alternated with performing
dogs; the young Braham sang there; and the theatre
shared with Drury Lane the services of the great clown
Grimaldi, he sometimes performing at both houses on
the same day. William Siddons, the great Sarah's
husband, managed it for a while, and under him Edmund
Kean made his first appearance as a small boy. It was
at the opening of the nineteenth century that Sadler's
Wells began its wider popularity, with a form of
entertainment reproduced of recent years at the Hippo-
drome. Its proximity to the New River giving the
necessary facility, a huge reservoir was built under the
stage; and with the help of this the management was
able to produce the ** nautical dramas** that gave it a
long repute as the ** Aquatic Theatre.'*

The building which was to become the predecessor
of the Lyceum Theatre of our own day was erected in
1765. Originally designed for exhibitions of paintings

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by a society of artists from Which the Royal Academy
sprung, it served this purpose for a few years.
Following upon this, it was the home of a musical:
entertainment given by Charles Dibdin, and subsequently
of a circus. In 1794 the interior was rebuilt as a
theatre; but the lessee's efforts to obtain a licence failed,
and it was by turns used as a chapel, a concert-room,
the home of a "raree-show,*' and of a waxwork ex-
hibition displayed by Madame Tussaud. The first
licensed dramatic performances given in it were those
of the Drury Lane company, who, after the burning of
their house in 1809, used the Lyceum for three years.

The same period saw the beginning of three other
houses which were afterwards to bear honoured names —
the Surrey, the Olympic, and the Adelphi. The Surrey
started its life in 1782, as the ** Royal Circus,^" with
equine and canine drama. After sharing the usual fate
of theatres in being burned down, it was rebuilt for the
same style of entertainment. In 1809 Elliston, who
had won some popularity at the patent houses, became
manager and rearranged the house suitably to a theatre;
He remained there till 1814, when he transferred his
energies to the Olympic, where again he had a circus to
rearrange. The ** Olympic Pavilion" as it was then
called, had been built by Philip Astley (of ** Amphi-
theatre" fame) out of the materials of a captured man^
of- war, and opened in 1806 under a licence allowing
equestrian performances, pantomimes and the like.. This
enterprise having failed, Elliston stepped in and acquired
the building, and for five years managed it spiritedly
and laid the foundation of its subsequent repute.

Astley, who had built the original ** Olympic
Pavilion," had begun his managerial career as pro-
prietor of a circus tent on a piece of waste ground near
Westminster Bridge. A fortunate service rendered to

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FROM SHERIDAN TO THE KEMBLES. lOI

the King by quieting an unmanageable horse that the
monarch was riding gained him a licence as a reward ;
5and in 1780 he built the first Astley's Amphitheatre,
which was called (on account of its scheme of interior
decoration) the ** Royal Grove," and set to work to
produce circus entertainments and pantomimes at very
humble charges. Twice within a dozen years it was
burned down, but each time Astley courageously re-
built, and in 1804 opened an Amphitheatre which stood
for nearly forty years, and was the predecessor of the
building famous from Ducro to Sanger as the home
of circus.

The Adelphi was built in 1806 by a colour-merchant
of the name of Scott, who for twelve years industriously
produced miscellaneous entertainments and burlettas
there. The house was originally christened the Sans
Pareil Theatre; but in 1819, when Scott sold it — and
sold it well, for he had made it popular — its name was
changed to the Adelphi.

One other theatre of this period may be mentioned
here, the Royalty Theatre in Wellclose Square. Built
in 1787, it was managed in defiance of the Patent Act
by John Palmer (a well-known Drury Lane actor) until
it ruined him ; then for a short time by Macready, the
father of the famous actor. It was later re-named the
East London Theatre, and burned down in 1826. Two
years later it was rebuilt, and was about to be opened
as the Brunswick Theatre when, owing to faulty con-
struction, the building collapsed during a rehearsal,
killing and injuring a number of the company, and this
was the end of it.

To bring the theatrical history of London up to the
point at which the burning of the two great houses
marks a period, it only remains to trace the history of
the Haymarket Theatre from the time of Footers death.

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I02 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

After that event George Colman the elder, who had
disposed of his interest in Covent Garden Theatre,
became manager of the Haymarket under an annual
licence. At first his management was not a conspicuous
success, for he made the mistake of attempting to com-
pete with the two older theatres on their own lines..
Ultimately he came to see that his ** little house " might
be very valuable as a sort of dependence to the others.
When they closed their doors (as in the summer months)
his opportunity began ; and by using opportunities, by
exercising an unmistakable judgment in the matter of
his actors, and by making his theatre more comfortable
than it had been, he gradually made it popular. The
house was small and its staircases and galleries narrow ;
but at the same time its smallness gave it obvious
advantages over the comparatively vast proportions of
the other theatres, where the audiences used to com-
plain that they could neither see nor hear, and where
half Thalia*s fire was apt to fizzle out like a damp squib
before it got over the footlights. Colman managed the
house till 1789, when he handed it over to his son, and
died five years later. Amongst a respectable number
of actors, afterwards famous, who had made their first
appearance under his management, was the popular
John Henderson, whose brief career (most of it passed
at Drury Lane) was brilliant.

The younger Colman*s management, though it should
have been prosperous, considering his own powers as a
dramatist and the able company he kept together, ended
disastrously. He was reckless in his methods, and
became involved in disputes and litigation with his
brother-in-law, whom he had taken into partnership
with him, till at last his finances became hopelessly
involved and he was obliged to give up the manage-
Oient altogether. Some twelve 3^ears later he was

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FROM SHERIDAN TO THE KEMBLES. IO3

appointed Examiner of Plays, and filled the post with
more zeal than discretion till his death in 1836; but
debt and lawsuits always dogged him, and, except for
his fame as a dramatist and a wit, his career was a
failure.

The company at the Haymarket during the younger
Colman's fourteen years of management had included
many who then were or afterwards became famous.
Amongst these were Charles Kemble, brother of the
illustrious manager of Covent Garden and father of
Fanny Kemble, both of them destined to carry on the
Kemble tradition at Covent Garden; John Liston, long
remembered as an excellent low comedian; John Emery
(grandfather of Winifred Emery), an actor pre-eminent
in ** loutish** parts where a mingling of humour and
pathos was required ; John Bannister, son of a comedian
and singer who had been popular in the elder Colman's
time, himself a fine comedian and subsequently for
many years a valuable member of the Drury Lane
company; Elliston, future manager of Drury Lane, one
of the finest Falstaffs on record, an accomplished actor
who (from all accounts) was as anxious to shine off the
stage as on it; and the elder Charles Mathews, an
admirable comedian and Footers only rival as a mimic,
who came from York to the Haymarket, quitted it for
Drury Lane, and left that house to start as an enter-
tainer on his own account. It was during the younger
Colman's reign, too, that the egregious Robert Coates
— ** Romeo" Coates, as he was known — insisted on
exhibiting himself upon the stage. He was the son of
a wealthy Antigua planter, and was incurably bitten
with the desire of acting in public, a task for which he
had no qualifications. The ridicule which he incurred
seemed to have little effect upon his determination, and
it was not until he was actually hissed off the stage that

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104 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

he desisted. We are told that he appeared as Romeo
dressed in **a sky-blue spangled cloak, red pantaloons,
muslin vest, a full-bottomed wig, and an opera-hat!"
The public's derision at his efforts was not lessened
when the seams of his over-tight pantaloons gave way
under the stress of his histrionic endeavours.

Two other incidents, one tragic and the other
tragi-comic, marked the younger Colman's manage-
ment. A short time after he succeeded his father a
** Royal command" was given for a play at the Hay-
market, while Drury Lane was in the builder's hands.
The result of this was an enormous crowd at the
theatre, resulting in a shocking catastrophe when the
doors at the head of a flight of stairs down to the pit
were opened. There was a mad rush down the steps ;
one or two at the head of the crowd missed their
footing and fell, the rest surged down on to them, with
the result that fifteen persons were killed and many
injured.

The other incident was the absurd ** Tailors'" Riot
in 1805, when hundreds of tailors, outraged in their
most sensitive feelings, assembled to hiss down a
revival of Foote's satire, The Tailors, The rioters
became quite unmanageable by the ordinary guardians
of law and order, and eventually troops had to be called
in to disperse the infuriated ** snips."

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CHAPTER X.

THE KBMBLES AND KEAN.

The present Drury Lane Theatre opened its doors, in
October 1812, with much ceremony and considerable
pretensions. The company was strong, but, as we
shall see, not strong enough to hold its own against
Covent Garden ; and the management was weak. In
an account of the opening performance, a contemporary
newspaper mentions that the crowds who waited at the
doors from ** as early as two o'clock in the afternoon "
were rudely visited by a pitiless storm of wind and rain,
for the present portico was not added until some years
later. The house is said to have been modelled upon
the design of the fine theatre at Bordeaux. Some three
weeks before the formal opening, there was a ** private
view '* of the new theatre, at which (to quote a news-
paper of 17th September 181 2) after the company had
sufficiently admired the interior of the house, " the
curtain drew up, and gave them a charming display of
scenery, which they rapturously applauded in succession
as a just tribute to the animated pencil of the artist
(Mr. Greenwood) which produced them. There were
seven or eight exhibited ; of which a perspective Land-
scape with water, a Piazza, a Seaport, a Prison scene,
and the Market Cross of Glastonbury were the most
striking. The Drawing-room scenes were also much
admired ; but perhaps an objection may lie against

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I06 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

their being all fitted up with the same rouge-coloured
hangings/*

On the opening night **God save the King" and
** Rule Britannia" were sung by the ** entire strength "
of a company which included Elliston, Pyne, Bannister,
Mrs. Jordan and Mrs. Glover. Elliston then recited an
address which Byron had been induced to write after
open competition had failed to elicit a suitable one.
Over a hundred addresses had been sent in by com-
petitorsj but not one was adjudged to be good enough
for use, despite the excited protests of the unsuccessful.
The incident was made memorable by the publication,
by the brothers James and Horace Smith, of the sup-
posititious ** Rejected Addresses," which are among the
wittiest collections of vers d'occasiofi in the language.

Judging by the letters and articles contributed to the
press at the time, the new house gave satisfaction on
the whole. To see and hear in it, was, in spite of its
size, fairly easy, and the auditorium was considered to
be well arranged. Faults were found with details, of
course. For example, instead of the doors ^vhich
traditionally flanked the proscenium in all theatres, the
new Drury had at either side a Corinthian pillar with
gilded capital, and beside each pillar a gilt tripod lamp
in place of the usual door. This change was resented
(not unreasonably) by those who pointed out how
incongruous, for instance, must be the effect of a
domestic scene framed by ** massy columns at whose
pedestals there are two tripods illuminated with gas-
lights ! " Another critic, however, highly approves of
the innovation, on the ground that ** these lamps com-
pletely exclude the possibility of having side-doors to
knock at on every occasion that a witless actor wishes
to excite the noise of the upper galleries." Sub-
sequently, two years later, the columns and tripods

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THE KEMBLES AND KEAN. IO7

were removed, ** in compliance with the taste and
desire of theatrical criticism.*'

The management was in the hands of a committee,
a notoriously bad form of management for theatrical
enterprises, where a single guiding hand is indispensable.
The lack of good management was combined with a
lack of good plays ; ByVon, who was on the committee
of managers, has left it on record that he could scarcely
find one play that could be tolerated out of some five
hundred that were upon the shelves of the theatre.
Thus the old house had but little chance against the
popularity of the Kemble family and their supporters at
Covent Garden, until Edmund Kean's appearance (to
which we shall presently revert) in 181 4. ** It is really
very good fun," Byron wrote, ** as far as the daily and
nightly stir of these strutters and fretters go ; and if
the concern could be brought to pay a shilling in the
pound, would do much credit to the^management."

The opening of the new Covent Garden Theatre, in
September 1809, had been marked by the famous **O.P."
(Old Price) riots. The expense of some necessary
alterations in the arrangement of the seating, added to
the enormous outlay incurred by the building of the
house, had led to an increase in the prices of admission
to the pit and boxes. This fact, together with a real
or simulated indignation at the engagement of a foreign
actress, had aroused keen resentment amongst the
** pittites" ; and a disturbance was organized in the most
ingenious manner, without any hint of its intention
being allowed to leak out. As soon as Kemble appeared
to speak the poetical address customary on an opening
night, the storm broke. A hubbub was raised which
rendered the address inaudible, and, as soon as the play
began, it was evident that it would only be conducted
in dumb show. The other actors were greeted with

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I08 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

applause, Dibdin tells us, to show that the resentment
was not directed at them personally but at the manage-
ment ; but '* the instant they attempted to speak, ^ Off !
off!' overpowering hisses, appalling hoots, and the
' O.P. Dance' commenced, in which the whole audience
joined. The • dance ' was performed with deliberate
and ludicrous gravity, each person pronouncing the
letters *O.P.' as loud as he could, and accompanying
the pronunciation of each with a beat or blow on the
floor or seat beneath him with his feet, a stick or a
bludgeon; and as the numerous performers kept in
strict time and unison with each other, it was one of the
most whimsically tantalizing banters or torments that
qould be conceived." Leaflets and placards, voicing
their grievance, were distributed broadcast by the
organizers of the riot, and the ringleaders stood in
serried ranks with their hats on and their backs
ostentatiously turned to the stage. It was a disgraceful
scene, repeated night after night to the accompaniment
of horns blown and watchmen's rattles sprung. Kemble
kept his temper well. He published statements of the
reasons which had caused the rise of price, and did all
in his power to justify it, but it was of no avail. |ie
took the extreme step of an appeal to the law, and had
certain of the ringleaders charged before the magistrate
with incitement to riot ; but the charge (incredible as it
may appear) was dismissed, and the terrorized manage-
ment was forced to capitulate, apologize to its cowardly
tormentors, and reinstate the old prices.

In these days of decorum, we can with difficulty
realize what a constant danger riots were in the theatres
of a century ago. The actors were then indeed
** servants of the public"; though some performers
were, as now, spoilt favourites, they were never allowed
to forget their masters. Indeed, the manners of the

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THE KEMBLES AND KEAN. IO9

audience (and that by no means always in the cheapest
parts of the house) were often outrageous and always
uncertain. Actual rioting usually began in the ** upper
galleries." It needed some definite grievance, such as
that of the **old prices," to make them pervade the
whole audience ; but disturbances in the cheaper seats
were frequent.

Not many years before the **O.P." riots, the news-
papers tell us of hubbubs occurring, ** occasioned by
the gentry in the upper gallery calling for a hornpipe^
though nothing of the kind was expressed in the bills."
These gentry went, on this occasion, to the length of
bombarding the unfortunate actors with bottles, and
this because Hamlet or Richard III, was not followed
by a hornpipe to divert them !

Again, we have read that ** on Thursday night, at the
acting of The Maid of the Mill^ a riot began in the
upper gallery, w^iich upon inquiry proved to be owing
to a knot of barbers, who had taken it into their heads
to be offended at a certain actor's appearing in his own
hairf Interruptions of all kinds occurred: angry
colloquies with a performer who had offended, loud
protests against some individual whose private life
offered some weak spot for attack, the hissing down of
one who appeared in place of one expected, and so
forth. In fact the audiences, though generous to
those who pleased them, had but little compassion or
even decency of behaviour towards those they imagined
to have offended.

The Covent Garden company at this time was a
remarkable one, but the plays produced were about as
poor as those that Byron complained of at Drury Lane.
The public taste had become vitiated, and sensational-
ism, sandwiched between opera and oratorio, was more
applauded than anything else. Horses and elephants

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I lO A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

brought upon the stage, scenes with real water flowing,
and the like, attracted the public when the ** legitimate
drama" would not. This was probably in no small
measure due to the exigencies of the two great theatres
in the matter of size. They were too vast for subtleties
of acting; the ** grand style," which was rendered
imperative by this spaciousness, had become a thor*
oughly unreal mannerism ; and the public was growing
tired of the pompous methods of Kemble and Mrs.
Siddons, who now were nearing the end of their career.

Still, Covent Garden was, for the time being, the
popular house, and continued so until Kean drew all
London to Drury Lane. Mrs. Siddons retired in 1812,
her mantle falling upon Eliza O'Neill, one of the most
famous of Juliets, who, after a brief career, married
and retired in 1819. Charles Mathews was at Covent
Garden, where his abilities were not realized, from 181 2
to 18 16; Macready first appeared thtfre, but without
creating any great stir, in 1816; and in the following
year Kemble retired, in circumstances full of every
mark of honour and appreciation. He handed over his
interest in the house to his brother Charles, who, with
his daughter Fanny, was destined to carry on the great
traditions of this remarkable family.

Mrs. Siddons lived for nearly twenty years in dignified
privacy after her retirement, appearing in public on very
exceptional occasions, and then usually for a charitable
purpose. She is credited with feeling considerable re-
sentment at the sensation caused by her brother's retire-
ment compared with what took place at her own. It
must, however, be remembered that, though her talents
were as great as his, or greater, her brother's position
as manager of Covent Garden was the more con-
spicuous. Kemble, whose health was failing, went
abroad when he retired and died at Lausanne six vears

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THE KEMBLES AND KEAN. Ill

afterwards. This famous pair, brother and sister, will
probably always be remembered as embodiments of the
** grand style" of acting, — a style that was far removed
from reality, but at the same time had (both in de-
clamation and gesture) the merit of fine technique; a
style, nevertheless, bound to lead, as it did in their
case, to undue deliberation and pomposity.

There is, of course, another side to the picture. Mrs.
Siddons, whom imagination identifies with the Tragic
Muse, played Rosalind with no small success; and no
less an authority than Charles Lamb is responsible for
the surprising statement that no man could better
deliver brilliant dialogue than John Kemble, because
none understood it half so well. Compared with many
actors of his day, Kemble took some pains with the
dressing of his parts; and, though contemporary prints
show his Lear appearing to the eye like a Polish noble-
man, and his Hamlet like an aiFected schoolmaster, the
good iotention is obvious. The outward seeming of
Mrs. Siddon's Lady Macbeth appears, to our ideas,
like a fashionable portrait by Sir Joshua, save for the
crest of feathers which still lingered as the traditional
wear for ** heroic" parts. It may be mentioned, in
passing, that the prices of seats at Covent Garden at
this time were : Boxes, seven shillings; Pit, three and
sixpence; Gallery, two shillings and one shilling; and
the play usually began at 6.30.

By this time the periodical revolution in theatrical
matters had taken place. Just as Garrick's had done
in previous years, so at this juncture Edmund Kean's
appearance at Drury Lane altered every one's point of
view and sounded the knell of many conventions.
Kean had played childish parts both at Drury Lane and
Covent Garden in his earliest days, had subsequently
been a circus acrobat, and, later, had acted in small

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112 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE EKGUSH STAGE.

parts at the Hay market, and then gone tkeougfh years
of struggle in provincial theatres. He knew his
powers, and had a worthy ambition, but an unknown
strolling player in the provinces could make only a
scanty livelihood. He was acting at Dorchester, after
two years of growing popularity at Exeter, when the
Drury Lane stage-manager was in the audience and
was struck by his performance. The fortunes of Drury
Lane were at a very low ebb ; some new blood was
absolutely essential ; and the magnate from London
ventured to offer this earnest stripling of five and
twenty an engagement to play at the gredt house.
The result is a matter of history. Kean was given
permission to appear (on 26th January 181 4) as
Shylock; and at the one rehearsal that was allowed
him he, as Doran tells us, ** fluttered his fellow-actors,
and scared the manager, by his independence and
originality. * Sir, this will never do,' cried the acting
manager. * It is quite an innovation, it cannot be
permitted.* * Sir,* said the poor, proud man, * I wish
it to be so * ; and the players smiled, and Kean went
home . . . calm, hopeful, and hungry. * To-day,* he
said, * I must dtne.' " Having enjoyed that rare luxury,
he went, confident in his powers, to the Cheatre.
Looked at askance at first by the other actors, he
found that, as each scene in which he appeared ended
amidst louder and louder applause, their demeanour
altered with that of the audience ; and when at last his
triumph was complete and overwhelming, all barriers
were overcome and he was loaded with praises behind
the curtain as well as before it. He had saved the
fortunes of Drury Lane, and insured his own ; and his
certainty of his powers made his happiness complete,
for he knew he could keep the position into which he
had stepped.

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THE KEMBLES AND KEAN. II3

That position was secured to him by his next part,
that of Richard III., in which he successfully ch'kllenged
comparison with Kemble and Garrick, just as in The
Merchant of Venice he had shaken the allegiance of
those who spoke of Macklin as the only Shylock. His
acting was a revelation to a generation accustomed to
the Kemble manner. ** Life, nature, truth, without
exaggeration or diminution," wrote Byron in his diary
after seeing Kean as Richard III. It was Kean's un-
erring instinct in seizing upon the essentials of a
character that gave its truth to Coleridge's oft-quoted
remark that to see him act was *'like reading Shake-
speare by flashes of lightning." He 'would seem
suddenly to lay bare to the spectator the character he
was representing, whether by some facial expression,
some intonation or gesture, that was instinctively felt
to be inevitable to the character. How unsuited the
size of Drury Lane was to such delicacy of acting is
revealed by a contemporary newspaper critic, who
objected to Kean's placing too much reliance **on the
expression of the countenance, which is a language
intelligible only to a part of the house." Neither his
figure nor his voice was heroic, but his genius over-
came all disadvantages, and in certain lines of tragedy
— particularly as Shylock, Richard, or lago—he has
probably had no equal on our stage. That he was
unequal throughout the wide range of parts he was
now called upon to assume, is not surprising. The
bigj broad style, in which Kemble excelled, did not
suit Kean so well as parts where a cynical humour,
contrasts of passion, or subtleties of method were
called for. He was an lago, a Shylock, or a Sir
Giles Overreach more perfectly than a Macbeth or
a Romeo; and in saying this there leaps to the
mind a comparison of him with Henry Irving, Whose

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I 14 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

greatness and limitations as an actor had much in
common' with Kean*s.

For the remaining years of the existence of the Com-
mittee of Management at Drury Lane, Kean bore the
burden of the day on his shoulders; but the management
had been too bad for even his restorative powers. The
Committee gave it up in 1819 and the house passed into
the hands of Elliston, who had already tasted the sweets
of management at the Surrey Theatre and the Olympic.
Four years of it sufficed to bankrupt EUiston. With a
fine company at his command, headed by Kean and
reinforced in 1823 by Macready and Liston, who seceded
from Covent Garden to Drury Lane, Elliston was not
content to rely on their powers, but spent money
lavishly on spectacular scenic effects and on a complete
remodelling of the interior of the house. He had,
moreover, taken over the house on ruinous terms;
and as, in addition to this, his personal tastes were
extravagant, the result was inevitable disaster.

After the fortunes of two more managers had rapuHy
gone the same way, a new lessee was found in Alfred
Bunn, who had been EUiston's stage-manager and
subsequently manager of the Birmingham theatre.
From 1834 to 1839 Drury Lane was under his
control.

Bunn, who was a kind of theatrical Barnum and
tempted the public with every sort of miscellaneous
show, was by this time also manager of Covent Garden.
At that house Charles Kemble, who had succeeded to
his brother's share in the patent and from 1823 had
exercised sole control of the theatre, had met with the
common experience of misfortune in management. He
endeavoured to attract the public (which, after the
defection of Liston and Macready from his company,
was flocking to Drury Lane) by means of Shakespearean

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THE KEMBLES AND KEAN. 11$

productions that were for the first time carefully con-
sidered in the matter of appropriate costume and scenic
effects. But despite these efforts and his own popu-
larity as an actor, his affairs went from bad to worse ;
and the striking success of his daughter Fanny's brief
stage career was not sufficient to rehabilitate him.
Among the few incidents of note in the history of
Covent Garden at this period were the production of
Weber's Oberon (which had been specially written for
the theatre) in 1826, Kean's appearance there in 1827
and his last performance there six years later. After
his first Drury Lane triumphs Kean had twice acted in
America; the first time in 1820, when he was in the
flush of his new success; the second time five years
later, when the violence of public opinion against him,
in consequence of his entanglement in a divorce case,
drove him for a while from the English stage.

By this time he was beginning to ruin his powers and
his fortunes by drunkenness; he had estranged his wife
and quarrelled with his son, the latter having become
an actor in the face of his father's strong disapproval.
Still, by degrees, in Kean's absence, the rancour against
him began to be forgotten; he had been sadly missed
as an actor, and when in January 1827 he reappeared
at Drury Lane as Shylpck the public enthusiasm was
unbounded. He rallied all his powers for the occasion,
and acted splendidly; but the effort proved a heavy
drain on nervous resources that were sapped by
intemperance. For some years he managed to act with
more or less of his old ability, but the mischief was
done ; at a little over forty he was a wreck, the splendid
powers gave more and more unmistakable evidence of
decay, and the great actor was losing his hold on him-
self and on his audience. Doran relates his having for
the last of many times seen Kean play Richard III. at

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1 16 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGEI

the Haymarket in 1832, when '*the sight," says Doran,
*'was pitiable. Genius was not traceable in that bloated
face; intellect was all but quenched in those once
matchless eyes ; and the power seemed gone, despite
the will that would recall it. I noted in a diary that
night the above facts, and, in addition, that by bursts
he was as grand as he had ever been." Soon the last
scene came, when he was acting Othello at Covent
Garden on 25th March 1833. By a pathetic coincid-
ence the lago was his son Charles, to whom he had
become reconciled after a painful period when the son
was struggling to make his fortunes at one of the rival
houses while his father sought vainly to recover his at
another. Kean had scarcely strength to dress, and was
so pitiably shattered in nerves that even brandy failed to
give him confidence. He begged his son to keep neair
him on the stage lest he should collapse. Once he was
on the scene, excitement carried him along and he was
almost able to struggle through the play; but, as an
eye-witness of the scene tells us, when he endeavoured
to abandon himself to Othello's overwhelming storm of
passion in the final scenes, he stopped and trembled,
tottered, and reeled insensible into his son's arms.
Moaning, **I am dying — speak to them for me," he was
carried from the stage as the curtain fell on him for
ever. He died at his cottage at Richmond two months
later.

Bunn's attempt to comljine the management of the
two great houses (even to the extent of running some
6f the performers across from one to the other in the
course of an evening) had a very short life. He gave
up Covent Garden after two years of it, and retired from
Drury Lane, heavily in debt, in 1839. He had tried to
attract audiences with drama, opera, concerts, even
tight-rope dancing and lion-taming shows, a fact that is

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THE KEMBLES AND KEAN. 11/

eloquent of the esteem in which the drama was held at
the time; but he failed to make anything but heavy
losses. Opera was the vogue, and, as Scott tell us in
his Diary, the "young men about town" would affect
not to know even the whereabouts of Drury Lane or
Covept Garden Theatres, thinking the drama *'too low,"
whereas they "would faint away if it were thought they
had not been to the Italian Oper^."

Two names, honourable in the history of the stage,
occur more and more prominently in the bills at this
period, those of Phelps and Macready, — the former
destined to rule long and prosperously at Sadler's
Wells; the latter, a man of older experience, to follow
the egregious Bunn in the control of Covent Garden
and Drury Lane. The fortunes of these two will be
best considered in a separate chapter; meanwhile,
leaving the two great houses for a while, it will be well
to look round at the other theatres now rapidly increas-
ing in numiber. Though till the middle of the nineteenth
century the stream of interest in theatrical matters
flowed mainly towards Drury Lane and Covent Garden,
it was diverted here and there into smaller channels.
Such houses as the Haymarket, the Olympic, the
Adelphi and the Lyceum began to have their part in
dramatic history; names that were becoming popular
occur in connection with now one and now another of
them, and the fortunes of great and small theatres
became more interwoven than had been the case before;
while beside them and apart stood the brilliant vogue of
opera at the King's Theatre.

The present Haymarket Theatre, built on a site
adjoining that of the old one, was built by Morris, who
had . succeeded Colman in the management in 1820.
It was opened in July 1825 ; and, except for the
popularity of Liston (an inimitable comedian and the

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Toole of his day), William Farren and Madame Vestris,
its history offers nothing" of any great moment until
Benjamin Webster succeeded in 1837 to a management
which he retained for sixteen years. Webster, however,
belongs to the next chapter. A contemporary account
of the new house states it to have been *' in point of
architectural beauty the most elegant in London," but,
at the same time, **for convenience of seeing and
hearing, the worst contrived." Remodelling of the
interior has long since remedied all that. The company
at the beginning of Morris' reign included also Vining,
Elliston, Mrs. Glover, and Charles Kemble, the latter
** starring " there in 1822. Liston's great triumph was
in Paul Pry^ in which his follower Toole made a success
in our own day, ** a part," as Hazlitt wrote, ** in which
there is really nothing beyond the mere outline of an
officious, inquisitive gentleman, which is droll, as it
reminds every one of acquaintances, but Liston fills it
with a thousand nameless absurdities." It was pro-
duced in 1825, with Madame Vestris and Farren also
in the cast, and enjoyed the surprising run of 114
performances. Liston was blessed with a face that in
itself was a fortune to a comedian, and his gravity of
demeanour amidst the quaintest drolleries lent them an
irresistible piquancy. Farren was superlatively good
in old men's parts, one of his greatest successes being-
Sir Peter Teazle, in which part his son William has
delighted so many of our own generation. Of others
who played under Morris may be mentioned Vandenhoff,
famed for his Coriolanus ; Mrs. Honey, an agreeable
**romp"; and Ellen Tree, an Irish girl of considerable
talent, who afterwards married Charles Kean. She
and Vandenhoff appeared in Talfourd's Ion in 1836.
There were few new plays of any note produced during"
this period at the Haymarket, the audience appearing*

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THE KEMBLES AND KEAN. 110

pleased with variations on a fairly extensive repertory
with which they were more or less familiar.

When Elliston in 1819 went to Drury Lane as
manager, he left the Olympic Theatre started on the
road to popularity. It was the first of the smaller
houses to offer an entertainment of any merit, and only
needed good management to secure good audiences,
especially during the summer months when the patent
theatres were closed. Unfortunately, after Elliston
left it, the Olympic was in very indifferent hands for
about ten years. Amongst others Oxberry, Egerton,
Vining — actors with the lust of management upon
them — successively took command of its fortunes, only
to ruin their own. In spite of all this, the house was
popular. Melodramas and vaudevilles alternated with
pantomime and tight-rope performances ; and a public
that appreciated the advantages of a smaller theatre, in
the important niatters of seeing and hearing, was none
too difficult to please.

Thus it was that when Madame Vestris, full of enter-
prise and of determination to win over the public (full,
too, of capability for the task), took over the manage-
ment of the house in 183 1, it was soon apparent that,
given the right qualifications in the manager, it need be
by no means impossible to manage a smaller theatre
profitably in rivalry to the great ones. This ** first of
all dramatic Joans of Arc," as she called herself in her
opening address, was already an established favourite.
She was blessed with a beautiful face and figure, a
pleasing vivacity of disposition, and a fine contralto
voice. With these advantages she appeared first in
Italian Opera, and might have gone far in that province
had her voice been better cultivated. As it was, her
natural ability for the stage, coupled with the charm of
her singing, suited her to the '^burlettas" and I'ght

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operas in which in her early days she appeared at
Drury Lane and Covent Garden, and even better to the
extravaganzas or burlesques which (thanks to Planch^'s
genius) brought fortune to the Olympic.

She was fortunate in her company. Liston was a
tower of strength, and he was well seconded by Keeley,
Mrs. Orger (famous in broad farce), Miss Goward (who
was to become Mrs Keeley), and, later, the younger
Charles Mathews and William Farren.

The lightest of comedies and farces, pieces often so
rubbishing that even the very tolerant criticism of the
day could find no good word for them, were carried
through by sheer brilliancy on the part of the per-
formers. Planch^'s long series of burlesques (whose
success was as remarkable as, and in many respects
similar to, that of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas in our
own day), began with the Olympic Revels ^ which was
played on Madame Vestris* opening night. Planch^ hit
upon the then novel idea of travesties on classical or
mythical subjects, in which the characters should be
accurately dressed as their serious prototypes and yet
be concerned with the most ridiculous dialogue and
situations. It having been, as Planch^ himself tells us,
^* previously the practice to dress a burlesque in the
most outre and ridiculous fashion," he found that the
effect of ** persons picturesquely attired speaking absurd
doggerel" took the fancy of the audience at once.
** Madame," moreover, paid far more attention than was
usual to the matter of dresses and scenery, a fact which
brought its own reward. Nor was she less admirable
in her management of the internal economy of her
theatre, for she insisted on as careful a decorum behind
the curtain as before it. The following enconium, taken
from a newspaper of 1833, represents the general
satisfaction and reflects the Olympic's popularity: —

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THE KEMBLES AND KEAN. 121

** Madame Vestris is as charming as ever; she is an
astonishing person, and trips about, with her cordial
sweetness of smile and glad breathing tones, as if, like
Sidney's piping shepherd-boy, she would never grow old.
Liston, it is true, has little marks of mortality about
him, but his humour flows forth in a stream as rich,
unctuous, and insinuating as ever. Keeley is here, too,
with his quaint helplessness, his irresistible comicality
of look and manner, his quiet air of humorous
vacancy."

In 1838 Madame Vestris married the younger Charles
Mathews, who had made his debui at the Adelphi three
years previously, and had even attempted management
there, but very soon transferred his services to the
Olympic. Beginning with a kindly reception at the
audiences' hands for his father's sake, he had, as he
acquired confidence, rapidly discovered his exceptional
powers as a light comedian, and it was not long before
he was as popular as any member of the company.
The happy pair went off to America after their marriage,
but their tour there was a failure. In the following
year (1839) they undertook the management of Coven t
Garden and left the Olympic, whose fortunes, robbed of
Vestris' guiding hand, soon showed a change./As a
contemporary newspaper said: **When the house stood
alone for the peculiar perfection it attained in scenic
and general effect, it secured a certain audience; but
since the Haymarket and others have followed in the
same style, there has been an evident falling off."
Moreover, there was now serious competition on the
part of other of the smaller houses, who, having
modelled their management to some extent upon the
Olympic's, were reaping the benefit. Indeed, the ten
years that succeeded ** Madame's" rule at the Olympic
were as unfortunate as the ten that had preceded it. One

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122 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

manager succeeded another with steady persistence,
only to retire bankrupt, and the entertainments de-
teriorated proportionately. There is nothing, save the
meteoric appearance of Gustavus Brooke, famous for
his Othello, to make Astley's Olympic in any way
remarkable for the rest of an existence which was
terminated by its being burned to the ground in 1849.

The Olympic's most active rival on its own ground
was the Adelphi, which had been opened under that
name in October 18 19. Melodrama of a lurid descrip-
tion was the attraction at first, varied with miscellaneous
entertainments presenting an astonishing hotch-potch of
delights. For instance, on one evening's programme
the audience was promised a Conjuring Entertainment,
Dissolving Views, Airs upon the Musical Glasses, a
Farce with ** curious mechanical and optical effects,"
and, to cap all, **in the course of the evening Mr.
Henry will administer the Nitrous Oxide, or Laughing
Gas, the extraordinary effects of which it is impossible
to describe." A little later the performance of a
** Talented and Stupendous Elephant" was the main
attraction of the entertainment offered.

A lucky chance, in 1821, enabled the Adelphi to leap
into sudden notoriety. Pierce Egan's ** Life in London"
had captured the town, and, as its popularity grew and
grew, dramatic versions of this queer farrago of clever-
ness and vulgarity were inevitable. The Royal Amphi-
theatre had produced one, the Olympic another ; but
success waited for the Adelphi version, thanks largely
to the cleverness of the actors there. It was advertised
as **an entirely new classic, comic, operatic, didactic,
moralistic, aristophanic, localic, analytic, terpsichoric,
panoramic, Camera-Obscura-ic, Extravaganza Burletta
of Fun, Frolic, Fashion and Flash, replete with prime
Chaunts, rum Glees and Kiddy catches. K Wrench,

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THE KEMBLES AND KEAN. 12^3

Wilkinson, Reeve and Robert Keeley were, voted
inimitable in their parts; and, as Corinthian Tom and
Jerry were the rage of the town, the Adelphi became
suddenly the fashion. An attempt to follow up this
success with others on the same lines failed, but the
Adelphi had secured sufficient popular favour for its
initial management to last out some six years. Sub-
sequently its guiding hand for about sixteen years was
that of Frederick Henry Yates (father of Edmund Yates
of the World) y who had as partners successively Daniel
Terry, who came from the Haymarket, and the elder
and younger Mathews.

Melodrama of a straightforward type (in many
instances written by the actor Buckstone) well acted
by a company that included, besides those mentioned
above, such capable performers as Tyrone Power and
T. P. Cooke — the latter famous in nautical parts — drew
constant audiences to the little house for some years.
It was varied, in his time, by the clever single-handed
entertainments of the elder Mathews, the ** At Homes"
with which he had already made a success at the
Lyceum. These were sometimes expanded at the
Adelphi into a composite entertainment with Yates,
who had himself succeeded with sketches of the same
kind. By the beginning of Macready's reign at Drury
Lane — that is to say, about 1840 — the Adelphi had
reached a high position in public favour. The plays
produced there were not distinguished, but the acting
was on a higher level of general excellence than any-
where else in London ; and at this time, with the
appearance of the comedians Wright and Bedford on
its boards, under a capable management, the Adelphi
entered into a phase more nearly allied to the theatrical
history of our own day.

The predecessor of Irving's Lyceum Theatre had been

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124 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

opened by Samuel Arnold in 1816, under the inspiring
title of the English Opera House, with ballad operas,
musical farces, pantomimes, and miscellaneous enter-
tainments, including the elder Mathews* ** At Homes."
Except by special licence for special occasions, the
** legitimate " drama was still not allowed except at the
patent theatres, or only allowed by the legal fiction of
the payment of fines. Musical pieces, however, were
feasible. Provided a certain number of songs were
included in a piece, it might be played ; thus, from
necessity, arose the taste for ** burlettas '* and ** vaude-
villes," many a play which deserved a better fate being
mangled by the inclusion of entirely incongruous songs
to qualify it for performance. Other devices of various
descriptions were resorted to, in order to dodge the
** patent " monopoly, until in i843^free-trade in dramatic
entertainments was legalizedaiid all properly accredited
theatres were enabled to produce what they pleased.
The vogue for opera had spread downwards from the
King's Theatre, and this enabled the struggling smaller
theatres to tempt the public with all sorts of entertain-
ments under the guise of opera and ** plays with music."
Arnold's Lyceum was burned down in 1830, and the
present building opened in 1834 as the Theatre Royal
Lyceum and English Opera House. Opera and mis-
cellaneous shows again filled the bill until, in 1844,
under the new conditions possible owing to the new
charter of liberty, the Keeleys began to play ** domestic
drama" there in the shape of adaptations from
Dickens' novels.

In a Lyceum playbill of June 1835 (evidently a hot
summer) a tempting offer is made. ** In an endeavour,"
it says, ** to add to the comfort of visitors, the manag^er
proposes during the continuance of the warm weather,
to offer to all ladies and gentlemen on payment of their

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THE KEMBLES AND KEAN. 125

seats at First Price to the Boxes, Private Boxes,
Balcony or Pit, the refreshment of an Excellent Iced
Cream, Gratis. *To reside in thrilling regions Of
thick-ribbed Ice.' — Shakespeare."

When Thomas Dibdin in an ill-fated moment took
over the management of the Royal Circus after Elliston
had given it up, he re-named it the Surrey Theatre.
He was laudably ambitious in his efforts, but was
bankrupt in seven years. Buckstone played at th^
Surrey under him, and he was. responsible for the
production of the first version of Milman's Fasio^ under
the title of The Italian Wife. After him a series of
managers failed in turn until, in 1827, Elliston tried his
fortunes once more as manager. To Elliston's credit
is his discovery of Douglas Jerrold as a writer for the
stage. Jerrold's Black-eye' d Susan^ with the immensely
popular T. P. Cooke as the hero, was an enormous
success. The patent theatres competed with the
Surrey for the actor and the play ; at one period Cooke
played it every evening at Covent Garden as well as at
the Surrey, and the piece was revived several years
later at Drury Lane. Elliston was still lessee of the
Surrey when he died, and with him died the interest of
the house as far as dramatic history is* concerned. It
was burned down in 1865, and rebuilt on a larger plan.
Melodrama and pantomime have been its mainstays
since then, the only notable pianagement being that of
George Conquest, a rousing melodramatic actor and an
admirable pantomimist, from 1880 to 1901.

The Strand Theatre already existed at this time, and
offered many kinds of entertainment with the usual
shifts to evade the law before it gained a licence. As
no money might legally be taken at the doors, it was
attempted on one occasion to take it at a window ! At
another time the purchase of an ounce of lozeng-es for

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126 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

four shillings at a neighbouring- confectioner's shop
gave the right of entry. It is not, however, until after
the ** freedom of the theatres " that its history begins to
be of any account.

Brah^m the singer had built and opened the St.
James*s Theatre in 1835 ; but neither opera with his
own singing, nor the domestic drama, could save him
from ruin. Italian opera being the fashion at the time,
theatrical entertainments, save in exceptional cases,
were given the cold shoulder. Burlesques, wild-beast
shows, operettas, farces, were of no avail against such
indifference, and after five years the theatre was tenant-
less. At last, under the management of Mr. Mitchell
(of Bond Street), a succession of brilliant seasons of
French plays brought audiences to the house. Dejazet
and Rachel, Lemaitre and Levasseur became the objects
of that hysterical admiration to which an English public
is prone when it loses its head. The vogue lasted until
Rachel's last appearances here in 1853, and then the
house again relapsed into its then traditional ill-
luck.

Saddler's Wells Theatre was gradually emerging
from the ** Aquatic Theatre " stage to melodrama ; but
it is not until Phelps' reign there that it acquires much
interest.

As has been said, the resort par excellence of fashion
during the period dealt with in this chapter was the
King's Theatre, Haymarket, by this time known as Her
Majesty's, where grand opera and ballet furnished the
standing dish. The history of opera is, however, out-
side the scope of this book; it must be sufficient merely
to indicate the memorable record of this splendid house
until its destruction, by fire in 1867, a record embellished
by such names as those of Catalani, Taglioni, Elssler,
C^rito, Tamburini, Grisi, Mario, Sontagf, Malibran|

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THE KEMBLES AND KEAN. 127

Lablache, Jenny Lind, Sims Reeves, and Grahn. Its
successor, which was completed in 1872, had to face
the very serious competition of opera at Covent Garden
and occasionally at Drury Lane, and enjoyed a chequered
career (which was inaugurated by the Moody and Sankey
** revival meetings*') until its demolition in 1892. Its
site is occupied partly by the Carlton Hotel and partly
by the beautiful theatre opened by Beerbohm Tree in
1897.

Other theatres that were popular in the first quarter
of the nineteenth century were the Cobourg, the West
London, and Astley*s. The Cobourg (which eventually
was re-named the Victoria Theatre, Westminster) lay
close to the Surrey, and was opened in 1818. Melo-
drama, adapted to the palate of transpontine audiences,
was its staple fare. The plays were well mounted and,
in their own way, well acted. Stars such as Edmund
Kean occasionally appeared there, and many actors
who afterwards gained a wide reputation acted there in
their early days — amongst them Buckstone, Wallack,
Henry Kemble and **Brayvo" Hicks. The house was
considered very fine, and boasted of a wonderful
looking-glass curtain. A contemporary critic (in the
** British Stage") pays the Cobourg a somewhat doubt-
ful compliment. **This is," he says, **the prettiest
theatre in the metropolis; the dresses astonish us by
their splendour, and the scenes are painted in a masterly
style; but having said this much, our stock of com-
mendation is exhausted. As literary compositions the
pieces produced are utterly contemptible, and the
performers for the most part are suited to the pieces."
The **Vic," as the house latterly became familiarly
known to its frequenters, ceased to exist as an active
theatre in the early 'seventies. For some time in the
'thirties the City Theatre (afterwards the City Pantheon)

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128 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

was run in conjunction with the Cobourg, under the
same management and with much the same company.

Astley's Theatre has been dealt with in the preceding
chapter; and the West London was the little theatre
off Tottenham Court Road which, after fifty years of
farce and melodrama played to audiences of gradually
diminishing quality, and after having been known in
the interval as the Queen's Theatre and the Fitzroy
Theatre (and irreverently to the ** profession" as the
**Dust Hole*') had a brilliant new birth, under the
historic Bancroft management, as the Prince of Wales's.
Theatre in 1865.

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CHAPTER XL

THE MACREADY AND PHELPS ERA.

After the disappearance of Bunn, the management of
Covent Garden Theatre continued to be very indifferent,
and the fortunes of the house were sadly in need of the
fillip that was given to them in 1836 by the appearance
of the gifted Helen Faucit. Personally attractive, she
was an actress of uncommon intelligence, and, as she
acquired certainty in the technique of her art, went on
from one success to another, first as the heroines of
Sheridan Knowles' plays, and subsequently in Shake-
spearean parts.

Her early triumphs took place during the last of the
"palmy days" of Covent Garden as a home of the
drama, — that is to say, during the two years of Mac-
ready's management there. Macready had by this time
gained his popularity and was at the height of his
powers. Some twenty years before this, after a pro-
vincial apprenticeship in the course of which he had
acted with Mrs. Siddons and Dora Jordan, he had
saved the situation at Covent Garden by a brilliant
performance as Richard HI., followed by another as the
hero of Knowles* Vtrginius, which had raised him to
the top of his profession. Subsequently he had played
at Drury Lane, in America, and in Paris. He under-
took the Covent Garden management in 1837, and,
though two years of it crippled him financially, he
**made history" there by a series of fine Shakespearean

129

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I30 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

revivals (in which Helen Faucit and Phelps were his
coadjutors) and by the production of Lytton's Lady of
Lyons in 1838 and Richelieu in 1839. These two plays
owed a great deal to their interpreters, Helen Faucit's
Pauline in the former and Macready's impersonation of
the Cardinal in the latter making their fortunes. They
had the faults of most of the verse plays of their time,
but the fact remains that they held the stage for half a
century. Until quite recently Pauline was quite a
favourite part for aspiring debutantes^ and Irving*s
Richelieu is still fresh in the memory of playgoers.
Lytton*s earlier verse drama, The Duchess de la Vallieie,
had been produced at Drury Lane in 1836, but with
little success ; at that time Lytton had yet to learn what
was theatrically effective, and the play was much too
long. **Far too tedious," said a newspaper criticism
on its first performance, **the longest drama we have
sat out for many a night." His last play, Money ^ a prose
comedy, which enjoyed a long life with frequent revivals,
was produced at the Haymarket under Webster's man-
agement in 1840.

Macready is to be credited with the laudable though
financially dangerous ambition to lead the public taste
instead of conforming to it, a fact which to a great
extent explains the collapse of his two years' manage-
ment at Covent Garden, as it does that of a subsequent
two years' management at Drury Lane. When he left
Covent Garden in 1839 his duties there were taken over
by Madame Vestris and Charles Mathews, who ex-
changed an assured success at the Olympic for the
doubtful honour of managing the larger house. Their
management was excellent, but they were not good
financiers. Shakespeare was alternated with modern
comedy and the airy trifles of Planchd; opera was tried,
in an attempt to compete with what was then the over-

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THE MACREADY AND PHELPS ERA. I3I

whelmingly popular form of entertainment; but despite
the efforts of well-meanings managers and a brilliant
company, the theatre could not be made to pay, and
after two years (that is to say, by the end of 1842)
the attempt was abandoned.

This is practically the end of the dramatic history of
Covent Garden. Music hereafter took the place of the
drama there. The fortunes of the house had fallen
lower and lower, when it was burned down in 1856; the
present house was opened in 1858, and its subsequent
history belongs to that of opera. ^.^^

After playing at the Haymarket under Webster from
1839 to 1841, Macready in the latter year made his
second attempt at managership by taking over the
control of Drury Lane. It was a brave attempt, for he
had a high purpose and was an admirable stage-
manager; but a couple of years of it were again enough
to bring disaster to his pocket and his health. He
was too anxious to fulfil literally his pledge to give the
public variety, and to pose as the leader of public taste.
When, for instance, ** business*' was languishing and he
gave in so far to the prevailing fashion as to mount
Gay*s Acts and Galatea with Handel's music and superb
scenery by Stanfield, he held a trump card ; but he
deliberately threw it away by refusing to admit it to be
performed more than a limited number of times, though
he was immensely proud of the production. His stage-
manager, Anderson, has left it on record that in his
opinion **it ought to have run two hundred nights and
brought thousands of pounds to the treasury, had the
manager been so inclined." But, contrary to all advice,
Macready would not hear of its being given more than
three times a week, with the result that its powers of
attraction dwindled to nothing.

Some of the scenic effects in this production would

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132 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

challenge comparison with anything seen in later days.
Particularly, a scene of the Sicilian coast by moonlight
aroused the greatest enthusiasm, presenting as it did
(according to the critic of the ** Examiner") ** the seas
swelling towards us, the waves breaking as they come;
the last billow actually tumbling over and over with
spray and foam upon the shore, and then receding with
the noise of water over stones and shells, to show the
hard wet sand, and, in its due time, roll and break
again."

Another circumstance which militated against Mac-
ready's Drury Lane management was the formidable
competition of the other theatres, which were now on
the verge of emancipation from the old monopoly
fetters. Macready made the mistake of trying to carry
matters with too high a hand. He failed to realize
that the days of Drury Lane monopoly were over, and
that a public enjoying considerable scope for choice in
its dramatic fare must be treated with consideration
rather than with authority. The Haymarket^ the
Olympic, the Adelphi, and Sadler's Wells were by this
time all popular houses, and he was too indifferent to
the fact. Artistically, his management was laudable.
He believed in the older traditions and tried to carry
them on ; his work was all done conscientiously, though
in too unbending a spirit, and he cleared away a good
many abuses. But his general lack of amenity was his
undoing as a manager, and his obstinate opposition to
long ** runs " emptied his purse.

Of his productions at Drury Lane the most notable
were his revivals of King John and As You Like It, the
latter with a cast that included what the playbills of the
time would have termed ** such a galaxy of talent" as
Mrs. Nisbett, Mrs. Stirling, Mr. and Mrs. Keeley,
Anderson, Phelps, Ryder, and, of course, Macready

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THE MACREADY AND PHELPS ERA. 1 33

himself. He did service to the contemporary drama by
producing Westland Marston*s Patrician's Daughter
and Browning's Blot on the 'Scutcheon; and, yielding
unwillingly to the taste for music and spectacle,
mounted Dryden's King Arthur and Milton's Comus
handsomely. The King Arthur performances are
memorable from the fact that in them Sims Reeves,
then an unknown member of the chorus, had his first
solos to sing and made an immediate impression.

After his disappointment at Drury Lane, Macready
made a successful tour in America, where he had
already acted twenty years before; on his return to
Europe he acted in Paris with Helen Faucit, to the great
admiration of the French critics. Five years later a
third American tour was brought to an untimely end by
riots which arose from a quarrel between him and
the American tragedian Edwin Forrest, ending in
Macready's having to be hurriedly smuggled out of the
country. The rights of the quarrel are not very clear,
but undoubtedly Macready*s uncompromising de-
meanour (which was sadly lacking in tact) did not
tend to pacification. For the rest of his stage life he
was principally seen in London at the Haymarket and
the Princess's, and made his farewell to the public at
Drury Lane in February 1851 as Macbeth. His retire-
ment was made the occasion for much feting and
laudation, a great deal of the latter being thoroughly
deserved. He lived to enjoy twenty years of private
life, dying at Cheltenham in April 1873.

He appears to have been an ideal actor of highly
coloured parts, where abrupt transitions of manner and
strongly marked contrasts were called for. Talfourd,
who was no mean judge, classifies him as the ** most
romantic" of actors, just as Kean was the **most
human " and Kemble the ** most classical." He was an

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134 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

extremely upright man and could be very generous; on
the other hand, as his diary shows, he was extremely
vain and very quarrelsome. His characteristic pom-
posity peeps out in such diary entries as this: *' It had
always been," he says, **in direct contrariety to my
disposition and my taste ... to adopt the * hail-fellow-
well-met' familiarity of the green-rooms, into which
(when I entered them, which was not often) 1 carried
the manners and address habitual with me in general
society." Whatever his shortcomings, however, he
was always thoroughly in earnest, and, as an artist,
conscientious almost to a fault. We may remember
the words in Tennyson's sonnet to ** Macready, moral,
grave, sublime":

"Thine is it that the drama did not die,
Nor flicker down to brainless pantomime
And those gilt gauds men-children swarm to see."

With the end of the Macready management the lustre
departs from the annals of ** Old Drury." Hence-
forward its chequered career, though offering isolated
moments of interest, has not much bearing on dramatic
history. Its size was inappropriate to the newer style
of histrionics; and, though one or two were foolhardy
enough to make the attempt, prudent managers shrank
from the difficulty of filling so vast a house in the face
of the opposition of half a dozen popular theatres, after
the preliminary difficulty of paying so large a rental as
was demanded. Buckstone with his fine company at
the Haymarket, Robson and Wigan at the Olympic,
Webster with Dion Boucicault and Toole at the Adelphi,
Phelps at Sadler's Wells, Charles Kean at the Princess's
— these formed an opposition that it would have needed
a Garrick or an Edmund Kean to withstand. Unde-

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THE MACREADY AND PHELPS ERA. 13S

terred by this, however, Bunn succeeded Macready in
the management, and for some seven years tried in vain
to tempt the public with opera and the performances of
a French circus. Drury Lane ruined him, just as it
ruined his successor James Anderson, a capable actor
who had been under Macready both at Covent Garden
and Drury Lane. Two years of it sufficed for Anderson,
who had the added bitterness of seeing an American
** equestrian entertainment" subsequently fill the house
which his efforts had left half empty.

Manager succeeded manager with dreary frequency ;
opera alternated with circus performances, and melo-
drama with the feats of acrobats. The only outstanding
feature in the twenty-eight years that elapse between
Anderson and the rule of Augustus Harris (who is
identified with the present-day Drury Lane), is the
Chatterton management, that lasted from 1863 to 1879,
at the close of which Chatterton*s debts are said to have
amounted to more than thirty-five thousand pounds !
His aims, however, had been laudably higher than
those of his immediate predecessors. He called
together as able a company as circumstances permitted,
including Phelps (who had retired from the manage-
ment of Sadler's Wells in 1862), Helen Faucit, Barry
Sullivan, and Adelaide Neilson; and for five years he
struggled manfully against the inevitable, with revivals
of Shakespearean and other poetic dramas. To him,
also, the public owed the appearance of Salvini as
Othello in 1875; but, finding in the words of the trite
epigram, that ** Shakespeare spelt ruin and Byron
bankruptcy," he tried to retrieve his fortunes with
spectacular ** modern life " plays of the type that was to
prove so profitable to his successor. He was beaten,
nevertheless, partly by the circumstances of public
taste and partly owing to his attempting too much, for

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136 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

latterly he had the Adelphi and the Princesses on his
hands as well as Drury Lane.

With Augustus Harris, a new era of prosperity began
for the old house. Lavishly staged pantomime (how
many of us have delicious recollections of our earliest
pantomimes there, and the inimitable Yokes family !)
and elaborate spectacular melodramas, teeming with
up-to-date incidents and mechanical effects, were his
trump cards, as they have proved those of Arthur
Collins who has carried on the Harris tradition since the
latter*s death in 1896. It is only fair to remember that
to Harris we owed the visit of the Saxe-Meiningen
company in 1881, and of the great Italian actress
Adelaide Ristori in 1882. But, to all intents and
purposes, the history of Drury Lane for the last forty
years has meant spectacular melodrama and pantomftie.
And so, though its boards have since been the scene of
many interesting appearances and are connected in-
cidentally with the careers of many distinguished
performers, Drury Lane's long and honourable import-
ance in dramatic history practically comes to a close
with that of Macready.

With the disappearance of monopoly in stage
matters, the centre of interest shifts to newer theatres.
Of these, the Haymarket claims first consideration, as
the oldest established. The management of Benjamin
Webster, which lasted from 1837 to 1853, initiated the
prosperity of a house which has enjoyed an almost
unbroken tradition for good luck, which means good
management. He improved the comfort of the house,
lighting it by gas, and interposing ** orchestra stalls"
between the pit and the orchestra ; opinion at the time
was divided as to whether the latter innovation were an
improvement or no. What was more important, he
gathered together a fine company, and gave by his i

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THE MACREADY AND PHELPS ERA. 1 37

encouragement a considerable lift to the dramatic
output of his day.

Samuel Phelps and Madame Celeste made their first
London appearance at the Haymarket during Webster's
first season; Macready and Helen Faucit were there
from 1839 to 1841; Buckstone, .who succeeded Webster
as manager of the theatre, was one of its leading
comedians from the beginning of Webster's rule;
Charles Kean and his wife, the elder Farren, Mathews
and Madame Vestris, Mrs. Nisbett, Mrs, Stirling,
Tyrone Power, — all these supported Webster, who,
besides being an able comedian, was responsible for
nearly a hundred comedies and farces which he wrote
or adapted from the French. At the same time, always
On the alert to encourage native talent, he produced
Lytton's Money in 1840, and some of the best work of
Sheridan Knowles, Douglas Jerrold, and Westland
Marston. His management was generous and honour-
able, and he reaped a suitable and well-deserved
reward. He is recorded to have paid no less a sum
than ;^20oo annually for the copyright of British
plays, and on one occasion offered a prize of ;^5oo in
open competition for a comedy.

An interesting fact that Mr. Maude notes in his book
on the Haymarket Theatre is that Webster's was the
first London company to go on tour. ** Whenever the
theatre closed, the members of the company went off
in a body and rented a small provincial theatre for five
nights at a time (they never played on Saturdays), all
sharing equally. Any one who happened to be out of
the bill made himself useful in the front of the house,
and no one objected to playing small parts or insisted
on * fat ' ones." Finances were arranged on the sharing
system, and often each member netted quite a nice little
sum. Occasionally they had disconcerting experiences;

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138 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

as when, in a midland town, the magistrate unexpectedly
refused them permission to use the theatre and a relent-
less landlady refused to let them have any food or to
leave without some payment in advance. Eventually
a plan of flight was decided on ; and ** in the middle of
the night the actors and actresses, with their spare
clothing and properties disposed as best could be
managed about their persons, silently climbed out of
the window, looking like nothing more than a series of
fat men and women from a * penny gaff. ' The moment
they reached the street, off they ran, never stopping till
they reached a cornfield some two miles off."

In 1844 Webster had become, in partnership with
Madame Celeste, part lessee of the Adelphi ; and in
1853 he retired from the Haymarket and devoted
himself entirely to the Adelphi. Buckstone, who was
now at the height of his popularity, took up the manage-
ment of the Haymarket and remained there till 1876.
He had been on the stage since he was a boy, having
deserted an office stool for the boards of the theatre ;
and, after the usual strolling apprenticeship and appear-
ances at the Surrey Theatre, Sadler's Wells, the Adelphi
and Drury Lane, he had joined Webster's Haymarket
company in 1837. He was the most irresistible low-
comedian of modern days, excelling in parts where
broad humour and a sense of the grotesque were called
for. His Tony Lumpkin and his Bob Acres have
remained unchallenged for excellence, save perhaps by
Lionel Brough. He was also author or adapter of a
host of comedies and farces.

He was fond of telling how he came to take up the
managerial responsibilities, and that at a reduced rent.
Mrs. Morris, the proprietress of the Haymarket (with
whom, as with every one, Buckstone was a prime
favourite), was anxious that he should become manager

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THE MACREADY AND PHELPS ERA. 139

when Webster went to the Adelphi. A friend offered
to find the necessary capital for him ; and so (to
quote again from Mr. Maude's chronicle), **his capital
acquired, Buckstone went off to arrange terms with
Mrs. Morris. They soon came to an agreement,
and, having talked over the question of repairs, etc.,
Buckstone rose to take his leave. * Good - bye,
Mr. Buckstone,' said Mrs. Morris; 'good -bye.
There's nothing more I can do for you, is there?'
* No,' laughed Buckstone, * except to knock the odd
;^5po off the rent!' *With pleasure,' replied Mrs.
Morris, to Buckstone's intense surprise and delight."

Amongst the fine company of comedians at Buck-
stone's Haymarket was Henry Compton, ablest of
Shakespearean ** clowns," whose Touchstone was in-
comparable. The American actor Edwin Booth (who,
many years later, was seen at the Lyceum in Irving's
day) appeared under Buckstone in the early 'sixties ;
and in 1863 Ellen Terry, then a girl of fifteen but
possessed already of six or seven years' experience of
the stage, took part (as Britannia) in an extraordinary
medley billed as ** Buckstone At Home ; or, the
Manager and his Friends. Designed to introduce a
splendid panorama of the tour of the Prince of Wales
in the East"; and Miss Terry has confessed that she
behaved somewhat mischievously on the occasion, in
tossing a professedly immovable ** property" rock into
the air with her hand ! In 1865 (in a summer season
undertaken by Walter Montgomery) Mrs. Kendal, then
Madge Robertson, made her first London appearance at
the Haymarket ; or rather, to be strictly accurate, this
was her second London appearance; for, as her bio-
gfrapher, Mr. Pemberton, tells us, she had appeared when
little more than a baby at the Marylebone Theatre in
1854 in children's parts. *' A Robertson family story,"

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I40 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

says Mr. Pemberton, ** records the fact that when The
Stranger was being performed and little Madge, very
proud of her new costume, was sent on to the stage to
soften the heart of Kotzebue's sorely depressed (and
depressing) hero, she caught sight of her nurse in the
pit, and, forgetful of the footlight barrier that divided
them, gleefully called out, * Oh ! nursey, look at my
new shoes ! ' "

The Haymarket bill was usually long and varied,
including domestic drama, comedies and farces, the
curtain rising at seven o'clock and often not falling
until well after midnight. At nine o'clock ** half-price "
began, an opportunity of which many busy people
availed themselves; and the audience of the ** little
theatre" was often reinforced at a late hour by un-
sated playgoers from the opera-house opposite, who
would wind up the night by a glimpse of ** Bucky " in
some favourite farce. One or two of the many Buck-
stone anecdotes on record are too good not to be
quoted. An encounter of his with a very tipsy
stranger whom he found affectionately embracing one
of the pillars in the portico of the theatre shows how
widely familiar his face and manner were. ** * How
dare you, sir ? ' said Buckstone ; * how dare you defile
this temple of classic comedy? You ought to be
ashamed of yourself ! Go home, sir ; go home at
once.' The bibulous stranger turned a lack-lustre eye
on his adviser and steadied himself with some difficulty
against the pillar. * Go home yourself,' he hiccoughed,
* you damned bad imitation of Buckstone ! ' " Later in
Buckstone's career, when deafness troubled him gravely,
and he had great difficulty, when in the ** wings," to
hear his **cues" from the stage, he used to arrange
with the prompter to tap him on the shoulder when the
moment arrived for him to go on to the scene. On one

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THE MACREADY AND PHELPS ERA. 14I

occasion, when he had to go on at the end of a love
scene between the hero and heroine of the piece, a
friend, who had failed to find him in his dressing-room,
came up behind him and, to attract his attention
without being heard, tapped him on the shoulder.
Mistaking this for the prompter's signal, Buckstone
jumped up and walked on to the stage, to the amaze-
ment of the pair of lovers, who stared at him in
confusion and embarrassment as to how to proceed.
Grasping the situation in a moment, Buckstone winked
hard at the lady, and exclaimed with a chuckle, ** Aha,
I saw you ! " as he made a rapid exit. The unfortunate
actors had to finish their love scene as best they might
amidst the roar of laughter that followed this unlooked-
for interruption.

In spite, however, of his popularity and the constant
patronage of the Court, Buckstone's Haymarket had its
ups and downs of fortune, for he was an extravagant
man and an unbusinesslike manager. It was during a
very serious **down" that the theatre's fortunes were
saved by the extraordinary and entirely unexpected hit
made by Edward Sothern as Lord Dundreary in Tom
Taylor's play Our American Cousin^ in 1861. Sothern,
who had appeared in the piece in America three years
before, had been disgusted with the poorness of the
part when he was originally cast for it, and only accepted
it on condition he were allowed to **gag" and exag-
gerate as much as he pleased. To his amazement as
much as any one else's, his portrait of the idiotic fop,
with his lisp and the ridiculous little hop in his walk,
became the overwhelming attraction of the piece and
made his fame and fortune. Buckstone was half afraid
of the piece and of the part, as likely to offend the
** swells" in the audience; but he produced and pushed
it, and had reason to be thankful he had done so. By

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142 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

degrees the ** Dundreary" fever infected the whole town,
and the management was saved. Sothern, who was a
first-rate light comedian, made a further success at the
Haymarket in Tom Robertson's David Garrick^ which
first saw the light in 1864 and has in more recent years
been kept green by Sir Charles Wyndham's popular
rendering of the title-rdle.

The only other great success of Buckstone's later
days was that enjoyed by Gilbert's ** fairy plays,'' whose
novelty of conception and execution (though indebted
in some measure to the idea that Planch^ had hit upon
for his ** classical extravaganzas") caught the popular
fancy. In them Madge Robertson (by this time Mrs.
Kendal) and her husband did yeoman's service. The
Palace of Truth was produced in 1870; Pygmalion and
Galatea, in which Mrs. Kendal "came into her own" with
a faultless performance as the animated statue, in 1871 ;
and The Wicked World m 1873. In the latter, however,
this particular vein of humour showed signs of ex-
haustion ; mistakes were made in the cast, and, saddest
of all, Buckstone was getting too old and his hearing
and memory were deserting him. Despite the attrac-
tions of a clever company, a temporary spell of ill-luck
settled upon the house in the late 'seventies. Buckstone
retired in 1876, to die three years later, and was
succeeded by J. S. Clarke, an amusing actor whose
grotesque comedy had made him a favourite; but the
company began to break up after Buckstone's dis-
appearance, and there is practically nothing more of
note to record in the Hay market's history until the
beginning of the Bancroft management in 1880. That,
however, belongs to a different era and another chapter.
It should be noted that Buckstone, in 1873, instituted
** morning performances" at two o'clock, at the Hay-
market; though, as Mr. Clement Scott points out, be

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THE MACREADY AND PHELPS ERA. I43

was not the first to try the experiment, having been
anticipated by E. T. Smith, who was one of the various
short-lived managers of Drury Lane in the early 'fifties.

When Webster removed in 1853 from the Haymarket
to the Adelphi, it was to take up the sole management
oi the latter house, in which he had since 1844 had a
share in partnership with Madame Celeste. Thanks to
the popularity of Wright and Bedford, two excellent
comedians, the Adelphi had become a favourite house.
Bedford was a good singer as well as actor, and his
Blueskin in /ack Sheppard (to Mrs. Keeley's Jack) was
A remarkable enough performance to become a tradition^
With the advent of Webster the type of ** Adelphi
drama" improved; but the recipe for it had already
become firmly fixed, and, though varying in merit
according to the deftness with which it was concocted,
continued to consist of much the same ingredients up
to the moment when it disappeared with William
Terriss's death. It was an honest mixture of sensation,
pathos and humour, of love, mystery, villainy, hair-
breadth escapes and comic ** business"; written,
perhaps, with no great sense of style, but with an
unerring eye to effect and to the exploiting of the
talents of the company. The evening's bill almost
always included one or two farces as well, — "Adelphi
Screamers," as they came to be called. Mark Lemon,
Buckstone and Webster himself provided many a
** screamer" to show off Wright, Bedford and the
Keeleys, the solider fare coming from the hands of such
writers as Charles Reade and Tom Taylor, Watts
Phillips and, subsequently, Boucicault.

In 1858 it was realized that the house had been
allowed to fall into incurable disrepair ; it was pulled
down, and at the end of the same year a new Adelphi
was opened. Watts Phillips' The Dead Hearty with its

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144 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

sensational scene of the taking of the Bastille, was one
of Webster's first managerial successes in his new
house; but, as can be gathered from contemporary
criticism, the success was somewhat forced by lavish
stage expenditure and the effect of Webster's person-
ality in the leading part. Genuine popular success
came later with the Boucicault plays The Colleen Bawn
and The Octoroon^ Miss Bateman's famous performance
in Leahy and Jefferson's inimitable Rtp van Winkle.
Toole, though he had only been six or seven years on
the stage, was chosen by Webster to succeed Wright
as one of the chief comedians in his company, on
Wright's retirement in 1858. After at first appearing
only in the **screamers," he was soon given parts that
enabled him to show his mettle. Thus in a contempor-
ary account of The Dead Heart in 1859, we read that
**Mr. Toole has a comic part sketched out for him,
which as a written part would amuse nobody, but which
he knows how to make amusing." Again, in January
i860, **at the Adelphi Mr. Dickens's Christmas Carol
has introduced Mr. Toole for the first time as an actor
capable of more than amusing extravagance."

Webster wisely paid great attention to the comfort of
the audience in the new house, and it is interesting to
note, on Adelphi playbills of the early 'sixties (in the
height of the Boucicault successes), that not only was
there no fee for ** booking in advance," but that **no
fees to servants or for bills of performance" were per-
mitted. The prices of admission were: Gallery, six-
pence; Amphitheatre Stalls **with elbows and cushions
secured the whole evening," one shilling; Pit, one and
sixpence; Pit Stalls, ** with elbows and cushions," two
shillings; First Circle Stalls, three shillings; Dress
Circle Stalls, four shillings; Orchestra Stalls, **two feet
wide, and secured the whole evening," five shillings;

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THE MACREADY AND PHELPS ERA. 145

and Family Boxes and Private Boxes ranging from one
guinea to four. The performances began at seven;
and ** second price," when that was allowed, usually
at nine.

From 1870 to 1872 Chatterton shared in the manage-
ment with Webster, and from 1872 until his collapse in
1879 had sole control of the house. The Webster
traditions were fairly well kept up for a time, but the
newer theatres were elbowing the older out of place,
and it needed an entirely new management, and one
more capable than Chatterton*s, to enable the Adelphi
ultimately to regain its former prestige. Even in
Webster's own day the opposition of Wigan, Robson,>
and Liston at the Olympic, of Charles Kean at the
Princess's and his great rival Phelps at Sadler's Wells,
of Marie Wilton and the Byron burlesques at the
Strand, had been formidable ; the Olympic, in particular,
challenging the Adelphi with its own weapons of farce
and romantic or sensational drama.

The new house at the Olympic, after the destruction
of the old by fire in March 1849, had been opened at the
end of the same year ; but it seemed at first as if the
good fortune of the old house had been consumed
with its timbers. William Farren, famous for his ** old
men," migrated to it from the Strand Theatre and took
a capital company with him ; but he could present no
sufficient attraction to draw good audiences until, in
the autumn of 1853, ^® happened to engage a grotesque
little low-comedian whose acting he had observed when
on a visit to Dublin. This was Frederick Robson, and
before many weeks were over Robson had made himself
and the Olympic famous. His farcical acting was of a
grotesqueness that was weird and abounded in sur-
prising contrasts, a leap being made in a moment from
irresponsible buffoonery to tragedy or irresistible pathos.

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146 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

'' No one can have witnessed his performance," says a
critic in the Quarterly Review^ ** without being struck
with the narrowness of the bounds between sport and
earnest. His farce has a pathetic depth, a grave
earnestness, that touch at one and the same moment
the sources of tears and laughter." Another critic, in
** Blackwood," says: ** It is in the jumble and juxta-
position of details that his burlesque consists, in
suddenly passing from the extreme of anger or fear to
the extreme of humorous ease, in suddenly relapsing
into humorous slang in mid-volley of the most passion-
ate speech, and all this with the most marvellous
flexibility of voice and feature. It was in a burlesque
of Macbeth^ and subsequently in Shylock^ or the Merchant
of Venice preservedy that Robson obtained his first
chances of exhibiting this tragic-comic power; his per-
formance drew the town, and G. H. Lewes could write
in the Leader of October 1853 that, **on Monday the
Olympic opened its doors with by far the greatest
prospect of success since the days when Madame
Vestris made it the most novel, the most elegant, and
the most attractive theatre in London."

Alfred Wigan succeeded Farren as manager, and
Robson still continued to be the attraction of the
theatre. His success in almost every part he under-
took, and particularly in burlesque parts, resulted, as
Henry Morley aptly points out (in his * 'Journal of a
Playgoer"), from his being so desperately in earnest.
**lt is odd enough," says Morley, **that at a time
when all serious acting is tending to the burlesque and
unreal, a. burlesque actor should start up with a real
and very serious power in him." Any mention of
Robson would be incomplete without a reference to the
extraordinary vogue enjoyed by the song, ** Villikins and
his Dinah," which he sang in the course of a worthless

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THE MACREADY AND PHELPS ERA. I47

farce called The Wandering MinstreU He appeared for
the last time in 1862, his powers by that time failing
him terribly, and died two years later. During the last
five years of his theatrical life he was joint manager
of the Olympic with Emden, who had been acting-
manager under Alfred Wigan.

Apart from the Robson successes, Wigan's manage-
ment included the production of Tom Taylor's Still
Waters run Deep in 1855, in which Wigan (who was a
very capable actor) was much praised as Mr. Mildmay ;
and, during the Robson and Emden management, the
same author's Ticket-of-Leave Man enjoyed a sensational
success. Of the names that appear on the Olympic
bills during the latter management, those of Lydia
Foote and Henry Neville are familiar to a later
generation.

A few years afterwards Kate Terry (who in 1865
** doubled " the parts of Viola and Sebastian in Twelfth
Night) and Henry Neville were the ** stars" in romantic
drama at the Olympic. Later again, during a season
of Webster's, it is interesting to note the name of
**Miss E. Farren" on its bills. Sir W. S. Gilbert's
The Princess (in after years adapted into the libretto for
the Savoy opera Princess Ida) was produced there in
1870, and his Gretchen in 1879; there were moments of
popularity for the theatre with adaptations of favourite
novels of Dickens and Wilkie Collins; and Wilkie
Collins' play The New Magdalen (in 1873) gave import-
ance to the brief management of Miss Ada Cavendish^
an actress of considerable melodramatic power, who
had made her debut at the Royalty some ten years
previously. But, though a succession of managers,
some of them able and astute men, tried during the
remaining five and twenty years of its life to retrieve
the fortunes of the house, it never recovered its old

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148 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

position. Its prestige disappeared with Robson, and
after that it ceases to count seriously in stage history.
It was badly situated, in a street that had become
disreputable, and it would have needed an irresistible
attraction to get the public to go there again. In spite
of these facts, when the old house was finally closed in
1890, a new Olympic was planned and built on the site,
a fine house and one much larger than the former.

Fortune, however, was not to be tempted and kept
sternly aloof. Neither the efforts of the popular Wilson
Barrett with melodrama, of Signor Lago with opera,
nor the attractions of various strange entertainments
that were subsequently offered there, were of any avail ;
and in 1899 the Olympic finally ceased to exist.

The most remarkable manager since Macready, and
the one on whom his mantle fell, )vas to be found (at
the period dealt with in this chapter) at Sadler's Wells,
a theatre that up to this time had been regarded as
utterly ** suburban," but was now to take the lead ih
intelligent dramatic entertainment. Samuel Phelps,
a sound and earnest actor, who had graduated at the
Haymarket under Webster and at Covent Garden
under Macready, as a man of forty acquired a share of
the management of Sadler's Wells in 1844,, and
controlled its destinies (making both the theatre and
himself famous) for eighteen years. He recognized
that, despite the deplorable condition of the native
drama of his day, there was, nevertheless, even in so
unfashionable a quarter, a public to appreciate per-
formances of Shakespeare intelligently given and
adequately staged, and moreover that it was possible
for a manager to present such performances without
such extravagant outlay on scenery and accessories as
Charles Kean was lavishing at the Princess's. The
disappearance of monopoly in theatrical matters gave

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THE MACREADY AND PHELPS ERA. I49

Phelps his opportunity. He had inherited what was
good in the Macready tradition from his old chief, and,
having plenty of courage and being very much in
earnest, he set about the difficult task of transforming a
rather rowdy suburban theatre, where for many years
sensationalism had been the constant attraction, into a
house that became the resort of those who loved
Shakespeare and what was best in the drama. During
his eighteen years of management he produced thirty-
two of Shakespeare's plays, and, at a rough calculation,
played Shakespeare on four nights out of every six.
When Shakespeare was not in the bill, the staple piece
of the evening was always a play at least worthy of
intelligent consideration. Massinger, Webster, Beau-
mont and Fletcher, Colman, Sheridan, Macklin, Lytton,
Knowles, Milman, Byron, Marston, Browning — these
are names we find on Phelps* playbills. The managerial
announcement issued at the commencement of the
enterprise stated that it was undertaken at a time
**when the stages which have been exclusively called
* National ' are closed, or devoted to very indifferent
objects from that of presenting the real drama of
England," and **in the hope of eventually rendering
Sadler's Wells Theatre what a theatre ought to be, a
place for justly representing the works of our great
dramatic poets." Phelps honestly fulfilled that hope,
so far as in him lay, and his career is a very worthy
close to the line of managers of the old school. For he
belonged to them, and not to the newer school, whose
ridicule he lived to incur for his adherence to the
methods of acting in which he had been trained.
Shakespeare-lovers in the 'fifties were divided into two
camps, — the adherents of Phelps and his intelligent and
reverent treatment of the plays at Sadler's Wells, and
the admirers of Charles Kean's sumptuous ** revivals"

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I50 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

at the Princess's. Charles Kean was the first of the
lengthening line of extravagant producers of Shakes-
peare, who, to say the least of it, are in danger of
obscuring the jewel by the elaboration of its setting;
Phelps was the last upholder of a tradition that is
seldom reverted to now, a tradition that had the merit
of a juster sense of proportion and of sensitiveness to
the intrinsic beauty of the plays. ** A main cause of
the success of Mr. Phelps in his Shakespearean revivals,"
says Morley in his "Journal," ** is that he shows in his
author above all things the poet." Again, ** the scenery
(at Sadler's Wells) is very beautiful, but wholly free
from the meretricious glitter now in favour." But
Phelps has his revenge; for while his spirited and
artistic management of Sadler's Wells occupies a
prominent and honourable place in the history of the
drama, Charles Kean's productions are forgotten save
for the appeal they made to the eye.

It must have been bitter to Phelps, after his retire-
ment, to see Sadler's Wells drop gradually into disrepute
again ; for so it did. Of its succeeding managers, none
had his personal prestige ; theatres were multiplying in
the centre of London, and theatrical taste was changing.
Phelps died (in 1878) before he could see the one man-
agerial effort — that of Mrs. Bateman after she left the
Lyceum — that had any chance of reviving his old
theatre's fortunes. . The Bateman management, how-
ever, came to nothing ; and with the end of Phelps' day
the history of Sadler's Wells practically comes to an
end. The house stands still, but put to baser uses ; its
interior has been from time to time remodelled, but the
shell of the fabric is still that built by Rosoman in 1765.

Phelps was a sound and conscientious actor, — not
particularly distinguished in tragic parts, but rather in
comedy, and there chiefly in what a contemporary criti<e

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calls his **dry and intellectuar* comedy. His Falstaff
was gfood, but his Christopher Sly, his Bottom, and,
above all, his Malvolio were excellent.

The Princess's Theatre, where Phelps' rival, Charles
Kean, displayed his conception of Shakespeare, had
been opened in 1840 with operatic performances. The
first ten years of its life, previous to Kean's becoming
manager, offer few points of interest. Opera, melo-
drama and farce filled the bill, but not always the
theatre ; and not even spasmodic appearances of
** stars " such as the American actress Charlotte
Cushman (remembered by her Meg Merrilies) and
Edwin Forrest in 1845, Mathews and Madame Vestris
in 1846, and Macready in 1848, followed by a relapse
into opera for a year or two, could make the theatre
popular.

In 1850 Charles Kean became manager, in partnership
with Keeley ; in the following year Keeley retired from
the management, and Kean reigned alone till 1859.
The company was from the first an excellent one for
the task Kean had proposed to himself; a company of
actors for the most part able and experienced, including
Kean and his wife (already fairly advanced in public
favour as Ellen Tree), the two Keeleys, Vining, Lacy,
Ryder, Alfred Wigan, Meadows, Hermann Vezin,
Carlotta Leclerq and, later, her sister Rose, and the
members of a family whose names have a peculiar
appeal to us at the present day, to wit, Benjamin Terry
and his daughters Kate and Ellen.

Charles Kean's bid for fame was frankly made as
** producer of plays*' (as we should nowadays say)
rather than as actor. He was not a particularly good
actor. His friend Albert Smith wrote of him : ** Let not
Charles Kean deceive himself as to his position as an
actor; he has none beyond that which appliances of

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152 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

mise'en^scbne assist him to'*; but by hard work he
had made himself efficient. It must be borne in mind
that he took to the stage from no overniastering
impulse, as in his father's case, or even from any desire
of his own, but as a means of gainmg a livelihood for
his mother and himself when his father's fortunes
began to fail in consequence of his mode of life. He
was, however, a Shakespearean enthusiast, mainly from
the ** commentator's" standpoint; and he was a fervent
archaeologist, very proud of his designation as ** Charles
Kean, F.S.A."

He mounted fifteen or sixteen of the more prominent
of Shakespeare's plays during his time at the Princess's,
setting great store by the ** historical accuracy" of his
productions. The plays were gorgeously staged, and
authorities of all kinds were ransacked to ensure a faith-
ful reproduction of what were often unessential details
in elaborating the pictures of past ages. It was
certainly well that he should remove, once and for
all, certain obvious incongruities that convention had
grafted upon the representation of the plays; but in
his tendency to over-estimate archaeological exactitude
and to ** paint the lily" by improving upon Shakespeare's
stage-craft, his influence was not good and has had ill
results in our own day.

His point of view was, as he said in his speech on the
last night of his management, that ** historical accuracy
might be so blended with pictorial effect that instruc-
tion and amusement would go hand in hand; ... in
fact, to make the theatre a school as well as a recrea-
tion," and he is entitled to all the credit he deserves
for carrying out his theory enthusiastically. That it
may seem wanting in the imagination that marks the
true artist, as well as in respect for the imagination of
his audience, is another matter.

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THE MACREADY AND PHELPS ERA. 1 53

It is interesting to note liow closely in some respects
Beerbohm Tree, in producing Shakespeare, has followed
Kean. The interpolation, for instance, into Richard 11,
of a scenic representation of Bolingbroke's triumphal
entry into London (an event that Shakespeare was con-
tent to describe by the mouth of one of his characters)
was Kean's idea. Kean interpolated into Henry V, a
similar scene of the King's return after the French
expedition. He initiated, too, the custom (also
followed by Tree) of publishing with his playbill a
leaflet descriptive of the play and its history, in his case
including exhaustive details of his archaeological re-
searches. It is possible to defend his attitude; but it
is equally permissible to regret what a critic in ** Black-
wood" called **this magnifying of historical truth, this
drifting from the open trackless sea of -fiction to the
terra firma and unalterable landmarks of fact," and to
regard it as oblivious of the fact that Shakespeare busied
himself but little with petty accuracy of detail, choosing
a picturesque locale for his drama and then concerning
himself only with the development of the dramatic side
of his theme and the human nature of his characters.
In his ** leaflet" respecting Macbeth Kean quotes Dio-
dorus Siculus, Pliny, Strabo, Xiphilin, Snorre, Adomnan,
and the Eyrbiggia Saga — a formidable list of authorities !
In his production of The Winter's Tale he boggled at
Bohemia and transformed it into Bithynia, to get a sea
coast, gravely stating in his preliminary leaflet that,
amongst other accuracies, the scenes include ** vegetation
peculiar to Bithynia, from private drawings taken on
the spot"! This is surely the very ecstasy of accuracy.

It is interesting to note the appreciation that greeted
the childish performances of the sisters Kate and Ellen
Terry under his management. Kate Terry appeared as
Arthur in King John in 1852, Fleance m Macbeth in 1855,

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154 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE

the Duke of York in Richard III, in 1854, Cordelia in
King Lear in 1858; Ellen Terry as Mamilius in A
Winder's Tale and Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream
in 1856, and as Arthur in King John in 1858; and both
in the ** Christmas pieces" that almost every theatre
presented in their winter seasons.

Ellen Terry's d4but as Mamilius (she was then eight
years old) caused her intense gratification and some
bitter tears. She was very proud of her dress, her part,
and a little toy ** go-cart" which it was her duty to drag
about the stage ; but, when carrying out her instructions,
she tripped over the handle and came down on her
back. Htnc illce lachtymce, A delightful photograph
of Charles Kean with her (including the fateful **gio-
cart") is reproduced in Clement Scott's ** Drama of
Yesterday and To-day."

Kean retired from the Princess's in 1859, *^^ worse
in pocket but the richer in a great popular reputation.
Whatever one may think of his artistic merits as a
stage-manager, there can be no two opinions as to his
personal merits in his treatment of his company and the
management of his theatre. He and his wife were
highly and deservedly esteemed both before and behind
the curtain, and public evidences of this esteem were
not wanting. He continued, after leaving the Princess's,
to act until 1867, visiting Australia, America and
Jamaica between 1863 and 1866, and died in 1868.

By a coincidence the Princess's, besides being the
scene of Ellen Terry's theatrical beginnings, also saw
the London d^but of Henry Irving, who played there
for a season in 1859, under the management of the
elder Augustus Harris. Irving was at the time a
member of the stock company in Edinburgh, to which
he speedily returned on finding himself cast for parts
very inferior to those he had played in the North.

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THE MACRfiADY AND PHELPS ERA. 155

Except for a season (in 1872) when Phelps appeared
there in a round of his best known parts, the Princess's
was given over for the remainder of its career to
melodrama, with George Vining, Webster, Chatterton
and Wilson Barrett as its successive managers. Such
sensational pieces as Boucicault's The Streets of London
(1864), Arrah-na-Pogue (1865) and After Dark (1868),
Reade's Never Too Late to Mend (iS6^) and Drink (1879),
and Watts Phillips' Lost in London (1867), were typical
of what pleased its audiences. They were capital plays
of their class, and excellently acted. The two Bouci-
caults and Patty Oliver in Arrah-na-Pogue^ and Charles
Warner's forcible acting in Drink and Never Too Late
to Mend are vivid memories to those who saw them.
At the end of the 'seventies the house was reconstructed,
reopening in November 1880. Its subsequent history,
notable only for Wilson Barrett's five years of manage-
ment, will be dealt with later.

To complete our survey of the London theatres up
to the period which may be taken as the beginning of
the ** present day," when the interest shifts from the
history of theatres to the history of individuals, it only
remains to glance at the contemporary fortunes of the
Lyceum, the St. James's, the Strand and the Royalty
theatres.

After its somewhat inchoate beginnings, the Lyceum
settled down to what was for some time a successful
and popular management, from 1844 to 1847, under the
Keeleys, and from 1847 under the control of Madame
Vestris and Charles Mathews. The Keeleys, with
Mr. and Mrs. Wigan, Sam Emery and Miss Woolgar,
made a great hit with adaptations of Dickens's novels,
which were then in every one's mouth. As in former
days at the Olympic, Mathews and Madame Vestris
made extravaganza their trump card. They turned

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156 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

again to Planch^, whose burlesques had done so much
for them at the Olympic, and alternated his work with
other extravaganzas, burlesques and Christmas pieces.
But, in spite of the wit of their authors and the fertility
and ingenuity of their clever scene-painter, William
Beverley, they could not repeat their earlier success.
Madame Vestris was no longer young, nor was their
company in any way the equal of that at the old
Olympic. Buckstone was in it, also Mr. and Mrs.
Leigh Murray, and Miss Fairbrother (who was sub-
sequently married to the Duke of Cambridge). " Still,
the entertainment they offered to the public was too
slight to be enduring under these conditions ; and farce
and pantomime, unrelieved by anything more intelli-
gent, became wearisome. So in 1855, when Madame
Vestris had been for two years out of the bill in
consequence of illness, Mathews retired from the
management, bankrupt. In the following year Madame
Vestris died.

After harbouring the ** Wizard of the North," the
burnt-out Italian Opera Company from Covent Garden,
and the celebrated Italian actress Adelaide Ristori, the
Lyceum enjoyed a short spell of better days under the
direction of the actor Charles Dillon, whose manage-
ment, though thriftless and therefore disastrous to
himself, was alive to what the public wanted, and is
at any rate notable for having provided the first London
appearance of Lady Bancroft (then Marie Wilton).

She appeared, billed as **Miss Maria Wilton," at
the Lyceum in September 1856 as the boy Henri in
Belphegor. The Morning Post in its notice of the
performance said of her: ** Miss M. Wilton is a young
(apparently very young) lady quite new to us, but her
natural and pathetic acting . . . showed her to possess
powers of no ordinary character." And to complete

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THE MACREADY AND PHELPS ERA. 15/

her success, the vivacious charm of her singing, acting
and dancing in the burlesque Perdita which followed,
was no less admired. In both pieces she had as a
fellow-player Toole, who was then at the beginning
of his popularity. He had been at the St. James's,
but joined the Lyceum company for the Belphegor
production.

From 1859 to 1871, when Henry Irving's association
with it began, the Lyceum had a variety of managers
and many vicissitudes. Madame Celeste and Edmund
Falconer (remembered by his melodrama Peep 0' Day)
tried their fortunes; Italian Opera seasons were sand-
wiched between casual seasons of melodrama and
comedy; Fechter, whose merits and demerits as an
actor were as hotly discussed in his day as were
Irving's in his, occupied the house for the best part
of four years, chiefly with melodrama; and, it may be
noted in passing. Sir W. S. Gilbert made in 1867 an
early appearance at the Lyceum as a burlesque-writer
with Harlequin Cock Robin and Jenny Wren. This was
not his first dramatic effort, however, for his Dulcamara
had been produced at the St. James's in the previous
year.

The history of the St. James's Theatre, from the days
of Mitchell's lesseeship (when French plays occupied its
boards for the best part of twelve years) until the
beginning of the Kendal management — that is to say,
from 1854 to 1879 — is a tale of almost unrelieved mis-
fortune. Toole acted there for a short time and then,
as has been mentioned above, joined Dillon's company
at the Lyceum. In succession to various short-lived
managements, Webster took over the house in 1863;
but, though he mustered a good company, no success
attended him, and, as he had the Adelphi also on his
hands, he soon gave up the St. James's. Under the

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158 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

short and equally unfortunate management of Miss
Herbert, Henry Irving appeared in 1866 in The Beliefs
Stratagem, Mrs. John Wood was manager from 1869
to 1873, with a company that included William Farren
the younger, Lionel Brough, John Clayton and Lydia
Foote, and was more fortunate than most of her pre-
decessors. The production of She Stoops to Conquer^ with
which she began her campaign, was a success ; and later
again, when she was manager for a short time in 1876
and 1877, she made a hit with The Dantscheffs (an
adaptation from the French) for which her company was
reinforced by Hermann Vezin and Charles Warner.
The year 1879 saw the accession of the Kendals to the
management, and a new and prosperous era for the St.
James's.

The first management of any account in the history
of the Strand Theatre was that of the elder Farren, who
made it fairly popular, with comedy and sentimental
drama, for two years from 1848 to 1850. Mrs. Stirling,
Compton, and the two Leigh Murrays were among his
company. After Farren, the Strand fell upon evil days
until in 1858 it entered upon a career of merry success
with burlesque. Just as Planch^ had been the saviour
of the Olympic with his extravaganzas, so H. J. Byron
saved the fortunes of the Strand with burlesques of a
different nature. These were, as often as not, parodies
of the exaggerated melodrama that still found favour in
some quarters. Marie Wilton was the ** bright parti-
cular star" of these burlesques, with a style of delicious
impudence that charmed every one as much by its finish
as its piquancy. **I call her the cleverest girl I have
ever seen on the stage in my time, and the most
singularly original," Dickens says of her in one of his
letters at this date. The vogue of these burlesques
lasted on well into the early 'seventies ; and, a few years

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THE MACREADY AND PHELPS ERA. 1 59

later, comic opera, with the brilliant success of Florence
St. John in Madame Favart in 1879 and Olivette in
1880, held the boards until the remodelling of the little
house in 1882. After that, John S. Clarke, a versatile
actor who shone as much in farce as in the old
comedies he revived, managed the Strand for some
time; the Daly company (with Ada Rehan, John Drew,
James Lewis and Mrs. Gilbert) made their first London
appearance there in 1884, to come there again two
years later and finally take their place in the affections
of London playgoers. Later again, miscellaneous
enterprises found a home at the Strand; Willie Edouin
with the amazingly successful farce Our Flat^ Harry
Paulton with Ntobe^ other farces and plays of very
varying merit, and finally ** musical comedy," until
its demolition early in 1906.

The Royalty has had a career somewhat similar to
that of the Strand, but less prosperous. After dismal
beginnings it was reconstructed in 1861 and opened
with burlesque of the kind that was filling the Strand.
Ada Cavendish appeared in 1863 in Burnand's excellent
burlesque Ixion^ and a year or two later several suc-
cessful pieces of the same kind and from the same pen
were produced by Pattie Oliver, who had graduated in
burlesque at the Strand. Except for such items of
interest as the fact that Sir Charles Wyndham made his
first London appearance at the Royalty in 1866, and that
Arthur Bourchier made an early essay of managership
there in 1895, followed by George Alexander, the subse-
quent history of the house is not of much importance.
Kate Santley has been lessee since 1883 (when the in-
terior was again remodelled), and, after tempting fortune
there with comic opera for a short time, has for many
years let it to a varied succession of managers. The
phenomenally successful farce Charley's Aunt was first

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l6o A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

produced at the Royalty in 1892, though it was soon
transferred to the Globe, where its long run took place.
French plays, German plays, Ibsen, English serious and
frivolous plays, have held its boards at various times ;
but it has been the home of temporary enterprises,
rather than a house with a coherent history of its own.
Mention may be made, in passing, of the brief ten
years' life of the Queen's Theatre, Long Acre, which
was opened in 1867. Phelps, Wyndham, Lionel
Brough, Toole, Hermann Vezin, Sam Emery, Henri-
etta Hodson, Nellie Farren, Clayton, the Wigans and
the beautiful Mrs. Rousby acted on its boards; and it
was here that (in 1867) Henry Irving and Ellen Terry
first acted together.

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CHAPTER XII.

HENRY IRVING AND ELLEN TERRY: THE LYCEUM.

Irving's earliest appearances in London, at the
Princess's in 1859 and the St. James's in 1866, have
already been mentioned. During the t-en years that
followed his first engagement at a Sunderland theatre
(which, curiously enough, bore the name of the Lyceum)
he had been through the mill in stock companies in
Edinburgh, Dublin, Glasgow, Liverpool and Man-
chester; so that by the time he reached his St. James's
engagement he had acquired a useful stock of experi-
ence and a considerable provincial reputation. Only
five years more were to elapse before the beginning of
his connection with the theatre whose fame will always
be bound up with his own ; and in those five years we
find him acting a variety of parts, usually in comedy, at
various theatres.

From 1867 to 1869 he was stage-manager as well as
actor at the Queen's Theatre, Long Acre ; and it was
during his engagement there that he first acted with
Ellen Terry, playing Petruchio to her Catharine in
Garrick's abridgment of The Taming of the Shrew in
December 1867. The two never acted together again
until Irving engaged Ellen Terry as his ** leading lady"
at the Lyceum when he became manager there eleven
years later. Ellen Terry has left it on record, in allusion
to the event, that she noticed that Irving worked with
more concentration than all the other actors put

161

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l62 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

together. *• There is an old story," she says, "of
Irving being struck with my talent at this time, and
promising that if he ever had a theatre of his own he'd
give me an engagement ! But that is all moonshine.
As a matter of fact Tm sure he never thought of me at
all at that time. I was just then acting very badly, and
feeling ill, caring scarcely at all for my work or a
theatre or anybody belonging to a theatre." The critics
were divided as to the merits of her Catharine and of
Irving's Petruchio, but the performance was considered
of sufficient interest to be noticed at some length.

During the next two years Irving acted at the Hay-
market, at the Gaiety (where he made something of a
hit as Mr. Chevenix in Uncle Dick's Darlings a piece in
which his friend Toole, to whom he was in great
measure indebted for the engagement, also appeared),
and at the Vaudeville, where he made a still more dis-
tinct impression as Digby Grant in The Two Roses, In
187 1 his connection with the Lyceum began. That
house — unlucky, unpopular, and in bad repair — had
been taken over by ** Colonel" Bateman, a shrewd
American manager, who, having heard Irving recite
**The Dream of Eugene Aram," was impressed with
the actor's obvious capability for work of a more
ambitious kind than he had hitherto been allowed to
attempt. He rushed home to tell his family that he
had found the greatest English actor of the age, and
that he intended to take the Lyceum and **run" him
there. Irving's friends were amazed at his leaving the
prosperity of the Vaudeville for the disaster they pro-
phesied at the unlucky Lyceum ; but he knew his powers
and had faith in himself, and welcomed the opportunity
which Bateman had promised him of appearing in roles
of a more romantic nature than those in which he had
so far made his London reputation.

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HENRY IRVING AND ELLEN TERRY. 163

The beginning of Bateman's management was not
promising. His first production, a romantic adaptation
from the French, was a failure; and he was obliged to
turn to his ** star's" talents in comedy in an endeavour
to avert misfortune by putting on an adaptation from
** Pickwick," with Irving as Jingle. This, however,
was not enough to attract the public to an unpopular
theatre. That feat was reserved for Irving's memor-
able performance in The Bells ^ which was first given in
November 1871. Irving had acquired the play some
little while before, had seen its possibilities, and had
steeped himself in a realization of the character of
the conscience-stricken burgomaster. Bateman saw
nothing in the play, but, with an impulse to try any-
thing to get a success, allowed Irving a free hand to
make his attempt. The result is a matter of history.
The tragic force with which the actor imbued his part,
the weirdness of the whole thing, the spell which his
acting seemed to cast on the audience, while he passed
unhesitatingly over the most difficult passages and pre-
cluded the ever-present danger of a momentary lapse
that might entail ridicule — all this combined to produce
an extraordinary efifect. The Bells ran for months, the
Lyceum was saved and Irving was a made man.

Still further to give the lie to those critics who had
denied the possibility of tragic power in the ideal
impersonator of a Digby Grant, and now denied his
possession of the simple dignity and distinction of
manner necessary to portray the ** Royal Martyr,"
Irving next appeared (in 1872) as Charles L in a
drama of that name by W. G. Wills. The play may
falsify history, but it is theatrically effective ; the
central figure is well conceived and was portrayed
by Irving with nobility and pathos. In Charles /., as
in all the chief plays in which he appeared at the

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l64 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

Lyceum under the Bateman management, he was
supported by Isabel Bateman, the manager's daughter,
an actress of respectable gifts.

Charles I, was followed, after a run of more than six
months, by a drama founded on the poem of ** Eugene
Aram,'* and that, in September 1873, by a revival of
Lytton's RichelteUy in which Irving had to contend with
memories of Macready. It may be noted, in passing,
that it was in Richelieu (in the small part of the Duke
of Orleans) that Irving had, seventeen years previously,
spoken his first words on the stage at the Sunderland
Lyceum.

It was in October 1874 that he set the seal on his
reputation by his performance of Hamlet, a performance
that subsequently ripened with each revival till it
became one of the most remarkable of our day and one
to which subsequent Hamlets have owed much. His
astute manager had done all he could to arouse anti-
cipation of the event, and it justified his efforts. Dis-
cussion raged furiously around the merits and demerits
of the new Hamlet ; but, whatever else was thought,
it was agreed that it was a scholarly effort and the
result of intelligent study coupled with great technical
gifts. Bateman died during the two hundred nights'
run that the play enjoyed, and the management of the
Lyceum was carried on for three years more by his
widow. She eventually resigned the control of the
theatre to Irving in 1878.

During those three years Irving was seen as Macbeth
in 1875 and Othello in 1876, neither of them parts well
suited to his physique or methods ; as Philip of Spain
in Tennyson's Queen Mary in 1876, a part which gave
his powers little scope and is now chiefly remembered
as having inspired Whistler's remarkable portrait ; as
Richard III. in 1877, thereby re-establishing, by a very

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HENRY IRVING AND ELLEN TERRY. 165

subtle and finished performance, his position as a
Shakespearean actor; in the dual parts of Lesurques
and Dubosc in The Lyons Mail in the same year ; and
in Louis XL in the early part of 1878.

When Mrs. Bateman withdrew from the manage-
ment, Irving was left, at the age of forty, in sole
control of the theatre with which his name was to be
associated for another five-and-twenty years. His first
act as manager was to engage Ellen Terry for his
theatre, and so begin an artistic partnership that gave
a long period of delight to playgoers.

Ellen Terry was then thirty, and had trod the boards
since she was eight. Mention has already been made
of her d^hut at that age at the Princess's in 1856, the
same year in which Irving, as a boy of eighteen, was
first trying his fortunes as an actor at Sunderland.
She has handsomely acknowledged the value of her
early training at the Princess's, a training gained
largely at the hands of Mrs. Charles Kean, who,
though something of a ** dragon," took unselfish
pains in helping and advising the youthful aspirant.
After the Princess's, there came a tour with a kind of
drawing-room entertainment with her sister Kate, under
their father's management ; and then, after a short
engagement in London at the Royalty in ** juvenile"
parts, two years' serious schooling in the stock-
companies at the Bristol and Bath theatres, which
were among the best nurseries of dramatic art. In
these years she played all kinds of parts, from fairies
of burlesque (with **song and dance") to such
ambitious eff'orts as Nerissa and Hero to her sister
Kate's Portia and Beatrice. Among her comrades was
Madge Robertson (Mrs. Kendal) who possessed a
beautiful singing voice. We find her in the bill at
Bath in 1863 as one of the "singing fairies" in A

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1 66 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

Midsummer Nighfs Dream, Ellen Terry was the
Titania, and is described as being in those days as
•• of tall figure, with a round, dimpled, laughing,
mischievous face, a pair of merry saucy grey eyes,
and an aureole of golden hair, — a gay, mercurial
child." She was always billed then as **Miss Nelly
Terry*'; and Titania was a j5romotion (as she increased
in stature) from Puck, in'^htch elfish part she had
excelled as a small child. There is extant a delight-
fully roguish photograph of her as Puck, seated cross-
legged on a mushroom, and clad in a quaint little
frock with her arms and legs bare.

In 1863, well equipped with experience for one of her
years*, she achieved the goal of an actress's ambition in
the shape of a serious London engagement, and this at
the popular Haymarket theatre. Appearin|;^ at first in
ingenue parts, in which the critics praised her ** joyous
spirit and deep feeling," she afterwards played such
parts as Julia in The Rivals ^ Beatrice in Much Ado
about Nothing (in which she anticipated a triumph of
her later days), and Lady Touchwood in The Beliefs
Stratagem,

After a retirement of a year or two, broken only by
an appearance at the Olympic in 1866 when she played
Helen in The Hunchback to her sister Kate's Julia at the
latter's benefit, she came back to the stage in 1867 at
the opening of the Queen's Theatre, Longacre. In the
course of a brief engagement there, besides acting in
Catharine and Petruchio with Irving, she played with
Charles Wyndham, Alfred Wigan, Lionel Brough
and John Clayton. In 1874, after a second retirement
of some years, she returned to the Queen's Theatre,
to play there (and subsequently at Astley's) in The
Wandering Heir and Never Too Late to Mend of
Charles Reade.

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HENRY IRVING AND ELLEN TERRY. 167

In the following year came the turning-point of her
artistic life. The Bancrofts were at the height of the
success of their spirited management at the old Prince
of Wales's Theatre in Tottenham Street, and, ambitious
beyond the Robertsonian comedy that had brought
them fortune, determined to attempt a Shakespearean
production. This was to be The Merchant of Venice,
Failing to obtain the services of Mrs. Kendal (then
acting with Hare at the Court Theatre) whom they had
first thought of as the Portia for their production, they
offered the part to Ellen Terry. She accepted it
enthusiastically, and played it with such insight and
grace as to win unstinted praise from the critics. The
production, in spite of its many beauties, did not attract
the public. Killed by an entirely inadequate Shylock,
it was withdrawn after thirty-six performances ; but the
new Portia's triumph was incontestable. She was with
the Bancrofts till the spring of 1876, appearing with
them in revivals of Money and Ours^ and as Mabel V^ane
in their memorable production of Masks and Faces. She
must have been keenly disappointed at the Much Ado
fiasco; but with characteristic loyalty she remained
- with the Bancrofts as long as they required her, good-
naturedly ready to play any part that would be of
service to them. From their management she passed
to that of John Hare at the Court Theatre, going there
in the autumn of 1876 to replace Mrs. Kendal who had
gone to the Bancrofts.

At the Court she appeared in a variety of parts, but
in nothing that was a very marked success (except,
perhaps, a revival of New Men and Old Acres)y until
W. G. Wills' Olivia was produced in March 1878. Her
Olivia was /rom the first what it always remained, her
most beautiful impersonation outside of Shakespeare.
The homely charm and tender sentiment of the character

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1 68 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

were realized with rare skill, and her acting raised
what was not a great play to a very high level in per-
formance. She was admirably seconded by William
Terriss as Thomhill and Hermann Vezin as Dr. Primrose.
It was while Olivia was at the height of its popularity
that she received Irving's invitation to the Lyceum.

His selection of her as his ** leading lady" was as
creditable to his perspicacity as it was agreeable to
her. She was devoted to her art and took her work
seriously, as he did; she had as strong a leaning
towards the romantic as he, and an inextinguishable
enthusiasm for Shakespeare; she had youth, beauty,
intelligence and experience to help her ; but, above all,
she was as an actress of exactly the temperament to
match with his. His own triumphs had been (as, indeed,
had hers) largely triumphs of personality and tempera-
ment; and here was the indispensable thing, an artistic
temperament that matched his so well that each would
stimulate and react upon the other. Her unselfishness
and loyalty, too, throughout their joint career, were
invaluable, and none acknowledged it more generously
than he.

The Lyceum, rearranged and redecorated, opened
under Irving's management on December 1878, with
Hamlet, Irving's acting of the Prince of Denmark had
a popularity recent enough to make its welcome sure,
and there was eager anticipation of the new Ophelia.
The girlish beauty and unforced pathos of Ellen Terry's
acting met with the highest praise at every hand; and
it was thought by many that the tenderness of the new
Ophelia had its effect on Irving's conception of Hamlet,
to the greater beautifying of the scenes where the
Prince and Ophelia are together. Otherwise his
Hamlet remained what it had been before, save that
the conception was riper and more thoughtful.

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HENRY IRVING AND ELLEN TERRY. 169

The next year (1879) was marked by the production
of The Merchant of Venice, Here anticipation was
again eager, but with a difference. This time it was
Ellen Terry's portrayal of her part that was already
known, by her Portia at the Prince of Wales*s, while
Irving's Shylock was the unknown quantity. It was
rumoured that his cpnception of the part was to break
away from tradition, and rumour was right. The new
Shylock, instead of appearing merely a vindictive usurer,
was an almost dignified figure who dominated the stage
and extorted sympathy for his eventual humiliation.

Shylock always remained one of Irving's most
remarkable performances, especially at some of its
revivals in later years, when the actor's conception
seemed to come nearer to what one imagines wqs
Shakespeare's and was not lifted on to so high a plane
of dignity, almost of refinement, as at first. When it
was first seen, the ^^ old school " was up in arms against
such an interpretation of the part, and the new Shylock
was everywhere a fruitful theme of discussion, obviously
not without advantage to the coffers of the Lyceum.
Apart, too, from this particular piece of acting, the
Irvingites and the anti-Irvingites were already ranged
in hostile camps. The latter, forgetful or ignorant of
the extent to which his greatest predecessors had been
marked by individual peculiarities, could see little in the
actor beyond his obvious mannerisms of speech and
gait; the former would hear of nothing against their
idol. Both, however, agreed as to what was un-
deniable, that he was an admirable manager. The
play was beautifully mounted, and at this period Irving
kept in check his tendency, which afterwards grew out
of due bounds, to over-elaborate the frame and so
obscure the picture. Ellen Terry's Portia was one of
her three matchless performances, her Beatrice and her

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Olivia being the other two. Nowhere was the beauty
of her elocution better enjoyed than in the Trial scene,
nor her roguish witchery more conspicuous than in the
scenes at Belmont. Towards the end of the first run
of The Merchant of Venice she appeared also in Sir
Theodore Martin's King Ren^s Daughter y giving a very
touching performance as the blind girl lolanthe.

The season of 1 880-81 included two plays of a very
different nature, The Corsican Brothers in which Irving
"doubled ** the parts of the Dei Franchi brothers, and
Tennyson's verse play The Cup in which Ellen Terry
and Irving both appeared* The lurid melodrama of the
former of these was well contrasted with the poetic
glamour of the latter. Ellen Terry's beautiful acting
and Hawes Craven's wonderful scene of the Temple of
Artemis are what linger in one's memory of The Cup,
In The Corsican Brothers Irving (who always had a
weakness for superior melodrama and often seemed at
his best when his material was poorest) revelle.d in the
weirdness of the play iand its spectacular possibilities.

Following on these there came the production of
Othello in 1881, when Irving, with generous kindness,
proposed to the American actor Edwin Booth, who had
met with ill-fortune in a venture at the Princess's,
that he should act with him in the tragedy. The two
appeared alternately in the parts of Othello and I ago.
Irving's Othello was not a success; the part of lago,
with its intellectual subtlety, suited him much better.
Ellen Terry's Desdemona was a touching performance,
though the part presented more difficulties to her than its
straightforward character usually does to its exponent,
from the fact of her having to adapt her methods to
those of the different Othellos on alternate nights.

Early in 1882, Irving revived Albery's The Two Roses.
In this he repeated a former success; and the revival

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HENRY IRVING AND ELLEN TERRY. 171

was the means of introducing George Alexander (who
played the part of the blind Caleb Deecie) to London
audiences. After this came a gorgeous production of
Romeo and Juliet, This was one of Irving's mistakes.
He was not meant by nature to play Romeo, and Ellen
Terry's Juliet was not one of her triumphs. **The fact
remains," as Mr. Pemberton tells us she wrote in a letter
to a friend at the time, **that Juliet was a horrid failure.
And I meant so well!" The wonderful scene in the
ball-room, the management of the crowds and Mrs.
Stirling's sound performances of the p%rt of the nurse,
are what stand out memorably amongst the features of
the production.

Happily, the same year saw all memories of failure
wiped out by the triumphant production of Much Ado
about Nothings in which both Irving and Ellen Terry
reached their highest point of excellence in poetical
comedy. Both played their parts in the happiest vein ;
the pieca was magnificently staged, and the accessories
were then still secondary to the acting; the cast was
admirable throughout; and, while Irving surpassed the
expectation of his most fervent admirers as Benedick,
Ellen Terry's Beatrice was one of the most flawless
impersonations that the modern stage has seen.
Temperamentally, she seemed to have been born to
play the part, and her keen intelligence was whetted on
Irving's with such a result as to make their joint
performance a complete triumph. It may be noted
that she had first played Beatrice two years previously
at Leeds, when on a tour with her husband Charles
Kelly, who played Benedick.

A visit of the Lyceum company to America from the
autumn of 1883 to the summer of 1884, preceded by a
remarkable ** send-off" banquet at which the Lord Chief
Justice presided, was followed on their return by

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172 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

Twelfth Night at the Lyceum in July 1884. This has
not been counted one of Irving's successes, and yet it
is difficult to say why. His Malvolio was perhaps too
seriously conceived, yet it was not sullied by the low-
comedy devices that have marred some subsequent
Malvolios; and the play was not mangled, nor was the
significance of its shorter scenes weakened by their
being placed in impossible surroundings to gratify the
desire for elaborately built-up scenes, as has been done
in some recent revivals. Ellen Terry's Viola, too, was
a charming performance, and its effect was heightened
by the fact that the Sebastian was her brother Fred
Terry, whose facial resemblance to her was then very
striking. Thus the imbroglio supposed to arise from
the likeness between them was much more credible
than is usually the case. Unfortunately, after the first
few nights of the revival, Ellen Terry fell ill, and her
place was taken by her sister Marion. The comedy
element provided by Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, Maria and
the Clown was rather inadequately presented; this no
doubt had something to do with the comparatively
small favour with which the whole was received.

Again, fortunately, another triumph was to wipe out
memories of failure, when, after a second successful
American tour, Olivia was revived at the Lyceum in
1885. Ellen Terry's Olivia remained the beautiful per-
formance that it had been seven years before at the
Court Theatre, with an added surety of touch. Irving,
as Dr. Primrose, gave the lie to those who had
prophesied that simple pathos was beyond his powers.
His Vicar was a very real and very lovable person-
ality; even those critics who habitually threw ** man-
nerisms" in his teeth were forced to admit that here
they had no cause for complaint, for it was a piece of
excellent straightforward acting.

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HENRY IRVING AND ELLEN TERRY. I73

The theatre was in this year largely reconstructed;
and Irving made the experiment of booking the seats
in the pit, but was obliged to restore the old order of
things in deference to unmistakable public opinion.

Wills' FatLst followed in 1886. This was one of
Irving'smost conspicuous and most legitimate triumphs
as a stage-manager. As dramatic literature the piece
was not of much account ; but it provided good acting
parts for those chiefly concerned, and the scenic setting
was beyond all praise. Irving was duly saturnine and
ironical as Mephistopheles, an easy and effective part
of which he made the most, rising at moments to a
considerable height of weird power ; and Ellen Terry's
Margaret was a very tender realization of the character.
The production was an enormous popular success.
H. B. Conway was the original Faust, but was soon
succeeded by George Alexander; Ellen Terry fell ill
during the run, and was replaced by Winifred Emery,
who for some time ** understudied" her at the Lyceum.

After various revivals of former successes and the
production of a pretty little verse play. The Amber
Hearty by A. C. Calm our, in which Ellen Terry was
provided with a graceful part, Macbeth was produced in
December 1888. This, as was to be expected, was not
altogether a success. Before the production, Ellen
Terry as Lady Macbeth was a thing unthinkable, in the
face of memories of the Siddons tradition. She, how-
ever, worked boldly on the only lines that were possible
to her, conceiving Lady Macbeth as a fascinating
woman whose feminine charm (rather than masculine
power) persuaded Macbeth against his will; and on
these lines she achieved more success than could ever
have been expected. Irving summed up the situation
adequately when he said in the speech that was extorted
from him at the fall of the curtain that ** our dear friend

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174 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

Ellen Terry, in appearing as Lady Macbeth for the first
time, has undertaken, as you may suppose, a desperate
task, but I think no true lover of art could have wit-
nessed it without being deeply interested." His
Macbeth was scarcely a success, though he presented
a fairly consistent figure of a Macbeth who was swayed
as much by his sense of subjection to the supernatural
as by his wife's ambition. The staging of the opening
scene on the ** blasted heath" was one of Irving's
happiest inspirations ; absolute blackness at first, when
the curtain went up amid the turmoil of a thunder-
storm, broken by fitful flashes of lightning that
gradually revealed the weird figures of the three
witches at their grisly work.

Neither Watts Phillips* The Dead Heart, which
followed in 1889, nor Hermann Merivale's Ravenswood
in 1890 were of any account except scenically. The
next prominent production, that of Hefity VIII, in
January 1892, gave Irving a fine opportunity as
Wolsey, his natural distinction of manner investing
the part with great dignity, while Ellen Terry's Queen
Katharine was an astonishing effort considering her
limitations. Forbes Robertson's Buckingham was in
many ways one of the most conspicuous features of a
production that was marked by lavish gorgeousness.
In November of the same yQ2ir King Lear vi2is produced.
Here for once Irving's execution of his part did not
seem equal to his undoubtedly fine conception of it,
though his final scene with Cordelia (acted with rare
pathos by Ellen Terry) almost made amends.

A conspicuous success as far as Irving was con-
cerned (for in this Ellen Terry's part was small and
colourless) was Tennyson's Beckety which was pro-
duced in February 1893. Irving's powers were now
at their maturest, and his quiet dignity made a finely

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HENRY IRVING AND ELLEN TERRY. 175

impressive figure of the martyred prelate. To the end
of his career this remained one of his most effective
parts, and its closing words were the last he ever
spoke on any stage. Comyns Carr's King Arthur ^
also in 1893, was not of much account ; but the close
of that year saw the production of a little play of
Conan Doyle*s, A Story of Waterloo^ which gave
Irving one of his most telling parts in that of the
veteran Corporal Brewster.

In 1895 Irving received the honour of knighthood ;
and the honour was rightly hailed as one paid to the
profession of which he was the acknowledged head, as
much as to the man who had so steadily enforced its
claims by the earnestness of his efforts and the dignity
and generosity of his public life. It was an open
secret, as Mr. Brereton tells us in his Life of Irving,
that some ten or twelve years previously Irving had
been offered, but had then declined, a knighthood.

This was the climax of his career, as subsequent
events showed. The next two productions at the
Lyceum — Cymheline in September 1896, and an English
version of Sardou's Madame Sans-Gine in April 1897 —
gave opportunity rather to Ellen Terry than to Irving.
Her Imogen in Cymbeline was a beautiful performance
which inevitably suggested I'egret that circumstances
had never allowed her to be seen as Rosalind. But
the **star" system was too firmly established at the
Lyceum for that, and there is only one **star" part in
As you Like It.

Ellen Terry's Madame Sans-G^ne was a praiseworthy
attempt, but her comedy was not broad enough to
comprehend the part satisfactorily. Irving's Napoleon
was a veritable tour-de-force in the way of ** make-up."
His dress was specially designed to disguise his height ;
to the same end the furniture and accessories of the

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176 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

scene were exaggerated in size, and he was purposely
surrounded by actors of tall stature.

A revival of Richard III, in the same year once more
offered suitable opportunity for the exercise of his
intellectual powers. His acting here, in its subtlety
and ironic humour, was admirable ; unfortunately an
untoward accident obliged him to throw up the part
after the first night.

In the following January (1898) Irving produced a
play by his son Laurence, entitled Peter the Great, It
proved ambitious rather than satisfactory, and was
withdrawn before long. Irving was now rather
** gravelled" for want of new material. He had fully
exploited the familiar Shakespeare plays which provided
a part suitable for him, and the reception of Cymheline
had shown that unfamiliar Shakespeare would not draw
sufficient audiences. It was impossible to go on. for
long with nothing but revivals from the Lyceum
repertory, and Irving made a vain effort to combat the
reproach that he had done nothing for the contemporary
drama. Unfortunately his choice fell upon a play, by
Messrs. Traill and Hichens, which proved a complete
disappointment. The Medicine MaUy as it. was called,
was not a good play, nor had a long career in the
romantic drama fitted either of the talented Lyceum
"stars** to undertake a play of modern days.

Ill fortune now seemed to have laid hold on Irving.
On the top of a long and weakening illness came a
disaster in the shape of the destruction by fire of the
scenery and properties for forty-four of his stock plays,
of which twenty-two were big productions. Elaborate
revivals were thus put out of the question. He had
always been recklessly lavish in expenditure upon his
plays ; and this, coupled with a magnificent generosity
in money matters, resulted in an accumulation of

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HENRY IRVING AND ELLEN TERRY. 1 77

financial embarrassments. It was evident that he could
no longer conduct the Lyceum on the old lines. In
1899 the management passed into the hands of a
company, in whose interests Irving held a large share,
with the arrangement that he was to act in the Lyceum
for a season every year, while for the rest of the year
the theatre should be let to whoever would take it.
The disastrous result of this is recent history, and after
four years the Lyceum Theatre practically ceased to
exist. Within that time Irving had been responsible
for two big productions. Robespierre (in 1899) was an
adaptation by Laurence Irving from the French of
Sardou, and proved to be an uninspired play bolstered
up by vivid scenic display ; while a-finely staged revival
of Coriolanus in 1901 was histrionically a disappoint-
ment, as might have been expected. The part of
Coriolanus did not suit Irving, whose subtler methods
did not make him apt for the big style, and Ellen
Terry's Volumnia was rather a courageous effort than
a success. Their last appearance at the Lyceum was
in The Merchant of Venice in July 1902, and in that
year their artistic partnership was dissolved. It had
lasted for four and twenty years, and its dissolution
was due alone to the inevitable march of time and the
stern necessity of facts.

Mr. Bram Stoker, in his book on Irving, has given a
reasonable explanation of the necessity of this. He
points out that in nineteen out of the twenty-seven
important productions in which she and Irving had
acted together, Ellen Terry had played youthful parts.
For these she was now obviously unsuited. Of the
remaining eight, the entire scenery and properties of
Macbeth and Henry VIII , had been burned, and were
too costly to replace; Peter the Great and Coriolanus
were neither of them popular; Robespierre and Madame

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178 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

SanS'Gine had had as long runs as could be expected
of them; Charles /. was too sad a piece to be suited
for more than occasional performances; and only The
Merchant of Venice remained. Ellen Terry could still
have played Beatrice in Much Ado about Nothings but
Irving was too old for Benedick. Naturally enough,
Ellen Terry did not care for the prospect of programmes
consisting of ** one-part" plays for each (she to play
such trivialities as Nance Oldfield while he played in
The Bells or A Story of Waterloo)^ while there was other
suitable work, in which Irving could not take part, to
be done by her. Thus it was inevitable that, unless he
were to undertake a series of new productions, which
was physically impossible for him, Irving should have
a younger "leading lady** for his repertory of plays.
The necessity of severing their artistic partnership had
no effect on their loyal friendship, which was terminated
only by Irving*s death.

The history of the old Lyceum ends with 1902. The
interior was pulled down and reconstructed, and the
house was used for a time as a ** variety theatre," but
with small success. Latterly it has become the home of
the ** popular" drama, and, at wisely reduced prices,
has found an enthusiastic audience of its own.

Between 1883 and 1901 various other actors occupied
the Lyceum boards for short seasons while Irving and
his company were on tour or vacation. America sent
Mary Anderson, the Daly Company, Richard Mansfield
and William Gillette; France, Sarah Bernhardt and
Coquelin ; Italy, Eleanor Duse and Verdi's Otello.

Of English actors, Forbes Robertson's was the most
important tenancy. His first season lasted from
September 1895 ^^ June 1896, beginning with Romeo
and Juliet, His somewhat ascetic Romeo was played to
the Juliet of Mrs. Patrick Campbell, a talented actress

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HENRY IRVING AND ELLEN TERRY. 1 79

better suited to the modernity of a Mrs. Tanqueray than
to the classical simplicity of Shakespeare's heroine.
This was followed by Michael and his Lost Angel y an
ambitious but unsuccessful play by Henry Arthur Jones,
in which Marion Terry acted a difficult part admirably ;
an adaptation by John Davidson from the French of
Copp6e, under the title of For the Crown^ a poetical
drama with one fine scene in it; a translation of
Sudermann's Magda^ in which Mrs. Patrick Campbell
made a great impression, and a revival of The School
for Scandal^ in which she did not. The climax- of
Forbes Robertson's career came with his revival of
Hamlet in 1897. The whole production was good, but
his Hamlet stands out as one of the very few first-
rate Hamlets of modern days — if, indeed, it be not the
best. Owing a great deal, as far as its conception
went, to the new traditions that Irving had created in
the part, Forbes Robertson's Hamlet surpassed his in
grace and courtliness of execution, if occasionally
falling short of it in forcibleness. It was a scholarly,
sensitive, and in every way markedly interesting render-
ing of the part. He was not so happy in Macbeth,
but both productions were excellent object lessons in
what can be done in the way of scenic effect without
exaggerating the importance of the scenery and
properties. It was all adequate and all appropriate;
but it was never allowed to divert the audiences*
attention from the figures of the drama itself.

The same excellence belonged to a season of the
Benson Company, early in 1900; and still more
markedly to Lewis Waller's production of Henry V,
later in the same year. This last may unhesitatingly be
pronounced the most satisfactory Shakespearean per-
formance, both to eye and ear, that has been seen on the
English Stage in recent years. The play (whose fine

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acting qualities were a revelation to those who knew it
only as readers) was admirably interpreted from the top
to the bottom of the long cast; dresses and scenery
were alike beautiful and suitable ; and we were allowed
the enormous advantage of painted ** cloths" instead of
built-up scenes, thereby gaining a far better illusion and
the possibility of that frequent change of scene by which
Shakespeare knew so well how to give the right feeling
of movement. Moreover, though everything was duly
**in the period,** the stage was never allowed to be
encumbered by the painstaking but futile archaeology
which had accompanied many of the sumptuous revivals
on the same boards. Charles Kean's tradition of an
** accuracy** that is regardless of whether it miss its
mark or no, dies very hard, as we still see every day.
The truth is that, though audiences do not care a rap
about it, it ministers agreeably to the vanity of
managers, who look upon it as evidence of culture on
their part and are prone to overlook the important
question of whether it have any dramatic significance
or no.

Martin Harvey, who had graduated at the Lyceum
under Irving, played a season there, producing The
Only Way, in the spring of 1899, to be followed later in
the year by Wilson Barrett.

The last three years of Irving's life, after his
severance from the Lyceum, were given up to the toil of
constant touring, with growing ill-health and weakening
powers. The courageous old man went on unflinch-
ingly, hiding from the world his sickness of body and
heart, and setting a brave face against his difficulties.
He even undertook, in the last year of his life, a
new production — that of Sardou*s entirely unworthy
Dante at Drury Lane — but it was only too obvious that
he was no more than a wreck of his former self. The

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HENRY IRVING AND ELLEN TERRY. l8l

end came at Bradford on 13th October 1905, when he
died barely an hour after having spoken, as his last
words on the stage, the dying Becket's prayer, **Into
thy hands, O Lord — into thy hands."

However divided opinion may be as to his greatness
as an actor — and there are those who hold that the
magnetism of his personality hypnotized his audiences
into thinking him a finer actor than he really was — it
may safely be asserted that he was at his worst as an
emotional actor and at his best in parts where his keen
intellect had most to do. It was for this reason that he
was excellent in the interpretation of characters that
required subtlety rather than directness of style or
simplicity of emotion, as well as in comedy, which we
have Garrick's authority for believing to be far harder
to act than tragedy.

The Lyceum productions were frankly conducted on
**star" lines — that is to say, Irving*s and Ellen Terry's
parts must unquestionably dominate the rest, and
to that end individuality was practically suppressed
among the rest of the company. Within these limita-
tions, Irving was an admirable manager. He was
autocratic in his stage-management, because he knew
that an artistic production must be pitched in one key
throughout and be controlled by one mind. He had an
unerring instinct for stage effect, and went to rehearsals
knowing exactly what he wanted and determined to get
it, whether it were in details of acting, scenery, costume,
or music.

The theatre has for the last thirty years occupied in
the estimation of intelligent persons a position so
different from what ' it did in the years immediately
preceding Irving's day, that it is necessary to remind
ourselves of the considerable nature of his achievement
in attracting cultured audiences to the Lyceum to

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1 82 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

witness romantic and tragic drama. Thanks to the
Bancrofts and the Kendals, comedy had come into its
own, but it needed an Irving to restore the other side
of the drama to its proper place. The aim of his life as
an actor was well summed up by him in one of his
many speeches during his farewell tour, when he
claimed (with justifiable pride) to have won and kept
the regard of the public **by the faithful, if imperfect,
practice of a rare and difficult art. There has been,"
he continued, **a purpose steadfastly pursued, what-
ever the shortcomings of achievement — a purpose
which has always aimed at the highest standard of
the theatre."

Of Irving's personal relations with them, his col-
leagues and his staff have always spoken most warmly;
of his unvarying kindness and forbearance, and his
great generosity. The adulation he received, the
social attentions that poured in upon him, the public
distinction conferred upon him (for, besides his knight-
hood, he was the recipient of honorary degrees from
Cambridge, Dublin, and Glasgow), all this might well
have turned the head of a smaller man. Irving, how-
ever, managed to retain his simplicity of disposition;
and, though he lived somewhat en prince and accepted
without question his position as head of his profession,
he never lost his sweetness of character or his com-
passion for less fortunate comrades.

Since her severance from the Lyceum company, Ellen
Terry has occupied herself mainly with touring at home
and in America, except for a brief period of manage-
ment at the Imperial Theatre in 1903, when she
produced an adaptation of an early play of Ibsen's
under the title of The VtkingSy but with little success.
Her most conspicuous appearances in London have
been at His Majesty's Theatre under Beerbohm Tree's

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HENRY IRVING AND ELLEN TERRY. 1 83

management. There, in June 1902 and at subsequent
revivals, she played Mrs. Page to the Mrs. Ford of
Mrs. Kendal and Tree's Falstaff in The Merry Wives of
Windsor; and it may safely be said that succeeding
generations will be fortunate if they ever see the parts
of the two ** wives" played as they were played then.
It was the perfection of comedy. In the autumn of
1906, again, Ellen Terry appeared at His Majesty's as
Hermione in A Wintei^s Tale^ the play in which, as the
child Mamilius, she had made her first appearance on
the stage just fifty years before. Her Hermione was
a touching and dignified performance, and it was a
pleasure to hear her once more speaking Shakespeare's
lines. The actual "jubilee" anniversary of her first
appearance was celebrated with the greatest enthusiasm
at a monster performance at Drury Lane to the accom-
paniment of the utmost enthusiasm both among the
audience and on the stage. Her other noteworthy
London appearances since 1902 have been in Barrie's
Alice Sit'hy-the-Fire 2X the Duke of York's in 1905, and
as Lady Cicely Waynflete in Bernard Shaw's Captain
Brassbound's Conversion at the Court Theatre in the
spring of 1906.

Of the other three sisters of the Terry family — Kate,
Florence, and Marion — Kate, the eldest of them, gained
her earliest stage experience with Charles Kean at the
Princess's, as Ellen did. At the age of eight she was
playing Arthur in King John, and at the age of fourteen
played Cordelia to Kean's Lear, Her first London
engagement was at the St. James's in 1862, when
the lucky chance of her having understudied her
manageress, and that lady having fallen suddenly ill,
brought her to the front at one stride. Her popularity
during her brief theatrical career was fully as great as
that afterwards won by her sister Ellen. Youth and

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l84 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

beauty coupled with so marked a talent were irre-
sistible, and she went from success to success until her
early retirement. She was with Fechter at the Lyceum,
where her Ophelia was unreservedly praised ; after that,
at the Olympic with Henry Neville she distinguished
herself as the heroines of Tom Taylor's dramas, and, in
Shakespeare, incidentally achieved the feat of doubling
the parts of Viola and Sebastian in Twelfth Night, In
1866 she acted at the St. James's in the production of
Boucicault's Hunted Down that gave Irving his first
London chance. In the following year, at the Adelphi,
she delighted the town with an exquisite performance in
Charles Readers Dora, This is to name but very few of
the triumphs of her brief career, which came to a close
by her retirement (on her marriage) in August 1867.
Her farewell performance at the Adelphi ended in a
scene of extraordinary popular enthusiasm, perhaps the
more remarkable as her acting had always been con-
spicuously restrained and delicate in its method and
far removed from the less artistic style that in those
days so often proved more popular. She has made
one brief reappearance, with John Hare at the
Garrick in 1898, acting in a play that also served
to introduce her daughter, Mabel Terry-Lewis, to the
public.

Florence Terry's stage career was still briefer ; and,
though she was a very capable actress, especially in
parts requiring tender and pathetic handling, she never
achieved any great fame. She appeared first in 1870,
and retired on her marriage in 1882, having acted more
in the provinces than in London. The programme at
her last performance concluded with the trial scene
from The Merchant of Venice ^ in which, to Irving-'s
Shylock, she played Nerissa, Marion Terry the Clerk,
and Ellen Terry Portia. She died in 1896.

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HENRY IRVING AND ELLEN TERRY. 1 85

Marion Terry has enjoyed, at the hands of playgoers
of the last thirty years, a renown only second to that of
her sister Ellen. After a successful dehut in 1873, she
acted in melodrama and Shakespeare with Neville at
the Olympic, and then went to the Strand Theatre,
where she brought success to the author and to herself
in Gilbert's Dan' I Druce. In that play she had Forbes
Robertson and Hermann Vezin as fellow-actors. Her
association with Gilbert at this point was of great value
to both. She had a demure sense of fun that ran side
by side with a command of delicate pathos ; and while
she owed much to the possibilities of some of Gilbert's
characters, he in his turn owed much to the perfection
with which she caught and interpreted his meaning —
conspicuously so in two parts of so widely different a
nature as Belinda Treherne in Engaged and Gretchen in
Gilbert's play of that name. After supporting Sothern
at the Haymarket she joined the Bancrofts' company at
the Prince of Wales's, and there took up several of her
sister Ellen's parts, including Olivia. At the Lyceum,
during Ellen's temporary illness, Marion Terry took
her place as Viola in 1884 and as Margaret in 1888.
Of recent years she has been seen in a variety of parts
at a variety of theatres, and never to disadvantage.
In a certain line of acting, where tender pathos and
deep feeling are required, and especially when these
characteristics are salted by an admixture of quiet
humour, she is unrivalled ; she has great natural
advantages of feature and voice, and is a complete
mistress of the technique of her art. When so much
of her work has been so charming, it is almost invidious
to select ; but probably most playgoers would be agreed
that she reached the highest point in her artistic
career at the time when, between 1890 and 1892, she
was playing at the St. James's in Lady Windermere's

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l86 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

FoHy Liberty Hall^ Sunlight and Shadow and The Idler,
Among the most striking of her more recent per-
formances are those in Captain Drew on Leave and
Peter^s Mother,

There are Terrys of a still younger generation upon
the stage, and it seems as though the hereditary talent
of this brilliant family were inexhaustible.

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CHAPTER XIII.

THE BANCROFTS AND THEIR SUCCESSORS AT THE OLD
PRINCE OF WALES's AND THE HAYMARKET.

The old Prince of Wales's Theatre, which came under
the Bancroft management in 1865, had been built as
the King's Concert Rooms in 1790, and had been
known subsequently as the Queen's Theatre, the
Regency Theatre, the West London Theatre, the
Fitzroy Theatre, and again as the Queen's Theatre.
When the courageous Marie Wilton (afterwards Mrs.
and now Lady Bancroft) undertook its management in
partnership with H. J. Byron, it had been the favourite
haunt of an audience very different from those the new
managers hoped to attract. Lady Bancroft has de-
scribed how, when she went with Mr. and Mrs. Byron
to look on at a performance shortly before their
tenancy began, the occupants of the • shilling stalls
**were engaged between the acts in devouring oranges
(their faces being buried in them), and drinking ginger-
beer. Babies were being rocked to sleep, or smacked
Ho be quiet, which proceeding in many cases had an
opposite effect ! A woman looked up to our box, and
seeing us staring aghast with, I suppose, an expression
of horror upon my face, first of all * took a sight ' at
us, and then shouted, * Now then, you three stuck-up
ones, come out o' that, or I'll send this 'ere orange at
your 'eds.* ♦ ♦ . I think, if I could, I would have at

187

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1 88 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

that moment retired from my bargain, but the deed
was done, and there was no going back from it." By
permission of the Prince of Wales the house was re-
christened after him, and, renovated and well appointed,
was opened in April 1865 with a burlesque extravaganza
of Byron's, preceded by a comedy and followed by a
farce. Bancroft played in the opening comedietta
(this being his first London appearance) and Marie
Wilton in the burlesque.

The success of the bold venture is a matter of
history. Marie Wilton was already a great favourite'
with the public, who gladly travelled to Tottenham
Street to see her in burlesque ; and later, when she
gave up appearing in burlesque, returned in increased
numbers to watch the development of her powers and
those of her clever company in the new style of comedy
they were inaugurating at the Prince of Wales's. It
is difficult for us to realize what an innovation it was,
to playgoers of the day, that the characters in a
comedy should give an impression of actuality and
not of caricature, that they should move and behave
as such folk might in real life ; that actors in modern
dress plays should be carefully dressed, instead of
appearing ** like waiters at a penny-ice shop,*' as
Clement Scott says, with ill-fitting wigs and impossible
clothes; that attention should be paid to such details
as, for instance, that rooms should have ceilings and
doors have locks and handles to them. It was, in fact,
a revolution in the staging of comedy that was brought
about by these clever pioneers.

Marie Wilton only continued to play in burlesque for
a short time, for very soon she and her company
** found themselves" in the presentation of Tom Robert-
son's comedies. Robertson, who was a brother of
Mrs. Kendal's, was a struggling dramatist whose

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THE BANCROFTS AND THEIR SUCCESSORS. 189

David Garricky as played by Sothern at the Haymarket,
had attracted attention to his work. His first success
was due to Marie Wilton's belief in his comedy Society y
which she produced, with Bancroft, Hare and herself in
the cast, in November 1865. This was followed up by
the success of Ours in the autumn of the next year,
both plays running on for a hundred and fifty nights;
and the climax of success was reached with the produc-
tion of Caste y in April 1867, with Bancroft as Captain
Hawtree, Hare as Sam Gerridge, George Honey as
Eccles, and the clever manageress as Polly. The little
theatre. had by this time become not only popular but
fashionable, and its company had deservedly acquired a
unique reputation. So much was this the case that,
with the triumph of Caste, the hitherto inevitable
"burlesque" (in which latterly Lydia Thompson had
taken Marie Wilton's place) disappeared from the bills
for good and all, and Byron's connection with the
Prince of Wales's cease;d. In the same year (1867)
Marie Wilton became Mrs. Bancroft.

Robertson's Play was produced in February 1868, and
-was succeeded by revivals of Society and Caste till his
new comedy. School, should be ready. School, which
proved only second to Caste in popularity, was played
for a long run in 1869. The vogue of these plays was
now such that, as Mrs. Bancroft recalls with pardon-
able pride, the ** Times" could say that **the production
of a new comedy by Mr. T. W. Robertson at the theatre
which, once obscure, has become, under the direction
of Miss Marie Wilton, the most fashionable in London,
is now to be regarded as one of the most important
events of the dramatic year." School marked the
high-water mark of Robertson's powers. M,P., which
followed in 1870, showed a distinct falling off and was
withdrawn in favour of a revival of Ours ; and early in

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190 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

the following year Robertson died. After this, revivals
of Caste and School and a number of successful perform-
ances of Lytton's Money contrasted with solider fare in
the shape of Wilkie Collins' Man and Wife (1873) and
such delicate comedy as Gilbert's Sweethearts (1874).
After that, encouraged by the success of an elaborate
revival of The School for Scandal^ in which Hare, who
played Sir Peter, was seen for the last time at the
Prince of Wales's, the Bancrofts' ambitions unfor-
tunately turned towards Shakespeare. The result of
this was the ill-starred production of The Merchant of
Venice that has been recorded in the preceding chapter.
Better fortune attended Masks and Faces (1875), which
enabled both the Bancrofts to exhibit their powers in a
new light. Of the productions during the remaining
four years of this management, which came to an end
on the Bancrofts taking the Haymarket Theatre in
1879, two stand out conspicuously: Peril in 1876, and
Diplomacy in 1878. Both were adaptations from the
French of Sardou. For Peril the Kendals and Arthur
Cecil joined the company; for Diplomacy (which, with
its masterly ** three-men scene," proved one of the best-
trump cards of the Bancrofts' twenty years' manage-
ment) John Clayton and Miss Le Thiere were added to
an already powerful cast.

The subsequent history of the ** little house in Totten-
ham Street" is brief, for in 1882 it ceased to exist as a
theatre. Between 1879 ^^^ ^882 various plays were
produced by the new manager, Mr. Edgar Bruce ; but
his tenancy is only remembered by Burnand's The
Colonel. In this amusing satire on the aesthetic craze
Beerbolm Tree made his first London appearance, in
1 88 1. The building, after serving various uses, was
pulled down, and in its place arose the handsome
Scala Theatre which was opened by Lady Bancroft in

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THE BANCROFTS AND THEIR SUCCESSORS. 191

December 1904. So far, however, it has proved a
difficult task to induce the stream of playgoers to flow
once more in the unaccustomed channel leading to
Tottenham Street.

The Bancroft management at the Haymarket lasted
from January 1880 to July 1885. On its first night it
seemed as if fate would be anything but propitious.
Outside the theatre there was a dense fog, and inside
there was a small riot (which delayed the raising of the
curtain for nearly half an hour) owing to the new
managers having abolished the Pit, which had been
one of the best in London. Anticipating the unpopu-
larity of such a step, they had issued a preliminary
statement explaining what seemed, in their judgment,
unanswerable reasons for making the change ; but the
public did not agree, at any rate at first, and made its
opinion heard with no uncertain voice. And whereas
Cyril Maude (in his ** Reminiscences" of the Hay-
market published in 1903), applauds the Bancrofts'
courage in taking such a step, and points out that,
considering the expenses of running such a house in
the way the Bancrofts wished, it was impossible to
retain a Pit that occupied so much floor space in a
theatre that enjoyed a good ** Stalls" audience, it is
interesting on the other hand to note that the Pit was
restored to the Haymarket early in 1905, while Cyril
Maude was still part-manager.

The Bancrofts' six years at the Haymarket were
productive of much material success to them; the
theatre was as popular with fashionable audiences as
was the clever couple that managed it ; nevertheless in
the matter of artistic interest this management never
equalled that at the old Prince of Wales's. There the
Bancrofts had broken new ground and done a definite
work; at the Haymarket they did little more than

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192 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

repeat previous successes, and that on a more lavish
(and consequently sometimes less artistic) scale than
before. The Robertson comedies which they revived did
not gain by performance on a larger stage ; and this
same access of space, and its consequent possibilities,
induced a tendency to over-elaboration which did
no good to the other plays produced. The desire for
** sumptuous production " seems to lie in wait for all
successful directors of theatres; the Bancrofts were
infected with it, and their most conspicuous successes
at the Hay market were made in elaborately staged
adaptations from Sardou.

They retired from management in July 1885, to the
accompaniment of every mark of public appreciation
and regret. Their Haymarket management had been
notable and in certain respects brilliantly successful;
but their great and deserved claim to honour is the feat
they achieved at the old Prince of Wales's, where they
inaugurated a new school of comedy-acting, and ad-
vanced that department of their art in a degree that is
difficult of appreciation except by those who are old
enough to have lived through the change. The
knighthood subsequently conferred on Bancroft was
a tangible recognition of this memorable achieve-
ment. After giving up the cares of management,
Bancroft appeared with Irving at the Lyceum in The
Dead Heart in 1889, and, with his wife, in a revival of
Diplomacy in 1893 and Money in 1894, under Hare's
management at the Garrick.

Two years after their retirement Beerbohm Tree
sMpceeded the Bancrofts in the management of the
Haymarket. Coming from The Private Secretary (in
which he was the original exponent of the part after-
wards so popular in W. S. Penley's hands) Tree had
made an unmistakable hit, in a part of a very different

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THE BANCROFTS AND THEIR SUCCESSORS. 193

nature, as the villain Macari in a dramatization of
Hugh Conway's book ** Called Back." This was at
the Prince's Theatre in 1884. He had also acted at the
Haymarket, during the two years' management (1885-
87) of Messrs. Russell and Bashford, in Nadjezda and
in Jim the Penman, Early in 1887 his finished imper-
sonation of the wily old diplomat Demetrius in The Red
Lamp was first seen at the Comedy Theatre ; and in the
autumn of the same year he became manager of the
Haymarket. His spirited management there was very
interesting. He encouraged home talent — Henry Arthur
Jones, Sydney Grundy, Oscar Wilde, Haddon Chambers,
Stuart Ogilvie are names on the Haymarket bills at
this time — he gathered a fine company of actors round
him, produced his plays with great care and without
disproportionate opulence, and himself ** created" a
remarkable series of well contrasted characters. Except
for such excursions into pure comedy as Wilde's A
Woman of no Importance and Ibsen's The Enemy of the
People (both in 1893), his most conspicuous successes
at the Haymarket were in romantic dramas such as
The Ballad Monger (1887), Captain Swift (1888), A
Man's Shadow (1889), A Village Priest (1890), The
Dancing Girl (1891), Hypatia (1893), and Trilby (1895).
His Shakespearean productions at the Haymarket were
The Merry Wives of Windsor^ Henry VL (in which he
first of all played Hotspur, and subsequently FalstafF to
the Hotspur of Lewis Waller), and Hamlet, During a
temporary tenancy of Lewis Waller's, Wilde's An Ideal
Husband was produced at the Haymarket in 1895.

Being by instinct a lover of elaborate spectacle in his
productions, and thirsting to distinguish himself (as he
has done) in Shakespeare, Tree's ambition took him
across the road from the Haymarket to the beautiful
His Majesty's Theatre that was built on part of the site

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194 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

of the old opera house; and in the autumn of 1896 the
Haymarket passed into the joint hands of Frederick
Harrison and Cyril Maude. This was an ideal com-
bination for managerial purposes, Harrison being an
admirable business manager and a good judge of plays,
and Cyril Maude a versatile, accomplished and very
popular actor. The combination was at first reinforced
by the charm and popularity of the acting of Mrs.
Cyril Maude (Winifred Emery), whom unfortunately
illness was destined to keep for a long time out of the
bills.

Cyril Maude had only been about a dozen years upon
the stage when he attained to managerial dignity, but
had by that time established a well-deserved popularity.
He had been especially successful in **old men" parts,
which he played with a finish that proved him to be a
worthy follower of John Hare. His methods have
much in common with the old actor's, and he is a
master of the art of ** make-up." Among the most
notable of his previous performances had been his Lord
Fellamar in Josephs Sweetheart at the Vaudeville in
1888, Colonel Cazenove in The New Woman at the
Comedy in 1894, and Sir Fletcher Portwood in Pinero's
The Benefit of the Doubt at the Comedy in 1895, when
his wife played the heroine's part. She had made early
appearances in London — at the Princess's in panto-
mime in 1875, with Miss Litton at the Imperial in 1879,
subsequently with Wilson Barrett at the Court for a
couple of years, and then for a considerable time in the
'eighties under Irving at the Lyceum, where she
** understudied" Ellen Terry and played several of her
parts on occasion, notably those of Marguerite and
Olivia. In the early 'nineties she had been seen at
various theatres.

The new management chose their plays well, acted

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THE BANCROFTS AND THEIR SUCCESSORS. I95

them well, and varied them judiciously, with the well-
deserved result of good-fortune. Opening in October
1896, in accordance with a temporary craze for "cloak
and rapier " plays, with a romantic drama Under the
Red Rohe^ they soon settled to a series of delightful
comedies better suited to the house and the actors. A
Marriage of Convenience^ The Little Minister (mainly
remembered by its charming ** Babbie"), The Manoeuvres
of Jane y The Black Tulip , She Stoops to Conquer, The
Rivals^ these were among the plays to which Winifred
Emery lent the assistance of her art until illness obliged
her to desist for a time. Her clever husband, however,
continued to be a pillar of strength to the Haymarket,
and was the central figure, of a number of successes
before he severed his partnership with Harrison in July
1905. Among the chief of these may be mentioned
The Second in Command^ Cousin Kate^ The Beauty and
the Barge (who that saw it will ever forget Cyril
Maude's inimitable Captain Barley?), Everybody's Secret ^
and a revival of Pinero's The Cabinet Minister ^ in which
Winifred Emery reappeared.

When Cyril Maude left the Haymarket in 1905, still
determined to be a manager, his choice fell upon the
Avenue Theatre, an ill-built house close under Charing
Cross Station. This he proceeded to rebuild and re-
model almost entirely. By an untoward stroke of fate,
the disastrous fall of the roof at Charing Cross Station
in 1905 brought with it the destruction of the newly
rebuilt theatre, a mass of wall falling down from the
station on to it and practically wrecking it. This of
course delayed or upset all previous plans ; but after a
time affairs were righted, and The Playhouse (as the
Avenue was now to be called) was opened early in 1907
with a farce called Toddles^ in which Cyril Maude played
with admirable verve a part quite unworthy of him.

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196 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

After Toddles had run its course, Eva Anstruther's Fido
was seen at The Playhouse in 1907; and in 1908
Esmond's The O'GrindleSy Mason's Margery Strode ^
Cosmo Hamilton's Pro Tem,^ and Drury and Trevor's
The Flag Lieutenant. During the interval that elapsed
before The Playhouse was ready for occupation, Maude
was seen at the newly-built Waldorf Theatre, which
was opened in 1903.

At The Playhouse there has been adopted the plan of
allowing every seat in the house to be booked in
advance if desired. Irving had tried this at the Lyceum
a good many years previously. At that time the inno-
vation was not approved of; but now it seems to be
meeting with success, for the example thus set has been
followed at the Kingsway Theatre.

Frederick Harrison now continues manager of the
Haymarket, and evidently intends (and that wisely) to
carry on its tradition of high-class comedy. His most
conspicuous success so far has been the revival of
Anstey's entertaining satire The Man from Blankleysy
with the assistance of a brilliant cast that included
Charles Hawtrey, Weedon Grossmith, Henry Kemble
and Fanny Brough. Other of his recent productions
have been The Palace of Pucky His Wife, and Sweet
Kitty BellairSy all in 1907; Her Father ^ and Bernard
Shaw's Getting Marriedy in 1908.

It should be mentioned that there is a ghost at the
Haymarket; at least, the fact is vouched for by Cyril
Maude in his history of that house.

Beerbohm Tree opened his magnificent new theatre
in the spring of 1897. Known then as Her Majesty's,
it was renamed His Majesty's in 1902. The opening
play was one adapted from Sir Gilbert Parker's novel
** The Seats of the Mighty," but the dramatized version
was not a success. Almost immediately, however, Tree

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THE BANCROFTS AND THEIR SUCCESSORS, igj

started upon his rapidly lengthening series of elaborate
Shakespearean revivals. Almost every year since then
has had its fresh Shakespearean attraction: Julius
CcBsar in 1898, King John in 1899, A Midsummer
Nighfs Dream in 1900, Twelfth Night in 1901, The
Merry Wives of Windsor in 1902, Richard II, in 1903,
The Tempest in 1904, Much Ado About Nothing in 1905,
The Winter's Tale and Antony and Cleopatra in 1906,
The Merchant of Venice in 1908; and, thus furnished
with a repertory, His Majesty's has of late years held
an annual ** Shakespeare Festival'* during the week
that centres in the poet's anniversary.

Tree is, as is natural, an enthusiastic and eloquent
defender of the ** sumptuous revival" theory of Shake-
spearean production ; but, while allowing him all credit
for artistic earnestness of purpose and all praise for the
thoroughness with which he carries out his ideas, it is
permissible for Shakespeareans equally as ardent as he
to differ from him as to the advisability of his treatment
of some of the plays. Such difference of opinion will
refer especially to the manner of his re-arrangement 6f
certain scenes and the introduction of others not con-
templated by the author; again, to the likelihood of
distracting attention from the drama itself by reason of
the wealth of its accessories. In this Tree is essentially
the disciple of Charles Kean. As has been mentioned
in an earlier chapter, he has followed Kean in the
interpolation in Richard II, of a concrete representation
of an event Shakespeare was content to describe by the
mouth of one of his characters; the same thing is
done in Antony and Cleopatra at His Majesty's. The
introduction, too, of a ** transparency " in the final
scene oi Richard 11^ showing (through the walls of the
dungeon at Pomfret Castle) the coronation of the new
king, savours of the same fault of leaving nothing to

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198 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

the spectators' imagination. Such devices are open,
moreover, to the accusation of calling attention to the
ingenuity of the manager rather than assisting the
poetical effect of the drama. A certain rearrangement
of scenes, it is true, is often necessary in the presenta-
tion of Shakespeare's plays, so as to produce acting
versions suitable to the conditions of the modern stage ;
but what are we to say of such a ** rearrangement'* as
that in Tree's Twelfth Nighty where, to more fully dis-
play the elaborate (and, be it freely admitted, very
beautiful) scene constructed to represent Olivia's
garden, episodes which should take place in a public
street are represented as happening in this private
garden between personages who could have no right
of indiscriminate entry thither ?

However, it is perhaps ungracious to cavil at such
things when our opportunities of seeing Shakespeare
adequately performed are none too many. It is a
pleasanter task to lay stress upon the many merits
and delights of Tree's revivals. His presentation of
Julius CcBsary for instance, is remarkably fine in every
way, and the manipulation of the crowd in the Forum
scenes is undoubtedly abler than that of the much
vaunted Saxe-Meiningen company whose excellence
in this particular play was thrust down our throats
some years ago. If Tree himself be not quite the ideal
Mark Antony (for he is not altogether at his best in
the **big style"), in King John he is admirably suited;
and, in his production of A Midsummer Night^s Dream^
not only is his Bottom a richly humorous piece of
acting, but the atmosphere of delicate poesy is through-
out preserved in a manner deserving the highest
praise.

As Malvolio in Twelfth Night Tree has a part after
his own heart. Made up with even more than his

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THE BANCROFTS AND THEIR SUCCESSORS. I99

usual skill, he revels in the niceties of expression and
manner that have made this one of his most successful
pieces of comedy. The part of Viola, when Tree first
produced the play, was undertaken by Lily Bray ton ;
at a later revival the manager's daughter, Viola Tree,
appropriately made her ddbut in the part. Her girlish
freshness and evident enjoyment of her art went far to
make up for lack of experience ; time, however, is a
remedy for that, and her obviously strong natural
capacity for acting should carry her far. Her Perdita
in A Winter^ s Tale was a delightful performance, and
as Trilby she has given evidence of considerable power
and depth of feeling.

One of Tree's happiest managerial feats was to
persuade Ellen Terry and Mrs. Kendal tp appear with
him in The Merry Wives of Windsor, His FalstafF is
a triumphant tour-de-force ^ and his two talented col-
leagues and he romped through the play with a glee
that was infectious. Ellen Terry appeared again under
his management as Hermione in A Winter* s Tale^
giving an extremely dignified and moving rendering of
the part. If neither his Caliban, his Benedick nor his
Antony are among the greatest of his successes, Tree
is certainly admirably suited as Richard II., that part
calling for the subtlety of method that shows him at
his best.

In the spring of 1907 he and his company gave
a series of performances of Shakespeare in Berlin.
During the rest of that year, except for a short season
of revivals, he was not much seen at his own theatre,
which was tenanted during his absence by a company
headed by Oscar Asche and Lily Brayton. Their
productions included Laurence Binyon's Attila^ and
revivals of As You Like It and Othello, Besides his
notable amount of Shakespearean work and the

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200 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

mounting of a number of other plays of varying
nature and merit, Tree's record at His Majesty's is
remarkable for his successful production of three
ambitious poetical dramas, Herod (1900), Ulysses
(1902), and Nero (1906), from the pen of Stephen
Phillips. Among the miscellaneous plays Tree has
produced dt His Majesty's may be mentioned a spirited
version of The Three Musketeers in 1898, Resurrection
in 1903, The Last of the Dandies and The Darling of the
Gods in 1904, Oliver Twist in 1905, Colonel Newcome in
1906, The Mystery of Edwin Drood and The Beloved
Vagabond in 1908. Tree's tastes are catholic, and
his versatility and restless energy astonishing. His
management, moreover, whether at the Haymarket or
His Majesty's, has been marked by a laudably high
aim and a desire to produce work above the ordinary
level. At one time at the Haymarket he instituted a
series of special performances, designed to introduce
plays not suited for, or not likely to achieve, long
** runs," but appealing by their literary merit to tastes
somewhat different from those that sway the average
audience. Henley and Stevenson's Beau Austin and
Macaire saw the light in this manner, but the experi-
ment (which was begun in the autumn of 1890) was
not long-lived.

Furthermore, Tree instituted at His Majesty's (in
1904) a Dramatic School for the training of aspirants
for the stage, in order to enable these to gain that
knowledge of the technique of their art which their
predecessors acquired painfully by experience in the
old ** stock companies" ; for under modern conditions
those older schools of training have disappeared, save
for such as we are afforded by the excellent Benson and
Greet touring companies and their disciples.

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CHAPTER XIV.

THE KENDALS ; JOHN HARE ; AND THEIR SUCCESSORS AT
THE ST. JAMES*S AND THE GARRICK.

It was under Buckstone's management at the Hay-
market, in the late 'sixties and early 'seventies, that the
Kendals first made their names known to Londoners
after a good deal of hard preparatory work in the
provinces. Kendal joined the Haymarket company in
1866, Madge Robertson in 1867 ; and in 1869 they were
married. The provincial experience of both had been
as varied as was usual ; consequently both were well
equipped with a knowledge of acting, as is shown by
the critical encomiums on the ** neatness and finish" of
Mrs. Kendal's acting of her first important part at the
Haymarket, that of Lilian Vavasour in New Men and
old Acres in 1869. It was during the three following
years, however, that she and her husband had their
chance and used it so happily as to establish their
reputations with playgoers. The opportunity came to
them with Gilbert's series of plays, The Palace of
Truthy Pygmalion and Galatea^ and The Wicked World,
whose success has already been alluded to. And so it
was that when John Hare undertook the management
of the Court Theatre in 1875 he obtained the support
of two very able as well as popular actors when he
engaged the Kendals for his company.

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202 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

Hare had made his first success at the old Prince ot
Wales's in the part of Lord Ptarmigan in Society y and
had followed it up with a series of successes among
which his Sam Gerridge in Caste and Beau Farintosh in
School were conspicuous. He remained with the Ban-
crofts till 1874, the last part he played with them being
that of Sir Peter Teazle. Bancroft has left on record
his sense of the loss their company suffered ^Mn the
departure of its oldest and most valued member, John
Hare. Wisely enough, for there was ample room for
two such theatres as the then Prince of Wales's in
friendly rivalry ^he had for some time entertained ideas
of commencing management on his own account; how
wisely, has been proved by the splendid record of his
work in that direction." Hare took the old Court
Theatre, which till 1887 stood on a site nearly opposite
the present house. Built in 1870, and originally styled
the New Chelsea Theatre (and subsequently the Bel-
gravia), it was re-christened the Royal Court Theatre,
and enjoyed four years of popularity with Marie Litton
as manager. Gilbert, with The Wedding Marchy The
Happy Landy and other pieces, was her mainstay as
dramatic author. Hare opened the theatre in March
1875, his company including, besides the Kendals,
Mrs. Gaston Murray, Mary Rorke, Henry Kemble and
John Clayton.

Hare's four years of management there were full of
success. Gilbert again proved a ** trump card" with
the last of his fantastic plays. Broken Hearts (1875), in
which the Kendals especially distinguished themselves ;
while Hare shared the honours more prominently in A
Quiet /Rubber and A Scrap 0/ Paper, both in 1876. In
that year the Kendals left him and joined the Bancrofts
at the Prince of Wales's, and he, as has been already
recorded, engaged Ellen Terry. She, after undertaking

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THE KENDALS AND JOHN HARE. 203

Mrs. KendaPs old part in New Men and Old Acres,
Cy appeared in 1873^ in Olivia, the manager effacing
himself in the latter play and handing over the Vicar*s
part to Hermann Vezin.

After brilliant performances at the Prince of Wales's
in Peril (1876), London Assurance (1877), and Diplomacy
(1878), the Kendals returned to Hare at the Court in
1879 when Ellen Terry went from there to the Lyceum.
The summer season of 1879, Hare's last at the Court,
included a revival oi A Scrap of Paper, and the success-
ful production of Robertson's The Ladies' Battle and
G. W. Godfrey's The Queen's Shilling. At the close
of the season Hare announced that he was about to
undertake, in partnership with the Kendals, the man-
agement of the St. James's Theatre, confident that such
a partnership could conduct successfully a theatre that
hitherto had laboured under the stigma of being un-
fortunate. Their plan of campaign was, as he then
announced, to produce comedy and comedy-drama,
and ** to give that which is always, I take it, the most
satisfactory thing to an audience — an even, all-round
performance." How well he and his partners justified
their hopes, the subsequent history of the St. James's
shows.

The Hare and Kendal management there lasted for
nine years, from October 1879 to July 1888; and at the
close of it they had reason to congratulate themselves
on having enjoyed, as the result of loyal partnership
and earnest and intelligent work, ** more successes and
fewer failures than fall to the lot of average managers."
They started by redecorating the house, and initiated
the tradition of its being one of the best appointed and
best equipped in London. After a revival of The
Queen's Shilling, which had been in the height of its
success when they left the Court, they took the bold

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204 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

step of producing (in December 1879) Tennyson's
poetic play The Falcon. The play had no strong
dramatic qualities, but gave the opportunity for a
beautiful mtse-en'Sckne ; and it had all the success it
deserved. **The trouble of the cast," says the Kendals'
biographer, Mr. Pemberton, **was the noble looking,
great-eyed and soft-plumaged peregrine falcon. Mr.
Kendal had taken great pains in procuring and taming
the bird, and at home he was docile enough; but he
was not * stage-struck,' and resented the footlights in a
way that was painful to the wrist that bore him." The
bird died during the run of the play, and to-day exists,
under a glass case, **as a sad (but very handsome)
example of those who are forced to follow a profession
for which they have no aptitude."

Other revivals were followed by a new version, by
W. G. Wills, of Jerrold's picturesque and pathetic
nautical drama Black-Eyed Susan; and that, a little
later, by the first important play by A. W. Pinero, who
was a member of Irving's Lyceum company and had
tried his 'prentice hand in the writing of smaller comedi-
ettas. This play. The Money Spinner^ which gave
Hare a fine chance in the eccentric part of the rascally
Baron Croodle, was produced in 1881, and was followed
in the same year by The Squire from the same pen.
These, with B. C. Stephenson's Impulse (1882) and
Pinero's The Ironmaster (1884), proved as popular as
any plays in the Kendal repertory. Neither an elabor-
ate production of As You Like It in 1885, nor Pinero's
Mayfair in the same year, achieved much success ; but
considerable amends was made with Pinero's The Hobby
Horse in 1886, in which Hare was able to make a
personal triumph in one of the minutely drawn and
closely characterized parts with which Pinero excels in
fitting him. In 1887 ^^^ Kendals received the distinc-

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THE KENDALS AND JOHN HARE. 20$

tion of a command to perform before Queen Victoria at
Osborne, the programme consisting of Uncle's Will and
Gilbert's Broken Hearts,

Lady Clancarty (in 1887), an ** historical" play of
considerable effectiveness that did not succeed as much
as it deserved, and a revival of Lovell's The Wife^s
Secret (1888), practically concludes the tale of the chief
Kendal and Hare productions at the St. James's. Their
tenancy came to an end in July 1888, and the brilliant
partnership was dissolved. In the following year the
Kendals went to tour in America, and Hare became
manager of the newly-built Garrick Theatre.

Since 1888 the Kendals have had no permanent
theatrical home. They have made a number of success-
ful tours in America, where their popularity has
been only second to that of the Irving company. The
delicate tenderness and humour of Mrs. Kendal's
acting captured the hearts of American audiences at
once ; and Mr. Kendal's powers were more fully recog-
nized than perhaps they were here, where he was apt to
be overshadowed by the enormous popularity of his
wife and Hare. In this country the Kendals are
constantly touring in the provinces, and their too
infrequent visits to London are looked for with plea-
surable anticipation. The most conspicuous of their
London appearances have been at the Court in 1889,
when they played Pinero's The Weaker Sex and Sydney
Grundy's A White Lie ; at the Garrick, in Grundy's
The Greatest of These^ in 1895 ; and at their old house,
the St. James's, in The Elder Miss Blossom (1898
and 1 901), The Likeness of The Night (1901), Dick Hope
(1905), and The Housekeeper (1905). In 1893 they
produced Pinero's The Second Mrs, Tanquerary at
Leicester, Mrs. Kendal giving a rendering of the
unhappy Paula's character that was interesting in its

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206 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

divergences from that of its ** creator" Mrs. Patrick •
Campbell.

The Kendals were followed in the St. James's man-
agement by Rutland Harrington, who produced in 1888
(but with small success) Grundy and Phillips' The
Dearths Daughter and Gilbert's Braniinghame Hally the
latter an attempt on the veteran Savoy librettist's part
to return to serious drama. After Harrington, Mrs.
Langtry was manager for. a short time, her reign being
marked by a capable performance of As You Like It in
1889, she playing the part of Rosalind and Arthur
Bourchier that of Jacques.

The fortunes of the house seemed to be waning again,
when they were happily revived by the advent of George
Alexander as manager. He had made his first London
appearance as Caleb Deecie in The Two Roses at the
Lyceum just ten years previously, and from 1881 till
1888 had acted pretty continuously under Irving, playing
such parts as Macduff, Bassanio, Laertes, Claudio, and
Faust. He had acquired ease and skill in acting, had
served under the prince of managers, and had youth
and ambition to assist him in undertaking the difficult
task of managing a theatre. In the important respect
of the production of work by living English dramatists,
Alexander's management has been the most remarkable
of our own time. Under him Pinero sealed his reputa-
tion, and under him the names of Haddon Chambers,
R. C. Carton, Oscar Wilde, H. V. Esmond, Anthony
Hope, Stephen Phillips, Mrs. Craigie and John Oliver
Hobbes have become familiar to playgoers.

After a trial trip as manager at the Avenue Theatre
in 1890 with an entertaining farce Dr, Bill and a typical
Carton comedy Sunlight and Shadow, Alexander opened
the St. James's early in 1891 with a resumed run of the
latter play. Thanks to good judgment allied with

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THE KENDALS AND JOHN HARE. 207

enterprise, as well as a wisely expended liberality in
securing the best performers available for his pur-
poses (thanks, too, to his recognition of the limitations
of his own very considerable powers as actor, and his
avoidance of the pitfalls that beset the path of the
actor-manager in the shape of temptations to subdue
everything else to the prominence of a **star part")
Alexander has been able to follow success with success.
To recall the more important of his productions will
be certificate of this. The series includes: Haddon
Chambers* The Idler (1891), with Hubert Waring, Maude
Millett, Marion Terry and Lady Monckton in the cast;
Wilde's Lady Windermere's Fan (1892), which was the
dramatic ddbut of that witty writer and gave Marion
Terry one of her best parts; Carton's Liberty Hall
(1892), which was like a page from Dickens, and again
gave Marion Terry, together with Edward Righton,
opportunity for a particularly touching performance;
The Second Mrs. Tanqueray (1893), which made Mrs.
Patrick Campbell's reputation, and established that of
Pinero, who now crowned his popularity as a writer of
entertaining comedy with this triumphant assertion of
his claims as a serious dramatist; The Masqueraders
(1894) and The Triumph of the Philistines (1895), by
Henry Arthur Jones, both plays characteristic of their
author; The Importance of being Earnest (1895), a
delicious piece of witty nonsense from Oscar Wilde's
pen, acted in exactly the right vein by George Alex-
ander, Allan Aynesworth, Irene Vanbrugh, Evelyn
Millard and Rose Leclercq; The Prisoner of Zenda
(1896), for which H. B. Irving joined the company, and
its sequel, Rupert of Hentzau (1900) ; a revival of As
You Like It (1896), chiefly remarkable for Alexander's
Orlando and H. V. Esmond's Touchstone; Pinero's
fantastic comedy The Princess and the Butterfly (1897);

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2o8 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

a revival of Much Ado about Nothing (1898), with
Alexander as Benedick and Julia Neilson as Beatrice;
John Oliver Hobbes' The Ambassador (1898), in which
Alexander and Fay Davis distinguished themselves, as
they did in The Man of Forty (1900) and The Wisdom of
the Wise (1900); The Wilderness (1901), in which
Alexander was brilliantly assisted by Eva Moore;
Stephen Phillips' verse drama Paolo and Francesca
(1902), in which Alexander was associated with Evelyn
Millard and Henry Ainley; If I were King (1902), a
romantic drama with an effectually picturesque part for
Alexander as the poet Villon; Old Heidelberg (1903);
The Garden of Lies (1904); fohn Chilcote^ M.P, (1905);
Pinero's comedy His House in Order (1906); Sutro's
fohn Glayde's Honour (1907); an adaptation of Bern-
stein's The Thief {igo^j); and Pinero's The Thunderbolt
(1908). In 1900 the interior of the St. James's was
remodelled and its comfort and convenience increased.

When Hare dissolved his partnership with the
Kendals, he found a new and suitable sphere for his
managerial activities in the newly erected Garrick
Theatre. There had existed from 1830, for about
fifteen years, a Garrick Theatre in Leman Street,
Whitechapel ; but its position never rose above a very
low level, and it was quite forgotten long ere Hare's
Garrick arose. Hare opened his new house in April
1889 with Pinero's The Profligate, sl play which was a
tentative effort in the style that reached its fruition in
The Second Mrs. Tangueray, and was remarkable for at
least one scene as deftly constructed as anything in
modern drama. Taking his subject seriously, Pinero
had ended the play, as he considered legitimate and
logical, with the suicide of the ** profligate" at the
moment when the irony of fate was bringing his wife to
him with pity and forgiveness. Hare, however, was

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THE KENDALS AND JOHN HARE. 209

afraid of an unhappy ending (this was in pre-Ibsen
days), and induced the dramatist to make a concession
to popular prejudice and let his hero live to effect a
reconciliation with his wife. In the printed version of
the play it ends as the author originally intended.
Hare contented himself with a small but telling part,
and was brilliantly supported by Forbes Robertson,
Lewis Waller and Kate Rorke. It is interesting to
compare the ** Profligate's" last soliloquy in the printed
version of the play with poor Paula's pitiless analysis of
the hopeless situation at the close of The Second Mrs,
Tanqueray,

Hare's next production was Sydney Grundy's A Pair
of Spectacles in 1890. This, though nominally an
adaptation from the French, was in all essentials an
original comedy and one so delightful as to prove
permanently one of the most popular features of Hare's
repertory. Pinero's touching comedy Lady Bountiful^
which did not have by any means the success it
deserved, followed in 1891. Hare had a capital part in
this, as also did Forbes Robertson, Kate Rorke and
Marie Linden, and the whole was acted with a delicacy
that exactly suited it. In this Hare's son Gilbert made
his first London appearance ; and in a revival of School^
in the same year, H. B. Irving made his, as Lord Beaufoy.

Grundy's A FooVs Paradise (with H. B. Irving in a
more prominent part) followed in 1892, and Carton's
Robin Goodfellow in 1893. In the latter year the
Bancrofts reappeared with Hare in a revival of
Diplomacy^ and again in a revival of Money in 1894.
The year 1895 was distinguished by the production of
Pinero's The Notorious Mrs, Ehhsmith^ a return to the
Profligate style of comedy, in which Forbes Robertson
and Mrs. Patrick Campbell (and afterwards Olga
Nethersole) undertook the chief parts.

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2IO A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

Hare then gave up the management of the Garrick,
and three years later started on a brief tenancy of the
Globe. Except for revivals of School^ Ours and Caste
(in which Hare played the part of Eccles, and his son
Gilbert that of Sam Gerridge), this management was
only remarkable for the production of Pinero's comedy
The Gay Lord Quex (1899)^ in which Irene Vanbrugh
made a great impression by her realistic performance as
the heroine, Sophy Fullgamey. It is difficult to recall
anything better in its way than her acting and Hare's in
the finely written verbal duel that constitutes the third
act of this play.

Since then Hare's appearances in London have been
infrequent, the chief being in a revival of The Gay Lord
Quex at the Duke of York's in 1902, in Barrie's Little
Maty at Wyndham's Theatre in 1903, in a season
(which included Captain Marshall's 7 he Alabaster Stair-
case) at the Comedy in 1906, and in The Great Conspiracy
at the Duke of York's in 1907. In the latter year he
began a series of farewell performances in the provinces
anticipatory of his retirement, and also received the
honour of knighthood.

After Hare's departure from the Garrick there is little
that is noteworthy in that theatre's history until Arthur
Bourchier became its manager in 1900, save for seasons
undertaken in 1895 and 1896 by E. S. Willard (who
produced Alabama and Jones' The Rogue's Comedy) and
by the Kendals with The Greatest of These in 1896.
After an enthusiastic amateur career at Oxford,
Bourchier had adopted the stage as a profession in
1889, and had played at the St. James's, with
Wyndham at the Criterion, and with Daly's company,
before making his first bid for fortune as a manager at
the Royalty in 1895. There, with the co-operation of
his wife (Violet Vanbrugh), he made a conspicuous

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THE KENDALS AND JOHN HARE. 211

success with The Chili Widow, a farce adapted from
the French. Subsequently he acted at the Garrick, the
Strand and the Court theatres, his Jim Blagden in
Carton's Wheels within Wheels at the Court in 1899
being memorable. Previous to his taking over the
Garrick Theatre he had acquired additional experience
by joining Charles Wyndham in partnership to manage
the Criterion when Wyndham went to act at the new
theatre that bears his name.

At the Criterion, in the early part of 1900, Bourchier
was concerned in the production of R. Marshall's His
Excellency the Governor ^ and Carton's Lady Huntworth^s
Experiment. Later in the same year he opened his
management at the Garrick with Barriers The Wedding
Guest, a touching but unsatisfactory play. In 190 1
Pinero's Iris, a drama of almost unrelieved gloom, was
produced. In this Fay Davis and Oscar Asche played
the principal parts, the Bourchiers temporarily ** stand-
ing out." It was followed in the next year by Anthony
Hope's refreshingly humorous Pilkerton's Peerage. In
the latter both Bourchier ancThis wife appeared, as they
have done in nearly every subsequent production at the
Garrick. Henry Arthur Jones has been represented
there by Whitewashing Julia in 1903, and The Chevaleer,
a comedy which deserved better fortune than it enjoyed,
in 1904. In the same year (1904) Gilbert's comedy The
Fairy's DUemma vj2iS mounted. This was an attempt,
not wholly successful, to return to an earlier manner;
and, though many of the ideas were rich in humorous
possibilities, some of the fun appeared laboured.

At the close of 1904 Bourchier brought forward a new
dramatist in the person of Alfred Sutro, whose clever
play The Walls of Jericho, with its effective part for
Bourchier, made an impression which was to a great
extent maintained by The Fascinating Mr, Vanderveldt,

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212 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

from the same pen, in 1906. Sutro had, as a matter of fact,
been knocking at the gates for many years before fortune
brought him the chance which he has been quick to seize.
Meanwhile, fired with Shakespearean ambition,
Bourchier mounted The Merchant of Venice in 1905,
and followed this in the next year with Macbeth, One
of the recent productions at the Garrick in which
Bourchier did not appear was that of W. J. Locke*s
The Morals of Marcus in 1906. This was the occasion
of a little friction between the manager and the critics,
he having announced that, as a protest against the
haste with which the conditions of modern journalism
made it necessary for first-night criticism to be written,
he did not propose to invite the critics to the first per-
formance, but left it to their discretion to come when
they pleased and write about the play at their leisure.
Representations were made, however, as to the danger
of injustice to the author and actors if such a course
were pursued in, for it might happen that the critics
would stay away altogether! — and eventually a further
letter from the manager calmed the ruffled waters and
peace was restored. Bourchier's chief new productions
in 1907 were Gladys Unger's Mr, Sheridan^ Valentine
and Francis* Fiander's WidoWy and Murray Carson
and Norah Keith's Simple Simon, In the first half of
1908 the Garrick was occupied for a considerable time
by Maugham's clever comedy Lady Frederick^ which,
originally produced at the Court in 1907, successfully
survived four or five migrations in the course of its
career. Bourchier's advance as a manager has been
rapid and decisive. He has shown enterprise and
judgment in his choice of plays, and a due liberality in
mounting them ; and the result, taken together with his
popularity as an actor and that of his gifted wife, is a
deserved success.

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CHAPTER XV.

OTHER THEATRES CONCERNED WITH COMEDY AND FARCE.

When Toole died, in the summer of 1906, he had been
in retirement for more than ten years, and, except to
the older generation, he is little more than a name to
the playgoers of to-day. Yet fifteen or twenty years
ago he still enjoyed an enormous popularity, after
having been the idol of the public for thirty years. No
actor's popularity has ever been more warmly tinged
with personal affection, and the kindly heart of the man
deserved it no less than his honest and clean work in
promoting mirth.

He was only two and twenty when, after some
provincial experience, he had his first chance in London
at the St. James's. Two years later he was engaged
by Dillon for the Lyceum, where he remained for three
years, playing in company with Marie Wilton who was
making her London ddhuL So good an impression did
he make that, when the favourite comedian Wright
retired from the Adelphi in 1858, Toole was chosen to
succeed him. The Adelphi saw the creation of two
parts that always remained favourites of his, Spriggins
in Ici on parle Frangais (1859) and Caleb Plummer in
Boucicault's Dot (1862), the former broadly farcical and
the latter a mixture of comedy and pathos. Then
followed six years as one of the principal comedians of

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214 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

the Queen's Theatre in Longacre, where his fellow-
actors included Irving', Wigan, Ryder, Wyndham,
Clayton, Lionel Brough and Henrietta Hodson.
Toole's most ambitious effort there was the part of
Richard Eames in H. J. Byron's Dearer than Life in

1868. After that he migrated to the Gaiety, where,
except for the interruption of a tour in America from
1874 to 1875, ^^ remained for the best part of ten years.
One of his earliest appearances there was in Byron's
Uncle Dick's Darlings in which Irving also acted, in

1869. Nellie Farren was already a member of the
Gaiety company, and played in a number of farces and
burlesques with Toole.

In 1879 Toole became manager of the Folly Theatre.
Built on the site of a Roman Catholic oratory, this
little house had arisen ten years previously as the
Polygraphic Hall. It was converted into a theatre,
and enjoyed a chequered career as the Charing Cross
Theatre until it was re-named the Folly Theatre in 1876
by Alexander Henderson, who managed it for three
years. Henderson's one great success was with the
comic opera Les Cloches de Comeville {1878), in which
Violet Cameron and Shiel Barry gave performances
that became famous.

Toole opened the Folly in 1879 with the ever-popular
Ici on parle Frangais and Byron's A Fool and his Money y
and for fifteen years made the little house a centre of
wholesome laughter. One of his earliest successes
there was with Byron's The Upper Crust in 1880.
He ran the theatre on ** stock-company" lines, keeping
the same actors together with him as far as possible.
Billington, Shelton, and Sarah Thorne were among
those who served under him for many years.

In 1882 he re-christened the theatre Toole's Theatre ;
and with such farces as The Butler (1886), The Don

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COMEDY AND FARCE. 21 5

(1888), and burlesques of popular successes such as
Stage Dora in 1883 (parodying- Fddora) and Paw
Clawdian in 1884 (parodying^ Wilson Barrett's pro-
duction of Claudian)^ kept the ball merrily rolling.

The Daly Company made their first London appear-
ance at Toole's Theatre in 1884, and other companies
were seen there in the manager's absence, particularly
during a tour he undertook in Australia in 1890.
During the last years of his management he produced
few new pieces, relying mainly on his repertory ; but in
1892 Barrie's first play, Walker y London^ and in 1895
R. Lumley's farce Thoroughbredy were seen at Toole's.

Toole's last appearance on the stage was made in
1895, and his enforced retirement was clouded by
distressing illness which ended in his death in July
1906. His powers of drollery were accompanied by
a considerable command of homely pathos, and his
aptitude for travesty made his burlesque-acting
delightful. As a man he was the soul of kindliness.
His boyish sense of fun made him an inveterate
practical joker, but always without malice or intent
to harm ; and abundant testimony could be quoted as
to his capacity for staunch friendship, his affectionate
comradeship with Irving (to instance but one case)
having become proverbial.

Toole's Theatre was pulled down in 1896, and its
site is now occupied by an extension of the Charing
Cross Hospital buildings.

Sir Charles Wyndham, who is by many years our
senior theatrical manager, was originally intended for
the medical profession. Born in 1837, he served as a
surgeon in the Civil War in America. While in that
country he made an abortive appearance on the stage
in New York. The story goes that he had a longish
speech to deliver on his entrance, beginning with the

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2l6 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

words ** I am drunk with enthusiasm"; but, being
absolutely overcome with stage-fright, he could only
manage to stammer out the words ** I am drunk " and
rush from the stage, from which he was promptly
dismissed.

He clung to his fondness for acting, however, and
before he was thirty had made some fairly successful
appearances in the provinces, and in London at the
Royalty, where, according to Burnand, his agile
dancing made him conspicuous among the clever per- •
formers of Burnand's burlesque of Black Eye'd Susan
in 1866. In 1867 he was at the St. James's, acting
heroes while Irving acted villains, and subsequently
supported Kate Terry in her farewell performances at
Manchester, playing such parts as Claudio and Laertes.
In October of the same year he was engaged as a
member of the company that opened the Queen's theatre
in Longacre, where he remained for two years and
established his reputation as an actor. At the
Queen's (famous as the dramatic nursery of several
future actor-managers) he had amongst his colleagues
Irving, Ellen Terry, Toole, Clayton, the Wigans and
Lionel Brough.

In 1869 he retrieved his former histrionic disaster in
New York by appearing successfully there as Charles
Surface ; after which he toured in America with a
company of his own for three years. In a production
of Caste during this tour, Wyndham played Hawtree
to the Sam Gerridge of George Giddens, who was
afterwards for so many years a member of Wyndham's
company at the Criterion.

One of the most popular plays in the ** Wyndham
Comedy Company's " repertory in America had been
a play of Branson Howard's called Saratoga; and, on
his return to England, Wyndham made a great success

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COMEDY AND FARCE. 21/

at the Court Theatre (in 1874) with an anglicised
version of this under the name of Brighton. It was
when he was at the height of this success that he was
offered a part share (with Alexander Henderson) of
the management of the Criterion Theatre, which had
enjoyed but little good fortune since its opening in
1874. Henderson, however, had faith in Wyndham*s
powers of attraction ; the partnership was arranged ;
and it was in his popular part of Bob Sackett in
Brighton that Wyndham appeared for the first time,
in December 1875, ^^ ^^^^ house that was to be his
theatrical headquarters for three-and-twenty years.

The Criterion became rapidly popular, and famed for
its brilliant representations of farcical comedy. It is
only necessary to mention the most prominent of
Wyndham*s early productions there. These include
Albery's Pink Dominoes^ about whose ** propriety"
certain critics raised a pother and thereby adver*
tised the play so well that it ran for nearly two
years; Burnand*s -5^/yy (1879), in which Wyndham did
not act, employing himself with a season of Brighton at
the Olympic; Albery's Where's the Cat? (1880), in
which Wyndham was supported by Beerbohm Tree,
Giddens and Mrs. John Wood; Gilbert's Foggerty's
Fairy (1881), a whimsical comedy whose wit proved
too subtle for Criterion audiences in spite of the clever-
ness of a cast that included, besides Wyndham,
Giddens, Alfred Maltby, William Blakeley, Mrs. John
Wood and Mary Rorke; and Byron's Fourteen Days
(1882), for which Kate Rorke joined the company.

In 1883 Wyndham toured again in America, while
extensive structural alterations were made at the
Criterion, which he opened again in 1884 with a re-
vival of Brighton, This was soon followed by The
Candidate^ which, somewhat unexpectedly, proved on«

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2l8 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

of the greatest Criterion successes, and ran from
November 1884 till January 1886.

A revival of Wild Oats in 1886 brought a new actress
before the public in the part of Lady Amaranth. This
was Mary Moore, whose professional partnership with
Wyndham has lasted ever since. David James, Edward
Righton, William Blakeley, Alfred Maltby, George
Giddens and Annie Hughes were also with Wyndham
in this revival. In the same year Wyndham appeared,
with Mary Moore, in the piece which has proved the
most perennially popular of all his repertory, T. W.
Robertson's David Garrick. Wyndham has gained for
this play a popularity that far exceeds any that its
original exponent Sothem could achieve. He has,
moreover, translated the play into German; and as
both he and Mary Moore speak the language well, they
took the bold step of giving performances of the
German version at Liegnitz and in Berlin in 1887.
Their success was complete, news of it even reaching
the august ears of the Czar of Russia, at whose desire
the clever pair gave a series of performances of the play
in St. Petersburg and in Moscow. In the same year
they gave a ** command performance " of it at Sandring-
ham, and again in 1903 at Windsor.

After playing John Mildmay in a capital revival of
Still Waters Run Deep early in 1889, Wyndham pro-
duced Burnand's The Headless Man in the summer, an
occasion rendered memorable by the manager's colloquy
with a discontented man in the gallery, who was duly
brought to book. In the autumn of the same year
Wyndham started off on another successful American
tour. Three revivals followed on his return: She Stoops
to Conquer (1890), the chief feature of which was
Giddens' admirable Tony Lumpkin, London Assurance
(1890), and The School for Scandal (1891). In the last-

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COMEDY AND FARCE. 219

named, Wyndham played Charles Surface to the Joseph
of Arthur Bourchier. William Farren was the Sir
Peter, and the cast included Mrs. Bernard Beere, Mary
Moore, Giddens, Cyril Maude and Ellaline Terriss.

After a brilliant record with light comedy, the
Criterion now began to acquire a reputation for work
of a more solid nature. Henry Arthur Jones' copiedy
The Bauble Shop was produced in 1893, to be followed
by a less serious work from the same pen in The Case
of Rebellious Susan (1894). Carton's The Home Secretary
(1895) brought Charles Brookfield, Lewis Waller,
Sydney Brough, and Julia Neilson to join the Criterion
company, and in the same writer's The Squire of Dames
(1895) Fay Davis was seen with Wyndham and Mary
Moore. Messrs. Parker and Carson's pretty comedy
Rosem^ary proved very much to the taste of the public in
1896; and in the following year Wyndham mounted
two more plays by Henry Arthur Jones, The Physician^
which was only moderately successful, and The LiarSy
which made its mark at once and has borne the test
of revival. Messrs. Parker and Carson's romantic
** costume" play The Jest was the chief production of
1898, and the spring of 1899 ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ brief run of
Haddon Chambers' clever comedy The Tyranny of
Tears,

In November 1899 Wyndham opened the new theatre
(in Charing Cross Road) which bears his name. There
is very little to be said in favour of this growing
practice of christening theatres with the names of
living actors. Toole began the practice, but his theatre
disappeared with him. The practice, moreover, leads
to such anomalies as a Wyqdham's Theatre in which
Wyndham is rarely seen, a Terry's Theatre in which
Terry is now almost never seen, and one of the most
popular theatres in the town (Daly's) named after an

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220 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

American manager who is dead. The Hicks Theatre
(opened in 1907) is the latest example of this mistake.

Wyndham*s Theatre was opened with various
revivals, the first new production being an English
version of Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac in the summer
of 1900. This ambitious effort not meeting with the
success Wyndham had hoped for, he turned again to
Henry Arthur Jones, who had on many occasions fitted
him admirably with a part. The play that resulted,
Mrs. Dane's Defence^ advanced Lena Ashwell's reputa-
tion and presented Wyndham in a character of the type
in which his maturer powers excel, — that of a tender-
hearted, keen-witted man of the world, who is the
deus ex machina of the plot. The Mummy and the
Humming Bird by Isaac Henderson (1901) and Davies'
Mrs. Gorringe^a Necklace (1903) were other new plays
produced at this house by Wyndham.

In 1902 Wyndham received the honour of knight-
hood; and in the following year became proprietor of
yet another theatre, the New Theatre (in St. Martin's
Lane), where his most successful new production has
been Davies' Captain Drew on Leave (1905) which
contained excellent parts for himself, Mary Moore and
Marion Terry. In the last few years Wyndham has
been seen now at one and now at another of his
theatres, often in revivals of former successes, the
theatres being tenanted by various companies during
his absences.

At Wyndham's, for example, Lena Ashwell and
H. V. Esmond were seen to some advantage in Henry
Arthur Jones' Chance^ the Idoly in 1902 ; and Barrie's
Little Mary^ which proved to be a practical joke in the
form of a play that was excellently interpreted by Hare,
Nina Boucicault and other clever folk, was produced in
1903. Other miscellaneous plays produced at this

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COMEDY AND FARCE. 221

theatre include Pinero's comedy A Wife without a
Smile in 1904, Carton's Public Opinion in 1905, and
an adaptation of Mrs. De la Pasture's Peter^s Mother
in 1906. In 1907 James Welch caught the public's
fancy at Wyndham's with a fantastic comedy When
Knights were Boldj which had a long run.

At the New Theatre, Cyril Maude and the Haymarket
company (during the reconstruction of their theatre)
produced Beauty and the Barge in 1904, Lena Ashwell
made a considerable impression in Leah Kleschna in
i90S> and Julia Neilson and Fred Terry were seen in
** romantic" drama in The Scarlet Pimpernel in 1905,
Dorothy 0' the Hall in 1906, and Matt 0' Merrymount in
1907. In 1907, also, Vachell's Her Son was played
there.

After his departure from the Criterion, Wyndham
retained an interest in the house and for a time
managed it in partnership with Arthur Bourchier, the
latter actor appearing there in Carton's Wheels within
Wheels (a revival), dsid Lady Huntworth^s Experiment ^ in
1900. Among the various pieces that have smce been
seen there may be mentioned Esmond's Billy s Little
Love Affair^ in 1903, with a cast that included Eva
Moore and Florence St. John; Capt. Marshall's The
Duke of Killicrankiey in 1904 ; The Freedom of Suzanne^
which exhibited Marie Tempest as a comedian of the
first rank, in 1904; and in 1905 Bowkett's Lucky Miss
Deany in which Ethel Irving gave the first conspicuous
evidence of powers of comedy that have since been
triumphantly asserted in Lady Frederick, In 1907
Wyndham and Mary Moore were once more seen at
the Criterion^ in a revival of The Liars and the
production of H. H. Davies' comedy The Mollusc,

Hare's successor in the management of the Court
Theatre was Wilson Barrett, who had already made a

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222 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

considerable provincial reputation and had managed
theatres at Leeds and Hull. He was at the Court, but
without much success, from the autumn of 1879 ^^ ^^^
summer of 1881, the most memorable feature of his
management being his introduction of the Polish
actress Mme. Modjeska to English audiences. His
company at this time included Coghlan, Arthur Dacre,
Mrs. Leigh Murray and Amy Roselle.

In 1881, when Barrett went to the Princess's Theatre,
the Court was taken over by John Clayton, a sound
actor who started with a company comprising fellow-
comedians of such calibre as Mrs. John Wood, Marion
Terry, Mrs. Tree and Arthur Cecil. The last-named
joined Clayton in the managership in 1884. A fair
amount of success attended the venture for the first
three or four years, the chief productions being
Godfrey's The Parvenu in 1882, Pinero's The Rector in
1883, Godfrey's The Millionaire in 1883 and My
Milliner's Bill in 1884, and Bronson Howard's Young
Mrs, Winthrop in 1884. For the last-named play,
Lydia Foote and Rose Norreys joined the company at
the Court.

It was in the final three years of its life, however,
that the old Court enjoyed its greatest popularity. This
was due to Pinero's inimitable series of farces. The
Magistrate (1885), The Schoolmistress (1886) and Dandy
Dick (1887). Pinero struck a new vein of purely English
humour at a moment when the public was wearying of
adaptations of doubtful French farces, and he worked it
with consummate skill. Observing the proper canon of
farce — namely, that one should place possible personages
in possible but improbable circumstances — he brought to
bear on this an ingenuity in construction, a skill in
dialogue and a capacity for eccentric characterization
that made these plays irresistible, acted as they were

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COMEDY AND FARCE. 223

with all possible point and spirit by the Court company.
None that saw them are likely to forget Arthur Cecil's
**Mr. Posket" in The Magistrate, Clayton's **Dean of
St, Marvell's" in Dandy Dick, and his *' Admiral
Rankling" and Rose Norreys' *' Peggy Hesselrigg" in
The Schoolmisttessy or Mrs. John Wood's matchless
acting in all three farces, culminating in her triumph as
** Georgina Tidman " in Dandy Dick,

The old Court was pulled down in 1887, and in
September 1888 the present house was opened under the
management of Mrs. John Wood and Arthur Chudleigh.
Arthur Cecil remained a member of the company until
1891 ; Clayton had died in the early part of 1888.

The new house opened with Grundy's Manvma, in
which Hare, Annie Hughes and Rosina Filippi appeared
with Mrs. Wood and Arthur Cecil. Save for a season
played by the Kendals in 1889, and the production of
Pinero's The Cabinet Minister in 1890, the history of the
first years of the new Court offers few points of interest.
The Cabinet Minister was very strongly cast; besides
the usual Court ** principals," Weedon Grossmith, Allan
Aynesworth, Eric Lewis, Herbert Waring and Eva
Moore were seen in it. It was revived by Cyril Maude
at Wyndham's Theatre in 1906.

Such farces as The Late Lamented (iSgi), Aunt Jack
(1889), and The Volcano (1891), were carried to success
mainly on the tide of Mrs. Wood's personal popularity
and the vigour and vitality of her acting. She appeared
at the Criterion in 1892 in Haddon Chambers' The Old
Lady, and was not seen again at the Court until 1895.
Meantime various entertainments were tried at the
Court with varying fortunes, and in 1893 Pinero made 11
return, with The Amazons, to the manner of his successes
of the old Court days. The play was a delightfully
humorous fantasy, and was acted in just the right spirit

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224 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

by Rose Leclercq, Lily Hanbury, Pattie Browne, Ellaline
Terriss, Kerr, Elliott and Weedon Grossmith.

In 1894 Olga Nethersole was seen at the Court in
A. W. Gattie's The Transgressor; and, later on, Charles
Hawtrey, Lottie Venne and Eva Moore in Burnand's A
Gay Widow. In 1895 Mrs. Wood returned with God-
frey's Vantfy Fairy in which her old colleague Arthur
Cecil reappeared with her; and in the same year she
gave a characteristic and irresistibly funny performance
of Mrs. Malaprop in The /Rivals, to William Farren's
Sir Anthony. In the spring of 1896 she joined Hawtrey
and Lottie Venne in a revival of Mrs, Ponderbury's Past^
this being the close of her long connection with the
Court, which was at once invaded by the already
ubiquitous ** musical comedy." In the autumn of the
same year Mrs. Wood was seen at Drury Lane as
Lady Janet Macintosh in the spectacular drama The
White Heather,

Hare played a season at the Court in 1897, with
revivals of previous successes ; this was followed by a
charming fairy tale. The Children of the King^ which
was beautifully played by Martin Harvey, Dion Bouci-
cault, Cissie Loftus and a clever company, but failed
to make the success its qualities merited.

The next year saw the production of a very character-
istic Pinero comedy, Trelawny of the WellSy in which
Irene Vanbrugh played the chief female part; and in
1899 the Court was the scene of the production of
Carton's Wheels within Wheels and Marshall's A
Royal Family,

Subsequently a long spell of ill fortune seemed to
fasten upon the house, only to be removed when
attention began to be directed to it once more by the
activities of the Stage Society, several of whose
performances took place there in 1903 and 1904. This

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COMEDY AND FARCE. 225

body was the historical, if not the actual, outcome of
an earlier body, the Independent Theatre, that had
been founded in 1891 for the purpose of the production
qf meritorious plays which, for whatever reason, were
unlikely to be produced by the ordinary manager.

The Independent Theatre existed as a corporate body
from 1 89 1 to 1897, its performances taking place either
at the Opera Comique or the Royalty Theatres. The
production of a translation of Ibsen's Ghosts was one
of its first efforts, and George Moore*s The Strike at
Arlingford (1892), Bernard Shaw's Widowers^ Houses
(1893) and The Philanderer (1894), Michael Field's A
Question of Memory (1893) and Todhunter's The Black
C(a/(i894) were among the native plays that it produced.
Its mantle fell upon the Stage Society, which came into
existence in 1899 and has since then been instrumental
jn a number of interesting productions. Apart from
translation of foreign plays by such dramatists as Ibsen,
Maeterlinck, Hauptmann, Gorki, and Brieux some of
its main productions have been as follows : — in its season
of 1899 to 1900, Shaw's You Never Can Telly Olivier's
Mrs, Maxwell's Marriage ^ Fiona Macleod's The House
of Usna and Shaw's Candida; in 1900, Shaw's Captain
Brasshound' s Conversion; in 1901, Murray's Andro-
mache; in 1902, Shaw's Mrs, Warren's Profession and
Granville Barker's The Marrying of Ann Leete; in 1903
Maugham's A Man of Honour and Shaw's The Admirable
Bashville; in 1904, Browning's A Soul's Tragedy^
Fenn and Pryce's 'Op '0 me Thumbs and Yeats' Where
there is Nothing; in 1905, Street's Great Friends and
Shaw's Man and Superman; in 1906, Benson's Dodo
and Hankin's The Cassilis Engagement.

These plays were performed at various theatres, as
opportunity offered. In 1903 and 1904 certain of them
w^re produced at the Court; from 1901 onwards, the

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226 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

presence of the Press was invited, and the attention
thus directed to the theatre helped to create there an
audience which made possible the spirited independent
management that was begun in 1904 by Messrs. Barker
and Vedrenne. Shaw's John BulVs Other Island (1904)
was one of their earliest productions, and this writer's
trenchant pen provided them with a large proportion of
the entertainment they offered their audiences.

The Barker and Vedrenne management was a notable
effort, in respect of being undertaken primarily with an
artistic aim; it ** discovered" a great amount of new
talent in the way of acting, and not a little in the way of
play-writing; its stage-management was masterly; it
steadily set its face against long runs, and so acquired
a repertory ; and the result was a gratifying response on
the part of the intelligent public and a considerable
measure of financial success, so much so that in 1907
the management felt justified in removing the sphere of
their operations from the Court to the roomier Savoy
Theatre. Their place at the Court was taken by Otho
Stuart, who started management there in 1907 with
Mackay and Ord's Barry Doyle's Rest Cure^ and
Maugham's Lady Frederick,

Among the new plays produced by Barker and
Vedrenne at the Court may be mentioned: Murray's
Hippolytus and Granville Barker's Prunella in 1904;
Shaw's How He Lied to Her Husband^ Mrs. De la
Pasture's T?ie Lonely Millionaires^ Murray's Trojan
Women^ Mrs. Ward's Eleanor^ Hankin's The Return of
the Prodigal^ Barker's The Voysey Inheritance and
Shaw's Major Barhara^ all in 1905; and, in 1906,
Galsworthy's The Silver Box^ Hankin's The Charity that
began at HomCy Murray's Electra and Shaw's The
Doctor's Dilemma.

The Barker-Vedrenne management at the Savoy,

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COMEDY AND FARCE. 22/

which only lasted for a few months, began in the
autumn of 1907 with a revival of Shaw's Vou Never Can
Tell and a production of the same author's The DeviVs
Disciple. Later in the same year Shaw's Ccesar and
Cleopatra was produced, and a revival of his Arms and
the Man, The prohibition, by the Censbr, of the per-
formance of Granville Barker's Waste gave a fresh
impulse to the agitation for the abolition of the Censor-
ship. The play was privately produced by the Stage
Society in December 1907.

Other independent bodies, somewhat similar in con-
stitution to the Independent Theatre and the Stage
Society, are the Elizabethan Stage Society and the
Mermaid Society (afterwards called the English Drama
Society), both existing for the revival of old plays; the
New Century Theatre, which performed Murray's
Hippolytus in 1904; and the Literary Theatre Society,
which produced Sturge Moore's Aphrodite against
Artemis in 1906.

The Comedy Theatre, which for a score of years has
justified its name, was opened in 1881 with comic opera,
which held the boards there till 1884. Since then,
under a variety of managers, comedy has been pretty
consistently its programme, and a fair number of plays
whose memory lingers in the playgoer's memory have
seen the light there. To name the chief of these:
Grundy's TJie Silver Shield^ with Kate Rorke, Dacre
and Amy Ro3elle in the cast, in 1885 ; Outram Tristram's
The Red Lamp^ in 1887, in which Beerbohm Tree was
assisted by Charles Brookfield, Marion Terry, Lady
Monckton and Rosina Filippi ; Von Moser's The Arabian
NightSy with Hawtrey, Lottie Venne and Penley in the
cast, in 1887; Sunset and Woodbarrow Farm^ two
delicate little pieces by Jerome K. Jerome, in 1888;
Grundy's Sowing the Wind in 1893 and The New Woman

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?28 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

in 1894, in both of which Winifred Emery added to her
laurels, supported in the former by Cyril Maude, Sydney
Brough, Annie Hughes, Rose Leclercq and Alma
Murray; Barriers The Professor^ s Love Story ^ with E. S.
Willard in the chief part, in 1894; Pinero's The Benefit
of the Doubt (1895), ^ tragi-comedy in which Winifred
Emery and Cyril Maude each gave as finished a piece of
acting as any in their careers ; Grundy's The Late Mr,
Castello^ in which Winifred Emery again scored, in
1896 ; a tenancy of the theatre by Charles Hawtrey from
1896 to 1898, during which he was seen to advantage in
Esmond's One Summer's Day (1897), and in Carton's
A White Elephant ( 1 896) and Lord and Lady Algy{i 898) ;
Esmond's When we were Twenty-one (1901), played by
the American actors Natt Goodwin and Maxine Elliott ;
Welch's entertaining farce The New Clown in 1902, and
in the same year Lewis Waller with Monsieur Beaucaire^
a play which has ever since proved the trump card in his
managerial hand; Hare's season in 1906, with revivals
and with Capt. Marshall's The Alabaster Staircase;
Barrie's Punch and Josephine in 1906; and, in 1907,
Peter's Mother^ memorable for Marion Terry's acting.
Raffles^ in which Gerald Du Maurier distinguished
himself, and Clyde Fitch's The Truths in which Marie
Tempest added to her reputation. In the late autumn
of 1907 Marie Tempest appeared at the Comedy in
Sutro's The Barrier ^ and subsequently in Duval and
Lennox's Angela; in 1908, in Carton's Lady Barbarity
and Maugham's Mrs, Dot,

Like the Comedy, the Avenue Theatre (which was
opened in 1882) began its career with comic opera, and
comedy was not seen there till George Alexander chose
it as the sphere of his first essay in management with
Dr, Bill in 1890. It was a house that never enjoyed the
success its location would seem to ensure, but it has

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COMEDY AND FARCE. 229

taketi a certain share in the history of contemporary
comedy. After Dr. Billy Alexander produced Carton's
pleasant Sunlight and Shadow there in 1890, taking the
latter play with him when he went to the St. James's
early in 1891. In the late months of 1891 Henry Arthur
Jones took the unusual course of undertaking manage-
ment at the Avenue for the production of one of his
plays. The experiment was not a success, despite the
fact that the play, The Crusaders, was decidedly inter-
esting and was acted by a strong company of players
that included Winifred Emery, Arthur Cecil, Lewis
Waller, Weedon Grossmith, Henry Kemble, Yorke
Stephens, Allan Aynesworth, Lady Monckton and Olga
Brandon.

The Kendals played a season at the Avenue in 1893,
and Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man was produced
there in 1894 under the management of Florence Farr,
who had begun her venture with Ibsen's Rosmersholm,
The unconventional manner in which Shavian realism
dealt with the personality of a gallant soldier gave rise
to acrimonious discussion, and was of no little service
in drawing wider attention to a dramatist whose work
had so far been seen only under the auspices of the
Independent Theatre.

In 1895-96 Hawtrey was at the Avenue with Mrs.
Ponderbury's Past and other farces ; in 1897 Forbes
Robertson and Mrs. Patrick Campbell were seen there
in Nelson'' s Enchantress ; and in 1898-99 Hawtrey was
back with Carton's Lord and Lady Algy (transferred
from the Comedy), Brookfield's The Cuckoo^ and
Ganthony's A Message from Mars^ the last proving
a great success.

The theatre's subsequent history, up to its demolish-
ment by the Charing Cross Station catastrophe in
1905? offers little of note, except for the production of

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230 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

Weedon Grossinith*s farce The Night of the Party in
1901, Maugham's thoughtful comedy A Man of Honour
in 1904, and Carton's Mr, Hopkinsofi (with James
Welch in the chief part) in 1905. Rebuilt as The
Playhouse, the theatre was re-opened in 1907 by Cyril
Maude, as has already been recorded.

The Novelty Theatre in Great Queen Street, which
dates from 1882, followed the then prevailing fashion
by opening with comic opera. Its career till lately has
not been fortunate, owing partly no doubt to its
location, and it has been four times re-christened in
the hope of breaking a seemingly persistent bad luck.
After having been successively known as the Folies
Dramatiques, the Jodrell (after the name of a temporary
manageress), and the Great Queen Street Theatre, it
was opened by Lena Ashwell in the autumn of 1907 as
the Kingsway Theatre, with A. P. Wharton's striking
drama Irene Wycherley^ which was followed in 1908,
with an equal success, by Cicely Hamilton's Diana of
Dobson^s. In the Novelty's earlier days a farce by
T. G. Warren, called Nita's First (1884), had been
among its few successful ventures. Various comedians
at different times tried their fortunes at the Novelty,
and a Russian Opera company and German Comedy
companies have been seen there, but all with small
success. Now, however, Miss Ashwell's spirited and
intelligent management bids far to make the house one
of the most popular in London.

The Prince of Wales's Theatre in Coventry Street
was, at its opening in 1884 and for two years later,
known as the Prince's Theatre, to avoid confusion with
the old Prince of Wales's in Tottenham Street. Its
first manager was Edgar Bruce (who had been the last
manager of the old Prince of Wales's), and from the
opening of the theatre Beerbohm Tree, who had made^

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COMEDY AND FARCE. 23 1

his first success at the old house, was a member of his
company. A revival of Gilbert's The Palace of Truth
was the opening piece ; and it is curious to recall that
shortly afterwards, although the Ibsen **boom" did
not begin till fully five years later, an adaptation (by
Messrs. Jones and Hermann) of what was known in
later translations as The DolVs House was produced,
under the title of Breaking a Butterfly^ at the Prince's
in 1884.

In 1884 were also seen The Private Secretary (which,
though but a partial success at the Prince's, had so
prosperous a career subsequently at the Globe with
Penley in the part originally played by Tree), and
Called Back^ in which Tree made his mark as Macari.
During the next ten or twelve years there is nothing of
much note in the history of the house, save for the
success of the comic opera Dorothy (which was trans-
ferred there from the Gaiety in 1886), a dramatization
of Alice hi Wonderland in 1887, and Little Lord
Fauntleroy^ with Annie Hughes in the name-part, in
1888. In the 'nineties, comic opera and the then
novel form of entertainment known as ** musical
comedy " for the most part held the boards, until
Forbes Robertson and Mrs. Patrick Campbell (in
1898-99) came there to produce Maeterlinck's PdlUa^
and Melisande, C. B. Fernald's The Moonlight Blossom,
George Fleming's entertaining satire The Canary. In
1900 Martin Harvey occupied the house with an
elaborate romantic play called Don Juan's Last Wager,
and Marie Tempest with English Nell, The latter play
had a rival in Sweet Nell of Old Drury (another Nell
Gwynne play) which Julia Neilson and Fred Terry pro-
duced at the Haymarket in the same year. In 1901
Hawtrey produced, at the Prince of Wales's, Anstey's
The Man from Blankley's (which was revived at the

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232 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

Hay market in 1906) ; in the same year Marie Tempest
was seen in Peg Woffington and Annie Hughes in A
Country Mouse; and in 1902 Marie Tempest again
in Becky Sharp, Of late years the Prince of Wales's
has again been the home of '* musical comedy," which
will be dealt with in another chapter.

In 1887 Terry's Theatre was opened by Edward
Terry, a comedian whose previous work had been
chiefly concerned with burlesque. After a six or seven
years* apprenticeship at the Surrey and Strand Theatres,
he went to the Gaiety in 1875 and remained there till
1884, sharing with Royce, Nellie Farren, and Kate
Vaughan the honour of making ** Gaiety burlesque"
an institution in the town. Five months after the
opening of his theatre, Terry scored a remarkable
success with Pinero's pretty play Sweet Lavender^
which ran from March 1888 to January 1890 and has
since been more than once revived. Terry has never
been better suited than in the part of the good-hearted
ne'er-do-weel Dick Phenyl; Fred Kerr, Maud Millett,
and other clever people were also well suited, and, in
spite of its tendency to sentimentality, the play is so
full of humour and the milk of human kindness that its
popularity is not surprising. Pinero's In Chancery
(1891), which had been originally seen at the Gaiety
seven years earlier, was fairly fortunate at Terry's ; and
later in the year Terry produced the same writer's The
TimeSy an excellent comedy that did not have all the
success it merited. In it Terry was furnished with a
part after his own heart, and was admirably seconded
by Fanny Brough; in the cast were also Esmond,
Elliot, Fred Thorne, Helena Dacre and Annie Hill.
Since then Terry has been but rarely seen at his
own theatre, being mostly occupied in touring the
provinces.

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COMEDY AND FARCE. 233

Of the miscellaneous pieces produced at Terry's of
late years may be mentioned: Thornton Clark and
L. N. Parker's well-written comedy Gudgeons {;i8g^)y with
Waring, Murray Carson and Janette Steer in the cast;
Law's farce, The New Boy (1894), which was afterwards
transferred to the Vaudeville; Stephens and Yardley's
The Passport (1895), in which Gertrude Kingston gave
a delightful portraiture of absent-minded femininity,
with Giddens, Maltby, Yorke Stephens and Fanny
Coleman as her associates ; Madeline Ryley's Jedbur^
Junior (1896), a play of mingled humour and sentiment
that gave Fred Kerr and Maud Millett opportunity to
repeat a very successful partnership at this theatre ; and
(after a long interval, sometimes filled by spasmodic
productions of comic opera, such as The French Maid
in 1898 and Lady Molly in 1904) H. A. Jones' comedy
The Heroic Stuhhs in 1906.

The theatre now known as the Duke of York's was
opened with comic opera under Frank Wyatt's manage-
ment, in September 1892, as the Trafalgar Square
Theatre. Its three years of life under its original name
were not prosperous, despite such temporary attractions
as Charles Hawtrey's appearance in a farce, Tbw, Dick^
and Harry ^ in 1893, and the comparative success of
H. Graham's comedy The County Councillor^ in the
same year, with Cyril Maude, Fanny Brough and the
author in the cast.

In 1895 the house was re-named the Duke of York's,
and soon passed under the enterprising control of
Charles Frohman, a justly esteemed American manager
who has acquired extensive theatrical interests in this
country. For two or three years Lewis Waller and
Evelyn Millard were his ** stars." They were associated
in Anthony Hope's The Adventure of Lady Ursula^ a
slight but pleasing piece whose effect was largely

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234 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

dependent on the author's skill in dialogue, in 1898;
Hall Caine's The Christian (of which a revised edition
was presented at the Lyceum under a ** popular"
management eight years later) in 1899; ^"^ H« A.
Jones' The Lackey's Carnival and Parker's The Swash-
buckler in 1900. In 1901 Marie Tempest advanced her
reputation as a comedy actress in The Marriage of
Kitty. Neither a translation of Fulda's The Twin
Sister (with the chief characters played by H. B. Irving
and Lily Bray ton) nor H. A. Jones' The Princess's Nose
achieved much success in 1902; but amends were
fully made in the same year by Barrie's extremely
clever play The Admirable Crichtony interpreted by a
cast that included H. B. Irving, Irene Vanbrugh,
Gerald Du Maurier and Henry Kemble. This was
revived in 1908. Pinero's Lettyy in 1903, was a great
personal success for Irene Vanbrugh, and Hope's
Captain Dieppe (in 1904) for H. B. Irving, while both
scored in a revival of His Excellency the Governor in
1904. Barrie's Alice Sit-by-the-Fire (1905) had the merit
of exhibiting Ellen Terry in a congenial and suitable
part ; and in the same year, with Peter Pan^ a delight-
ful ** nursery tale" written for children of all growths
by a man who understands them, Barrie made one of
the best deserved and most remarkable successes of
recent years. Peter Pan was triumphantly revived in
1906 and 1907, and at the present time there seems to
be every expectation that it may recur regularly as a
Christmas piece. Its hero and his companions have
become familiar figures in children's imaginations, and
the play itself a nursery classic.

In 1906 Barrie's Pantaloon was seen at the Duke of
York's, as well as the farce, Toddles^ with which Cyril
Maude afterwards inaugurated his new theatre ; and, in
1907, The Great Conspiracy (which not even the powers

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COMEDY AND FARCE. 235

of Irene Vanbrugh and Hare could make a success)
and Brewstet^s Millions^ with Gerald Du Maurier in the
name-part. The latter play was transferred to the
Hicks Theatre, a house opened in 1907 in Shaftesbury
Avenue, where later in the same year H. A. Jones' The
Hypocrites was produced.

Yet another new theatre, the Queen's, was opened in
1907 (on a site adjoining that of the Hicks Theatre)
with a comedy by Mrs. Ryley entitled The Sugar Bowl^
the chief part in which was played by Ellis Jeffreys.

An outstanding feature of the dramatic history of the
past fifteen or twenty years is the great diminution in
the number of adaptations from foreign farcical sources
(mainly French) that had for so long provided the
programmes at most of our comedy theatres. Indeed
the wheel has turned to such effect that nowadays
adaptations of English comedies, from Pinero and
Shaw downwards, are constantly seen upon foreign
stages; and, when our theatres produce adaptations of
foreign pieces, the proceeding is usually warranted by
the merits of the originals. Another fact of good
augury is the number of **new men" that have^ recently
come to the front as dramatists. The work we have
had from such writers as Barrie, Shaw, Sutro, Locke,
Maugham, Davies and Horniman, may well be taken
to inspire hope for the future.

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CHAPTER XVI.

MELODRAMA, ROMANTIC AND <* DOMESTIC" DRAMA.

If the playgoer of to-day— or rather, of yesterday —
were asked what actors represented melodrama to his
memory, he would unhesitatingly say "Wilson Barrett
and William Terriss," Each of the two was over-
whelmingly popular in this branch of their art ; but
melodrama as they knew it has, since their death,
disappeared from the first-class theatres, save for the
wonderful spectacular pieces that each autumn brings
forth at Drury Lane. Its popularity with less sophis-
ticated audiences, however, is perennial. A striking
instance of this has been furnished recently by the
Lyceum, which, having failed as a music-hall, is en-
joying success with emotional melodrama at popular
prices. It may be that from this another Wilson
Barrett or another Terriss may emerge; but for the
present these two are without successors to their special
gifts and irresistible personalities.

Wilson Barrett, after his brief management at the
Court (which was dealt with in the preceding chapter)
became manager of the Princess's Theatre early in 1881
and was connected with it till 1889. He found his
**line" as a melodramatic actor in G. R. Sims' play
The Lights of London (1881), which was followed in the
next year by the same writer's Romany Eye. Barrett's

236

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MELODRAMA AND ROMANTIC DRAMA. 237

most memorable success at the Princess's, however,
came later (in 1882), with Henry Arthur Jones and Henry
Hermann's The Silver Ktngy which ran for more than a
year, has been often revived, and is one of the best melo-
dramas our stage has seen. Barrett's full-blooded style
Avas exactly suited to the direct appeal of manliness and
pathos demanded from the melodramatic heroes he im-
personated ; and in the case of The Stiver King he was
provided with an admirable foil in the person of E. S.
Willard, who decisively laid the foundation of his
future popularity by his acting in the part of a villain
of a type then new to melodrama, — the polished and
** gentlemanly," as opposed to the usual lurid and
truculent, villain. Claudian (by Wills and Hermann)
which followed in 1883 is chiefly remembered by its
realistic representation of an earthquake. In these two
plays, as in others for many years subsequently,
Barrett was supported in the heroine's part by Mary
Eastlake, an actress of genuine power and much
charm, who had graduated at the Criterion under
Wyndham.

In 1884 Barrett's ambition led him to play Hamlet.
It was a straightforward, rather hysterical, performance
that aroused considerable discussion by its occasional
violation of tradition, and was signalized by a curious
little bit of self-revelation on the actor's part when he
made his speech before the curtain at the close of the
play on the first night. ** Twenty-five years ago,"
said Barrett, **a poor and almost friendless lad stood
outside the walls of the Princess's and determined to
devote his last sixpence to the enjoyment in the gallery
of one of the celebrated revivals of Charles Kean.
Coming out of the theatre he swore to himself that not
only would he become manager of that theatre, but
that in the distant future he would play Hamlet on that

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238 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

very spot. Ambition is in this instance satisfied; for
the little boy was myself, and I have played Hamlet
before you this evening."

After an elaborate revival of Lytton's Junius in 1885,
Barrett essayed dramatic authorship in collaboration
with H. A. Jones. Neither Hoodman Blind (1885) nor
The Lord Hariy (1886), which resulted from this
collaboration, was an unqualified success; more atten-
tion was aroused by Sidney Grundy's Clito (1886), in
which Mary Eastlake w^as able to display unsuspected
powers of emotional acting in the part of the courtesan
Helle.

While Barrett undertook an American tour, the
Princess's was occupied in 1887 by H. Hamilton's
Harvest^ in which Amy Roselle appeared, and Gillette's
Held hy the Enemy \ and in 1888 by Grace Hawthorne
with Pettitt's melodrama Hands Across the Sea, While
the latter play was in progress Barrett played a short
season at the Globe, and returned later in the year to
the Princess's with The Ben-ma- Chree^ founded by him-
self and Hall Caine on that novelist's book "The
Deemster." This was followed in 1889 by two plays,
neither of which was successful, The Good Old Times^
by Caine and Barrett, and Nowadays^ by Barrett alone.
This was the end of Barrett's connection with the
Princess's, and in 1890 he undertook another American
tour. He had been, perhaps laudably, anxious to
emerge from melodrama to a higher type of play; but
the fact remained that it was to the less subtle forms of
drama that his methods and powers were best suited,
and his chief successes were obtained subsequently,
as they had been previously, in melodrama.

There is little to record in the later history of the
Princess's, save for a sumptuous revival of Antony and
Cleopatra by Mrs. Langtry in 1890. Melodrama after-

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MELODRAMA AND ROMANTIC DRAMA. 239

wards held its boards at various times, but with little
advantage to those who adventured on its management.
G. R. Sims and A. W. Shirley's Two Little Vagabonds
(1896) was practically the only new production that was
received with favour ; and at the time of writing the
theatre has been closed for some years.

On his return from America, Wilson Barrett opened
the New Olympic in 1891 with a play, called The
People's Idol^ written by himself and Victor Widnell.
It did not attract, and was followed by revivals of
former successes. After this Barrett attempted no
more permanent London managership, but toured the
provinces, with occasional visits to the metropolis. He
was to some extent rewarded for previous failures by
the favour extended to his acting and that of Maud
Jefferies in an adaptation from Hall Caine's The Manx-
man at the Shaftesbury Theatre in 1895; and still more
by the great popular success of his "religious" melo-
drama, The Sign of the Cross ^ at the Lyric in 1896. An
attempt to follow up the same vein with the Daughters
of Babylon at the same theatre in the following year
was not successful, neither was his production of
Makers of Men (by himself and L. N. Parker) at the
Lyceum in 1899. In 1898, and again in 1902, he
toured in Australia, working pluckily (and not without
reward) to retrieve his fortunes. An effective actor of
the ** robustious" type, but without much real skill in
the differentiation of character, he enjoyed a great
personal popularity, and was esteemed as' a good
manager and a good man. The decline of his popu-
larity as an actor, at all events with the more sophisti-
cated London audiences, was due to the fact fhat his
ambitions outran his powers. He died, at the age of
fifty-eight, in 1904.

William Terriss, the darling of Adelphi audiences,

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240 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

made his first London appearance in 1868, under the
Bancrofts. His engagement with them was obtained
by sheer persistence on his part, as is amusingly told in
the Bancrofts' **On and Off the Stage." It was some
time, however, before his restless disposition allowed
him to settle down finally to what became his pro-
fession. Before trying an actor's life, he had been in
turn sailor, tea-planter and engineer, and his earliest
appearances in London were sandwiched between
attempts at sheep-farming in the Falkland Islands
and horse-breeding in Kentucky. From 1873, how-
ever, he stuck steadily to the stage and was able, by
working cheerfully at whatever part came in his way,
to develop his very considerable powers of acting. His
handsome and manly personality was, all his life, an
asset of the greatest value to him.

The impression he made as Squire Thornhill in Olivia
at the Court Theatre in 1878, and his subsequent work
at the St. James's, earned him his engagement by
Irving for the Lyceum, where he first appeared as
Chateau Renaud in The Corsican Brothers in 1880.
Between 1880 and 1885 he played, with Irving, such
parts as Sinnatus in The Cup^ Cassio, Laertes,
Bassanio, Mercutio, and Don Pedro. A noteworthy
result of his going with the Lyceum company to
America in 1883-84 was his enterprise in inducing
the Daly company to visit London for the first time.
In 1885, after he had repeated at the Lyceum his
former success in Olivia^ he was induced to go to
the Adelphi, to play in melodrama.

At the Adelphi, which since 1879 had been managed
by the brothers Gatti, Terriss succeeded Charles
Warner, who had been the mainstay of a succession
of melodramas. These had been mainly from the pens
of Henry Pettitt and G. R. Sims, and had exactly

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MELODRAMA AND ROMANTIC DRAMA. 24I

gauged the expectations and likings of Adelphi
audiences. In tlie Ranks^ produced in 1883, was one
of their most typical successes. The chief successes
of Terriss's first engagement at the Adelphi were in
The Harbour Lights (1885), The Bells of Haslemere
(1887) and The Union Jack (1888). In the last two
plays Pettitt had Sydney Grundy for his collaborator.

After a tour in America in 1889, Terriss rejoined his
old chief at the Lyceum, to appear in Ravenswood in
1890, Claudio in Much Ado about Nothing in 1891, the
King in Henry VIII, in 1892, and Henry II. in Becket
in 1893 ; and to go again to America with Irving in the
tour of 1893-94. ^^ ^*s return to England, he left
Irving and went back to the Adelphi, where, except
for an appearance at the Haymarket in Grundy's A
Marriage of Convenience in 1897, he spent the rest of
his life. Though this may have been regrettable, with
regard to the fact that his powers were equal to more
than the demands made on them by the somewhat
elementary characterization of the average Adelphi
melodrama, it is easy to understand the compelling
attraction of the opportunity to **star'* instead of
supporting a ** star." Be that as it may, the fact
remains that there was never an ** Adelphi hero" like
Terriss. He revelled in his work and in the astonishing
manner in which he retained his physical qualifications
for the task, and to the end of his life (which was so
cruelly cut short) he enjoyed an unclouded popularity.
His principal appearance at the Adelphi during these
years were in an ultra-sensational play The Fatal Card,
by Haddon Chambers and B. C. Stephenson, in 1894,
Fyles and Belasco's The Girl I left Behind Me, Brandon
Thomas and Clement Scott*s The Swordsman's Daughter
(in which Terriss played his only elderly part), and
Seymour Hicks and George Edwards' Ofie of the Best

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242 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

(suggested by the Dreyfus episode), all in 1895 ;
H addon Chambers and Corny ns Carr's Boys Together
in 1896 and the same authors* In the Days of the Duke
and Gillette's Secret Service in 1897. It was during
the run of Secret Service that he was assassinated on
leaving the theatre, in December 1897.

With Terriss the glories of **Adelphi drama" dis-
appeared, and small success repaid the attempt that
was made to keep it alive subsequently. Since then
the theatre has had a variety of tenants, but no
coherent history. In 1901 it was for a brief and
unfortunate space known, after extensive reconstruc-
tion, as the Century Theatre ; in the following year a
wise return was made to the old name. Olga Nether-
sole and Wilson Barrett were among those who
tempted fortune at the Adelphi in the early 'nineties.
Of late years its most interesting and ambitious
management has been that of Oscar Asche, who,
with his clever wife Lily Bray ton, has been instru-
mental in producing several romantic and poetical
dramas. At the Adelphi they produced Pagan's The
Prayer of the Sword (1904) and Besier's The Virgin
Goddess (1905), both of them plays that deserved a
longer life than the public accorded them, as well as a
spirited revival of The Taming of the Shrew, With the
same laudable enthusiasm for the poetic drama, they
produced Laurence Binyon's Attila in the course of a
season at His Majesty's in 1907, when they also revived
As You Like It with Lily Brayton as Rosalind and
Asche as Jaques.

Of other actors who distinguished themselves in
melodrama, two prominent names are those of Charles
Warner and Henry Neville. Warner, though more
recently remembered for his prowess in melodrama
at the Adelphi in the days immediately preceding

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MELODRAMA AND ROMANTIC DRAMA. 243

Terriss*s advent there, previously went through a
miscellaneous histrionic training that turned him out
a very finished and capable actor. His first appear-
ance on the stage was made as far back as 1861, and
his first marked success in Byron's Daisy Farm at the
Olympic ten years later. From January 1875 he was
one of the cast in the triumphant domestic comedy Our
Boys at the Vaudeville, after which his acting was on
more strenuous lines. He was conspicuously successful
in The Danischeffs at the St. James's in 1877 and in
Clement Scott's Odette at the Haymarket in 1882 ;
and subsequently with Marie Litton at the Imperial.
In 1879 he first gave, at the Princess's, the performance
with which his name is most bound up, that of Coupeau
in Drink, a piece .of realistic acting worthy to rank
with Irving's Duboscq in The Lyons Mail." After a
fine performance of Othello (considered by many to
be the finest given by any contemporary English actor)
at Sadlet-'s Wells, he went to the Adelphi, where he
played melodramatic heroes for five years till Terriss
succeeded him.

Henry Neville is remembered more consistently as a
melodramatic actor, having laid the foundation of his
fame in that line by a striking performance in Tom
Taylor's The Ticket of Leave Man in 1863 at the
Olympic, which theatre Neville subsequently managed
from 1873 *o 1879. He was seen also at the Princess's,
the Opera Comique, and various other houses, always
compelling popularity by his virile and straightforward
acting; and in later years, from the days of Human
Nature in 1885, was the mainstay of several successive
** autumn melodramas " at Drury Lane.

E. S. Willard is a conspicuous instance of a fine
actor whose powers ripened in a course of melodrama.
After initial experience in the provinces, he attracted

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244 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

attention in The Lights of London at the Princess's in
1 88 1, and for five years afterwards remained with
Wilson Barrett as leading villain in his productions.
His ** Spider" in The Silver Kingy a finished piece of
highly-coloured character acting, was the performance
that first showed him to be possessed of powers above
the average; but it was not until he was emancipated
from Princess's melodrama that he realized his full
powers in Jim the Penman at the Haymarket in
i8i86.

Following on this came his two years at the
Shaftesbury, from 1889 to 1890. That theatre had
been opened in the previous year by Miss Lancaster
Wallis, an actress of some distinction in romantic
drama, with a production of As You Like It^ Miss
Wallis playing Rosalind, Forbes Robertson Orlando,
and Mackintosh Touchstone. It was not a successful
venture, however; and the new house enjoyed but little
popularity till Willard came there. He obtained a
great personal triumph in Henry Arthur Jones' The
Middlemany in the part of the old potter Cyrus
Blenkarn. Arthur Law's Dick Venahles succeeded The
Middleman in 1890, but was not so successful ; and the
same year saw the production of two more plays by
Henry Arthur Jones, Judah and The Deacon. The
latter of these attracted very little attention; while
fudahy though it aroused plentiful discussion as to its
ethics, had not as long a life as it deserved. In it
Willard was well seconded by Olga Brandon, an
intelligent and promising emotional actress (now dead)
who is also remembered by her share in the perform-
ance oi Hypatia at the Haymarket in 1893.

America now began to hold out inviting hands, and
Willard made in 1890 his first tour in the country that
was subsequently his home for many years. His

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MELODRAMA AND ROMANTIC DRAMA. 245

appearances in London since then have been all too
few. An actor of ripe experience, well equipped with
mental and physical advantages and with a thorough
knowledge of his craft, he appeared at one time
destined to inherit Irving's mantle; but America was
insistent. Thus London has seen little of Willard of
late years. In 1894 ^® produced Barriers sentimental
idyll The Professor's Love Story at the Comedy, and
in 1895 Alabama and Henry Arthur Jones' The Rogue's
Comedy at the Garrick.

The history of the Shaftesbury Theatre after Willard's
tenancy is that of restless change. In 1890 Miss Wallis
tried, with The Pharisee^ to retain the popularity that
Willard had brought to the house; and since then
almost every kind of entertainment has found a home
there, — Italian opera, musical comedy, comic opera,
melodrama, farce, romantic comedy, negro comic
opera, and French and Sicilian '* shockers." Hall
Caine's The Manxman was seen there in 1895;
Ogilvie's poetic play The Stn of St. Hulda, with Kate
Rorke as its heroine, in 1896; and in 1898 the strepitous
but undeniable success of The Belle of New York caused
English musical comedy to "hustle" in emulation.

The romantic ** domestic" drama, as distinct from
melodrama, found a home for a long time at the
Vaudeville Theatre under David James and Thomas
Thome's management. The Vaudeville's earliest days
(it was opened in 1870) are identified with Albery's The
Two PoseSy in which Irving made his first **hit" as
Digby Grant. After that came a succession of comedies
and farces, of which Our Boys (with its four years' run
from 1875 to 1879) and The Guv'nor (1880) were the
most prominent, before the house settled down to a
series of plays of the nature just indicated. In the
early 'eighties there were some capital revivals there,

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246 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

the names of Warner, Farren, Neville, David James,
Thome, Mrs. Stirling, Mrs. John Wood and Winifred
Emery being among those on their bills ; and a serious
drama, Henry Arthur Jones* Saints and Sinners (pro-
duced in 1884), was responsible for some animated
controversy and fluttered the dovecotes of the phari-
saically inclined. After that came five prosperous years
of pleasingly romantic and mildly humorous plays,
such as Henry Arthur Jones' Heart of Hearts in 1887,
and Robert Buchanan's series of plays, Sophia (1886),
Joseph's Sweetheart (1888), Dr. Cupid (1889), Clarissa
HarUme and Miss Tomboy (1890). A good revival of
She stoops to Conquer in 1890 was followed in 1891 by
Jerome K. Jerome's Woodharrow Famiy and a series
of matinees at which several of the Ibsen plays were
produced.

Lighter fare followed, such as Buchanan's The Strange
Adventures of Miss Brown (1895), with Fred Kerr,
Lionel Brough, M. A. Victor and May Palfrey in the
cast; The Romance of the Shopwalker (1896), with
Weedon Grossmith, David James and Nina Boucicault ;
and A Night Out (1896), which was a jovial adaptation
from the French vigorously interpreted by Giddens,
Sugden, Wyes, Fanny Ward and others. The last-
named play was revived by Giddens at the Criterion in
1907.

The house had been remodelled in 1891, and in
1892 its management was undertaken by the Brothers
Gatti, who began with a revival of Our Boys. An
interim of musical-comedy succeeded the plays detailed
above. Her Royal Highness being produced in 1898;
and in 1900 a musical version of Alice in Wonderland
was given. In 1901 the attraction was again ** domestic
comedy " as interpreted by Seymour Hicks and Ellaline
Terriss in Sweet and Twenty^ followed by Barrie's

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charming Quality Street (1902), for which Marion Terry
joined the company. The same year saw a very pretty
Christmas piece in Seymour Hicks* Bluebell in Fairy-
landy which he followed up, in 1903, with an equally
attractive fanciful play, The Cherry Girl,

More recently the Vaudeville has been occupied by
musical comedy — The Catch of the Season (1904) and
The Belle of Mayfair (1906) — and, after the success of
these, by comedy with Charles Hawtrey as its principal
exponent. He revived Brookfield's The Cuckoo there
in 1907, and in 1908 produced Brookfield's Dear Old
Charlie and Maugham*s Jack Straw, In the latter
Lottie Venne shared the honours of the acting with
Hawtrey.

The Globe Theatre, which existed from 1868 to 1902,
was a good deal concerned with the romantic drama,
though in its chequered career almost every kind of
dramatic entertainment was presented on its stage. Its
change of management was frequent, and its fortunes
usually precarious. Miss Jennie Lee was first seen
there in Jo (a sentimental adaptation from ** Bleak
House ") in 1876; Tennyson's The Promise of May made
its memorable failure there in 1882, under the manage-
ment of Mrs. Bernard Beere, who followed it up in the
same year with a lurid dramatic version oi Jane Eyre;
and in 1883 Ada Cavendish produced Buchanan's Lady
ClarCy an adaptation of Ohnet's Le Maitre de Forges.
Then came a spell of comedy and farce which has been
alluded to elsewhere, followed by a short season of
Wilson Barrett's in 1888. Shakespeare produced by an
American actor, Richard Mansfield, in 1889 was
succeeded in the following year by Shakespeare as
presented by F. R. Benson's company, the latter's
performance of A Midsummer Nighfs Dream being one
of their happiest efforts.

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They were succeeded by comic opera, and that by
farce again, with Penley in the irresistible Charley's
Aunty which was brought to the Globe from the Royalty
in 1893. There is little more to note in the records of
the house till its latest years. In 1898, when the public,
aweary of problem-plays, was turning for relief to the
** cloak and rapier" drama, there were two rival pro-
ductions of dramatic versions of Dumas' most famous
romance. At the Globe, Henry Hamilton's The Three
Musketeers was produced with Waller as D'Artagnan
and Mrs. Waller as Miladi; while at His Majesty's, in
Grundy's The Musketeers^ Tree and Mrs. Brown Potter
were playing the corresponding parts.

Hare's season at the Globe in 1899 was notable for
the production of Pinero's The Gay Lord Quex which has
been alluded to in a previous chapter; and in 1901 Julia
Neilson and Fred Terry, who specialize in romantic
comedy, were seen there in the already popular Sweet
Nell of Old Drury which they had produced in the
previous year at the Haymarket. In 1902 the Globe
Theatre ceased to exist.

Of the popular successes of Julia Neilson and Fred
Terry, the most prominent, besides Sweet Nell of Old
Druryy have been Sunday at the Comedy Theatre in
1904, The Scarlet Pimpernel ^ which was first seen at
the New Theatre in 1905, and Dorothy d the Hall^ also
produced at the New Theatre, in 1906.

The Lyric Theatre, which was opened with the already
famous comic opera, Dorothy ^ in 1889, adhered (except
for the production of Buchanan's Sweet Nancy in 1890)
appropriately to that form of entertainment for some six
or seven years. For the last ten years, however,
romantic drama has been frequently seen there since
Wilson Barrett's melodramatic success with The Sign oj
the Cross in 1896. There have also been several musical

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MELODRAMA AND ROMANTIC DRAMA. 249

productions, as will be recorded in the next chapter.
Forbes Robertson's season in 1902 to 1903 was respons-
ible for two successes with Mrs. Ryley's Mice and Men
(1902) and a dramatic version, by George Fleming, of
Kipling's The Light that Failed (1903). Martin Harvey,
a talented romantic actor who was trained at the Lyceum
in Irving*s day, has been more than once seen at the
Lyric; and more recently Lewis Waller has been a
frequent tenant with, amongst other productions, his
perennial success Monsieur Beaucaire^ a Robin Hood
play in 1906, and a revival of Othello in which he played
the Moor's part to the lago of H. B. Irving. In 1907
Waller produced The Little Admiral and revived Tom
TdiyXov's LadyClancarty^h\s "leading lady' being Evelyn
Millard. In 1907, also, was produced a romantic comedy
by H. V. Esmond, Under the Greenwood Tree^ with the
American actress Maxine Elliott in the chief part.

Waller was the most successful manager of the New
Imperial Theatre, which was the lineal descendant o^
the old Aquarium Theatre that was originally an integral
part of the now demolished Westminster Aquarium. In
the early 'thirties there had existed a Westminster
Theatre on the same site. The Aquarium Theatre was
opened in 1876 under the management of Edgar Bruce,
and in 1879 passed into Marie Litton's hands and was
by her re-named the Imperial. Her management (which
lasted till 1880) was excellent from the artistic point of
view, and was marked by one of the best revivals of
As You Like It that has been given of recent years.
Kyrle Bellew, Lionel Brough, Farren and Mrs. Stirling
were among her company. Mrs. Langtry played at the
Imperial for a season in 1881-82; and in 1883 Edgar
Bruce again became its manager. Soon afterwards,
however, it lost all favour with playgoers, and for
some years ceased to exist as a theatre.

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250 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

In 1901, after an almost entire reconstruction had
converted it into a convenient and handsome house, it
was reopened by Mrs. Langtry as the New Imperial
Theatre, with a play entitled A Royal Necklace. In
spite of courageous efforts, the management was hardly
a success; and in 1903 Waller (who had been a member
of Mrs. Langtry's company), took over the house and
controlled its fortunes for three years. His trump
card, Monsieur Beaucaire^ was played there for some
time, and » he also revived (among other things)
his finef production of Henry V, His chief new
productions were The Harlequin King and Brigadier
Gerard,

Previously Ellen Terry had been seen at the Imperial
for a short season in 1903. She started with The
Vikings^ a translation of an early Ibsen play; but, as
this met with small success, she followed it with a
revival of Much Ado about Nothing, For both these
productions the dresses, scenery and effects of lighting
were designed and devised by her son, Gordon Craig,
who has unconventional theories on such matters.
Whether, in the result, their effectiveness is as remark-
able as their unconventionality, is a matter that may be
questioned. He had previously put his ideas to the test
in the staging of R. G. Legge's poetical play. For Sword
or Song ^ that was produced by Julia Neilson and Fred
Terry at the Shaftesbury in 1903.

In 1906 the Imperial was tenanted for a while by
Martin Harvey, who produced a play called Boy
O'CarroL Martin Harvey has never yet attempted a
lengthy management, but has had two prominent
successes, which have been often revived. The Only Way
(which he produced originally at the Lyceum in 1899),
and A Cigarette-Maker's Romance^ founded on Marion
Crawford's story, which he first gave at the Apollo

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MELODRAMA AND ROMANTIC DRAMA. 251

Theatre in 1901. In 1907 some Stage Society per-
formances were given at the Imperial.

The beautiful Scala Theatre, built by Dr. Maddick
on the site of the Bancrofts' Prince of Wales's, was
opened in 1905 by Forbes Robertson with R. E. FylFe's
The Conquerors, It did not succeed, and Forbes
Robertson fell back on revivals; but it would have
needed an emphatic initial success to draw playgoers so
far northwards. The Scala is too far from the centre of
things to compete successfully with the older theatres,
and not far enough away (or so, apparently, it has been
thought at present) to rank as a suburban theatre and
be managed on the lines of those. It is a pity, for it is
a well-planned and unusually handsome house. Except
for performances of Wills' A Royal Divorce in 1906, and
Calmour's The Judgment of Fharoahy a spectacular
melodrama, in 1907, the Scala has only been the
scene of ephemeral dramatic experiments.

It must not be forgotten that there were in the last
century a number of other theatres, besides those of
the first rank, that played (and, some of them, still
play) melodrama and domestic drama to audiences
vociferous of their approval. Some of them maintained
stock companies up to quite recent times, and stood
on a footing different from the suburban theatres of
to-day, which rely on touring companies to occupy their
boards.

Of those whose life proved longest, the Grand
Theatre at Islington, the Britannia at Hoxton, the
Elephant and Castle, the Standard at Shoreditch, and
the Pavilion at Whitechapel are the chief. The
Islington "Grand" was transformed from a music-
hall into a theatre in 1870 and devoted itself largely
to comic opera. It was burned in 1882 ; a second house
was opened in 1883 and burned in 1887; a third was

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252 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

built in 1888 and burned in 1900. A very popular house
in every way, it latterly used to attract audiences from
other regions than its own by the excellence of its
pantomimes. The Britannia at Hoxton is remarkable
as having been under one management for nearly fifty
years ; that is to say, though its original manager died
after conducting it from 1841 to 1849, his widow, Mrs.
Sarah Lane, managed it from 1849 to 1899, keeping up
a competent stock-company for melodrama and panto-
mime, and regulating its affairs in such a manner as to
win general esteem. The Elephant and Castle, in the
New Kent Road, built in 1872 and reconstructed thirty
years later, has been another popular house of melo-
drama and pantomime. The Shoreditch Standard
Theatre was also notorious for a good stock-company;
it dates from 1835, was burned in 1867 and rebuilt in
1868. The Pavilion in Whitechapel was opened in
1829, and suffered the common fate by burning in
1856. Of late years, in a reconstructed form, it has
been the home of melodrama written in Yiddish.

Of extinct or forgotten theatres of the same class
may be mentioned the Royalty in Wellclose Square,
which was opened in 1787, known as the London
Theatre from 1810, burned in 1826, and rebuilt, but
destroyed by the fall of the roof before it could be
re-opened; the Albion, in Windmill Street, Haymarket,
which existed from 1832 to 1836; the Westminster
Theatre, which existed for about the same period on
the site now occupied by the Imperial ; the Royal Kent
Theatre, in High Street, Kensington, which lived from
1834 to 1840; the Grecian Theatre, in Shepherdess
Walk, which was opened in 1832, was the scene of
Robson*s earlier efforts before he went to the Olympic,
was managed (with melodrama and pantomime) by
George Conquest for many years, and had in its stock

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MELODRAMA AND ROMANTIC DRAMA. 253

company such actors as Harry Nicholls, Herbert Camp-
bell, Arthur Williams and Kate Vaughan; the Clarence
Theatre, King's Cross, which had not a very reputable
record; and the Park Theatre, Camden Town, which
was opened in 1871, re-christened the Alexandra in 1873
and burned in 1881.

It will be convenient here, before passing on to
lighter topics in the next chapter, to make brief
mention of the Ibsen performances which aroused such
noisy discussion in London in the late 'eighties and
early 'nineties. **Ibsenism" was as much a cult with
some as an irritant to others ; and the fact that the
**Ibsenite" persisted in obscuring Ibsen's merits as a
dramatist by dilating overmuch on his philosophy of
life was probably largely to blame for the antagonism
aroused. The ethical value of these plays, even their
importance in the history of contemporary drama, are^
matters open to discussion ; but as to Ibsen's great
ability as a playwright there can be no dispute. His
knowledge of theatrical effect was complete and his
characterization clear-sighted and uncompromising ;
while the compelling power (even in translation) of his
rigidly terse dialogue was, when heard on the stage, a
revelation to those who had only known his plays in the
study. His methods have undoubtedly influenced the
dramatic writing of to-day, and in the main the
influence has been salutary. It has been, for instance,
largely responsible for the disappearance of the ** solilo-
quy" and the ** aside" in serious drama, as well as for
a far stricter regard for verisimilitude in dialogue
and action. He had no respect for mere theatricality,
and his plays taught audiences to be impatient of it.
That in itself was an advance ; and in many respects
Ibsen's craftsmanship has formed a model for succeed-
ing dramatists. The earliest of his plays to be

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254 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

adequately translated arid performed were The Pillars
of Society y first played at a matinee at the Gaiety in
1880, and The DoWs House y which was given at the
Novelty in 1889. Ghosts was given (in private perform-
ances) at the Royalty in 1891, and in the same year
Hedda Gahler and Rosmersholm at the Vaudeville and
The Lady from the Sea at Terry's; The Master Builder
at the Duke of York*s, and The Enemy of the People at
the Haymarket, in 1893; The Wild Duck at the
Royalty in 1894; Little jEyolf ^t the Avenue in 1896;
John Gabriel Borkman at the Strand in 1897; and
When We Dead Awaken at the Imperial in 1903.

Even so brief a survey of the romantic drama as has
been possible in this chapter would be incomplete with-
out mention of the excellent touring companies main-
tained by F. R. Benson and Ben Greet. The former of
these is particularly deserving of praise for good
all-round performances of Shakespeare, and for con-
stituting a training-school whose excellence has been
proved by the many good actors who have emerged
well equipped from its ranks. Greet's company is
equally praiseworthy in its degree, and was one of the
first to recognize the possibilities of ** pastoral plays"
given in the open air.

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CHAPTER XVII.

MODERN BURLESQUE, COMIC OPERA AND MUSICAL COMEDY.

The earlier days of burlesque as written by Planch^,
Gilbert, Byron, Burnand and Reece, have been incident-
ally dealt with in preceding chapters. The Olympic,
the Royalty and the Strand were then the houses identi-
fied with this form of entertainment, though till the
early ^seventies there were few theatres whose evening's
entertainment did not include a one-act burlesque,
either as a curtain-raiser or to. play the audience out.
From the 'eighties onward the house chiefly associated
with burlesque in playgoers' memories is the Gaiety,
where it was expanded to a three-act entertainment,
and occupied the bill by itself. Planchd's ** classical "
burlesques and Gilbert's extravaganzas were a thing
apart, in respect of invention and originality of idea.
Byron's, Burnand's and Recce's burlesques depended,
for their fun, largely on verbal fireworks and the
excruciating possibilities of the pun, a form of humour
that had lived (and possibly out-lived) its day by the
time ** Gaiety burlesque" disappeared with Fred Leslie's
death and Nellie Farren's withdrawal from the stage.
William Brough, another burlesque writer of the Byron
and Reece school, deserves to be remembered for one of
the best puns on record, which occurs in his Field of the
Cloth of Gold, Henry VIII. has crossed from Dover to
Calais in very bad weather and has suffered accordingly,

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256 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

whereupon, to his courtiers endeavouriog to cheer him
from his despondency, he says:

"Yesterday aH was fair — a glorious Sunday,
But this sick transit spoils the glory d Monday. ^^

The original Gaiety Theatre was built on the site of
a defunct music-hall, and was opened under John
Hollingshead's management in December 1868, The
opening programme comprised (as was then customary)
three items: a one-act operetta, a three-act comedy-
drama called On the Cards, and Gilbert*s "operatic,
extravaganza" Robert the DeviL Hollingshead was
shrewd and careful in choosing his company. Alfred
Wigan and Madge Robertson headed the list; Nellie
Farren was engaged with an eye to burlesque, and her
husband, Robert Soutar, as stage-manager. Of those
engaged for singing parts, Constance Loseby, who
came from the music-hall stage, and Charles Lyall, who
came from Covent Garden Opera, were the principal.
John Dauban was the principal dancer, and the scenery
was painted by one of the best scenic artists of the day.
From the first there were **no fees" at the Gaiety in
Hollingshead's time, a welcome reform afterwards
copied by several theatres but unfortunately in danger
of becoming entirely abandoned in the present day.
As Hollingshead points out, however, in his "Gaiety
Chronicles," the abolition of fees was not his own
invention ; it had been begun at Covent Garden and at
Webster's Adelphi, but only carried out in a half-
hearted manner at both houses.

In the twelve years that preceded the institution of
"three-act burlesque" at the Gaiety, Hollingshead had
produced there a bewildering variety of comedies,
operettas and burlesques, whose number had been

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BURLESQUE AND COMIC OPERA. 257

augmented by the frequent performance of new plays at
** trial matinees," an institution which he inaugurated.
Besides his strong comedy and burlesque combination
(which by this time had been joined by Royce, Edward
Terry and Kate Vaughan), such names as those of
Toole, Irving, Clayton, Phelps, Mathews, Vezin, Lionel
Brough, Arthur Cecil, Forbes Robertson, Adelaide
Neilson, Marie Litton, Mrs. John Wood and Rose
Leclercq appear on the bills of plays given at the Gaiety
in its early days. Gilbert and Sullivan collaborated for
the first time in Thespis^ which was seen at the Gaiety
in 1871 ; it had become the recognized home of French
companies when they came to play in London, Sarah
Bernhardt making her first London appearance there in
1879; in short, as Hollingshead said in a notice to the
public in December 1880, "long runs had been the
exception and infinite variety the rule, the variety
covering the whole area of dramatic entertainments."
It was in this notice that Hollingshead used the phrase
**the sacred lamp of burlesque" that became classic in
connection with the Gaiety.

The first of the series of three-act burlesques was
Reece*s The Forty Thieves j in 1880. Its success was
immediate, thanks to the ability and popularity of the
quartette of performers — Royce, Terry, Nellie Farren
and Kate Vaughan — who carried it through. In 1881
came Aladdin y Hollingshead's newspaper advertisement
of which was a characteristic composition : ** Aladdin —
a favourable specimen of the New School of Burlesque,
in which artistic dancing is substituted for the cellar-
flap breakdown, in which the music is carefully selected
and executed in a way worthy of comic opera, and in
which gracefully designed costumes take the place of
the old red, green and blue abominations."

The boasts were justified, particularly in the matter

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258 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

of the dancing. Kate Vaughan*s inimitably g^raceful
style was a revelation of the possibilities of skirt
dancing, an artistic and tasteful performance that is
almost forgotten in the modem predilection for the
high-kick or the undraped. Two very popular additions
to the company about this time were Connie Gilchrist
(who became Countess of Orkney) and Phyllis Brough-
ton, the latter of whom* was a worthy disciple of Kate
Vaughan and carried on the traditions of her dancing.
Of the other Gaiety burlesques, mainly from the pens
of Reece and Burnand, that were produced in Hollings-
head's time, Bluebeard (1883) was one of the most
popular. Harry Monkhouse and Arthur Williams were
among the additional comedians engaged for this.
Very Little Hamlet^ in 1884, was occasioned by Wilson
Barrett's Hamlet at the Princess's, and gave Nellie
Farren opportunity for one of her most famous songs
as a ** street arab."

During his last few months at the Gaiety, Hollings-
head took into partnership George Edwardes, who
succeeded him in the sole control of the theatre in the
summer of 1886. Hollingshead was an astute manager,
and, moreover, his courage and enterprise at the Gaiety
did a great deal more for the drama and its interpreters
than was credited by those who looked upon him merely
as a purveyor of burlesque.

The last of the burlesques in his time was Little Jack
Sheppard (1885). A good deal of new blood was
brought into the company for this. Terry had left the
Gaiety, and Royce was incapacitated by illness ; Connie
Gilchrist and Kate Vaughan were also gone from the
company. To fill the blanks, Hollingshead engaged
Marion Hood, a singer already popular in comic opera,
Sylvia Grey, who was a very 'accomplished dancer,
David James and Fred Leslie. The latter, who had

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BURLESQUE AND COMIC OPERA. 259

enjoyed a great personal success as the hero of
Planquette's Rip van Winkle at the Comedy two years
previously, developed into an entertaining and re-
sourceful burlesque actor, and, working loyally with
Nellie Farren, was with her the mainstay of the Gaiety
until his death (and her retirement through illness) in
1892.

The sequence of burlesques subsequent to Little
Jack Sheppard included Monte Crista^ Miss Esmeralda
and Frankenstein in 1887, Faust up to Date (in which
Florence St. John appeared) in 1888, Ruy Bias in 1889,
Carmen Up to Data in 1890, and Cinder Ellen in 1891.
After that, without a Fred Leslie and a Nellie Farren,
Gaiety burlesque of the old type became impossible.
It speedily gave place to the newer type of ** musical
comedy," which for a time' drove comic opera from the
theatres besides routing the older-fashioned burlesque.
But gradually the wheel has turned, and musical
comedy, to preserve its vitality, has of late had to
. approximate more closely to comic opera.

The death of the old type of Gaiety burlesque was
due to the disappearance of the popular personalities
who had made it a tradition, to the decline in public
favour of merely verbal humour, to the demand for
more originality of idea, and probably also to the
advance in general musical taste. An attempt was
made to revive Little Jack Sheppard at the Gaiety in
1894 ; but, clever performers as they were, Jessie
Preston was not a Nellie Farren, nor was Seymour
Hicks a Fred Leslie, and the 'attempt to resuscitate
dead bones was not repeated.

The illness which necessitated Nellie Farren*s with-
drawal from the stage in 1892 having practically crippled
her, and she having in the meantime been unsuccessful
in an attempt at theatrical management at the Opera

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260 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

Comique, a "monster benefit" was given to her at Drury
Lane in March 1898, resulting in a striking display of
enthusiasm and personal affection. Every prominent
actor and actress in London took part in the entertain-
ment; the house was crammed to suffocation with an
audience that had willingly paid fabulous prices for
seats ; and the gratifying result was the handing over
of a handsome sum to one who had ever been a loyal
worker, till circumstances made work impossible, and
had given pleasure to countless audiences. She died,
after some years of quiet retirement, in 1904, at the
age of fifty-six.

The first of the ** musical comedies" at the Gaiety
was In Town (1892), with Arthur Roberts as leading
comedian. The piece had already been successfully
produced at the Prince of Wales's and was transferred
from there. This new type of musical play was not
burlesque, nor was it comic opera. It had, indeed,
grown up largely as a result of the temporary ex-
haustion of the vein of popularity that comic opera had
worked during the 'eighties. The ** musical comedies"
were plays of real life — stage ** real life," that is to say
— as opposed to the entirely fanciful atmosphere of
comic opera or burlesque ; their plots, rudimentary as
they were, marked an advance on the futilities of
comic-opera plot ; they depended a little more on
characterization and a little less on conventional
**song and dance." After a mistaken excursion into
the romantic with Don Juan (with Arthur Roberts,
Sylvia Grey and Cissie Loftus in the cast) in 1893, and
the equally ill-advised attempt to revive Jack Sheppard
in 1894, the Gaiety settled down to a run of such
musical comedies as The Shop dV/(i894), The Circus
Girl (1897) and The Runaway Girl (1898). By this
time EUaline Terriss and Seymour Hicks were prime

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BURLESQUE AND COMIC OPERA. 261

favourites at the Gaiety. When this clever pair had
left the Gaiety, The Messenger Boy (in 1900) firmly
established Edmund Payne as leading comedian there,
to be seconded before long by the growing popularity
of the younger George Grossmith, who has made the
role of the inane modern youth peculiarly his own, and
has made it very entertaining. The Toreador followed
The Messenger Boy in 1901 ; and shortly before the
demolition of the old Gaiety in 1903 an appropriate
entertainment was staged in the shape of a piece called
The Linkmany which was a potpourri of reminiscences
and imitations of scenes from bygone Gaiety successes.

In July 1903 the old house was closed and shortly
afterwards demolished ; but the builders had been busy
with a new theatre on a site hard by that of the old,
and in October 1903 the new Gaiety was opened with
every prospect of success. The Orchid was the first
production there, followed by The Spring Chicken in
1905. These were of the regulation musical-comedy
type ; but in 1906 an attempt was made at a kind ot
modernized old-Gaiety burlesque with The New Aladdin^
which, in spite of some humorous ideas, did not quite
succeed in hitting its mark. The Girls of Gottenhurg^
in 1907, came nearer to comic opera than to burlesque;
this was succeeded in 1908 by a similarly picturesque
piece, Havana,

For a long series of these pieces Ivan Caryll has
proved himself as apt in providing exactly the right kind
of music as Meyer Lutz did for the burlesques of old days.
Whatever may be urged against musical-comedy as a
form of art, it is at least less inane than a large amount
of the old burlesque would undoubtedly appear to
modern ears ; it demands very considerable powers
from its interpreters, who are continually called upon
to ** hold the stage " in an isolation as complete as that

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262 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

of music-hall performers ; it is conveniently elastic,
allowing of the interpolation of anything under the sun
that may be likely to please or amuse (for the plot
usually disappears after the first act) ; and at its best
it forms a very acceptable form of relaxation for the
playgoer who does not wish for more than the pleasing
of his senses of sight and sound without being called
upon to fix his attention too closely. To take a few
names at random, those of Letty Lind and Katie
Seymour, two accomplished dancers in different styles,
Cissie Loftus, a very capable mimic, Connie Ediss, who
is that rare thing a genuine com^dienney and Gertie
Millar, an actress and singer of much daintiness and
considerable sense of character, occur to the mind
among those who (in addition to those already men-
tioned) have enjoyed popularity at the hands of Gaiety
audiences.

There is little to record in the history of the Opera
Comique Theatre (which was opened in 1870) until the
beginning there in 1877 of the famous Gilbert and
Sullivan series of operas. Though they had previously
collaborated in Thespis at the Gaiety in 1871 and Trial
by Jury at the Royalty in 1875, Gilbert and Sullivan
practically became famous with the production of The
Sorcerer at the Opera Comique in November 1877.
For the permanence of the partnership thus begun, and
for the enormous amount of pleasure it has derived
from it, the public is directly indebted to the late
Richard D'Oyly Carte, who was manager at the
Royalty at the time of the production of Trial by Jury,
He perceived the great possibilities that underlay this
new combination, and secured their services on behalf
of the Comedy Opera Company, a body which he
brought into existence for the purpose of this venture.
George Grossmith, Richard Temple and Rutland Bar-

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rington, who subsequently appeared in all the best of
the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, were in the cast of
The Sorcerer^ the female parts being played by Mrs.
Howard Paul, Alice May and Giulia Warwick. The
success of The Sorcerer led to the production, in 1878,
of H,M,S, Pinafore^ for which Jessie Bond joined the
company. After Pinafore the Comedy-Opera Company
ceased to exist and the management was vested in
D'Oyly Carte alone.

The Gilbert and Sullivan operas are so widely familiar,
and their success so well-known a matter of theatrical
history, that it will suffice here to enumerate their first
appearances. For thirty years the work of this ideal
collaboration has delighted the public, and time seems
to have no dulling power on the effect of the wit and
lyrical ability of the librettist or the deathless charm
of the rnelodic invention of the composer. H,M,S,
Pinafore was succeeded in 1880 by The Pirates of
Penzance y in which Marion Hood played the part
of the heroine, and in the following year by Patience^
which was a skit on the ** aesthetic" craze. Later in
1 88 1 Patience was transferred to D'Oyly Carte's newly
built Savoy Theatre, which was the first theatre in
London to be lit by incandescent electric light. For
Patience^ Leonora Braham joined the company as
leading soprano and Durward Leiy as leading tenor.

The Opera Comique theatre existed for eight years
after Carte's removal from it, but its good fortune
departed with him. Isolated productions now and
then achieved a success there, but there was no stable
management. Of subsequent musical pieces one of
the most successful there was a Joan of Arc burlesque
in 1 891, with Arthur Roberts and Charles Danby as
leading comedians. Its chief claim to remembrance
lies in the deftness of the writing of the ** lyrics,"

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264 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

which were the work of a librettist who assumed the
nam de guerre of ** Adrian Ross " and subsequently
followed up his success in this line in various other
musical comedies. Villiers Stanford's Irish opera
Shatnus O'Brien was produced at the Opera Comique
in 1896 ; an adaptation of Alice in Wonderland in
1896 ; and in the following year the theatre was
demolished.

To continue the series of Gilbert and Sullivan operas,
the ** fairy opera" lolanthe was produced at the Savoy
in 1882, and Princess Ida in 1884, the latter being one
of Gilbert's happiest efforts in verbal parody. In 1885
77w Mikado J probably the most popular of the series,
was produced, and ran for nearly two years. For this
Rosina Brandram, an actress with unusual sense of
humour and a contralto singer of great ability, joined
the band of ** Savoyards," and Leonora Braham was
the chief soprano. In Ruddigore (1887) Leonora
Braham was again the heroine; while in The Yeomen
of the Guard {i8SS)f in which both author and composer
struck a more serious note, the soprano part was sung
by Geraldine Ulmar. In The Yeomen of the Guard
W. H. Denny (who had risen into popularity by a
richly humorous performance in Pinero's Dandy Dick
at the Court) first appeared in comic opera, playing the
part of Wilfred Shadbolt, **head gaoler and assistant
tormentor." A return to the lighter manner was made
with The Gondoliers in 1889. Frank Wyatt, Courtice
Pounds and Decima Moore were the chief new recruits
for this.

With The Gondoliers the Gilbert and Sullivan partner-
ship came temporarily to an end. The Nautch Girl,
with music by Edward Solomon, was produced at the
Savoy in 1891, and later there was a revival of The
Vicar of Bray, an earlier opera of the same composer's

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BURLESQUE AND COMIC OPERA. 265

that had been originally seen at the Globe in 1882. In
1892 Sullivan was again heard at the Savoy in Haddon
Hally in which he collaborated with Sydney Grundy;
and in the same year a work of Gilbert's, with a fresh
partner in the person of Alfred Cellier (the composer ot
Dorothy) y was seen at the Lyric, under the title of The
Mountebanks, Gilbert's Hts Excellency y with music by
Osmond Carr, was subsequently seen at the Lyric in 1894.

Jane Annie ^ with a libretto by J. M. Barrie and
Conan Doyle and music by Ernest Ford, was given at
the Savoy in 1893, and the disappointment it occasioned
was more than atoned for by the announcement of
another opera by Gilbert and Sullivan, to be produced
in the autumn of the same year.

The new opera was Utopia^ which introduced Nancy
Macintosh to Savoy audiences, and brought Emmie
Owen and Florence Perry, two clever young singers, to
the front. Its success, however, was not to be com-
pared with that of the earlier operas ; nor was that of
The Grand Duke (in 1896), which was the last occasion
of Gilbert and Sullivan's working together. In 1894
Messager's Mirette had a short run; in 1897 Burnand
and Lehmann collaborated with Mackenzie in His
Majesty^ and in the same year Offenbach's Grand
Duchess was revived, with Florence St. John in the
name part. After this Sullivan was heard in three
more operas at the Savoy. These were The Beauty
Stone (1898), whose libretto was from the combined
pens of A. W. Pinero and Comyns Carr, The Rose of
Persia (1900), in which Sullivan had a more congenial
librettist in Captain Basil Hood, and The Emerald Isle
(1901), of which Basil Hood also wrote the libretto.
Sullivan's death prevented his completing the music to
The Emerald Isle^ which was finished by Edward
German.

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266 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

During these last four years there were also revivals
at the Savoy of H,M,S, Pinafore in 1899 and The
Pirates of Pensance and Patience in 1900, and a new
comic opera (with music by Ivan Caryll) entitled The
Lucfy Star (1899), which established Walter Passmore
in his position as leading Savoy comedian in Grossmith's
place.

In 1891 Sullivan's sole attempt at ** grand opera," his
Ivanhoe (written to the libretto of Julian Sturgis) had
been heard at the beautiful new English Opera House,
now the Palace Theatre, erected by D'Oyly Carte in
Shaftesbury Avenue. Only one other opera, Messager's
The Basoche^ was heard at this house before it was
turned into a ** theatre of varieties."

A revival of lolanthe at the Savoy in 1901 was
succeeded by two charming operas by Basil Hood and
Edward German, Merrie England (1902) and The
Princess of Kensington (1903). The mutable taste of
the public had been drifting away for some time from
comic opera to ** musical comedy "; the last productions
at the Savoy failed in consequence to attract as they
deserved, and the Savoy company was broken up.
The majority of them appeared together in the same
year (1903) at the Adelphi, in The Earl and the Girl, a
musical comedy no worse and no better than many
others, but scarcely worthy the efforts of Passmore,
Henry Lytton, Agnes Fraser, Louie Pounds, and others
of their calibre. Miscellaneous ventures, including a
seasdh of romantic drama undertaken by Mrs. Brown
Potter in 1904-05, occupied the Savoy at odd times;
until in a season from 1906 to 1907, and again in 1908,
Mrs. Carte (her husband being now dead) agreeably
and successfully revived old memories with a series of
revivals of The Yeomen of the Guard, The Gondoliers^
Patience, lolanthe, The Mikado, and H.M.S. Pinafore.

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BURLESQUE AND COMIC OPERA. 267

In these C. H. Workman distinguished himself in the
"Grossmith" parts. In the autumn of 1907 (as has
been already recorded) the theatre was occupied for
a short time by Messrs. Barker and Vedrenne,
who transferred their Court Theatre management
thither.

In the late 'seventies and early 'eighties comic opera
adapted from the French, with the music of Planquette
or of Audran, was in great popular favour. The pro-
duction of the evergreen Les Cloches de Comeville at the
Folly Theatre in 1878 has already been recorded. The
Comedy Theatre, in Panton Street, was opened in 188 1
with Audran's La Mascotte^ which was followed by
Planquette's Rip van Winkle (1882) memorable for
Fred Leslie's performance as Rip, and this in its turn
was followed by Chassaigne's Falka (1883). The
Comedy's ** bright particular star" in the female line
was Violet Cameron, and in Falka W. S. Penley played
a comic part.

The Avenue Theatre, also, was occupied by comic
opera for the first few years of its existence. Opened
in 1882 with a revival of Offenbach's Madame Favarty
with Fred Leslie, Florence St. John and Marius in the
chief parts ) a succession of similar operas followed,
one of the most pleasing being Planquette's Nell
Gwynne in 1884. Subsequently Arthur Roberts was
the "star" there in comic opera, one of his happiest
efforts being in the part of the Old Campaigner in Plan-
quette's The Old Guard in 1887.

Of later theatres which still fostered comic opera,
until that form of entertainment was temporarily
shouldered out of the field, the Prince of Wales's and
the Lyric were the chief. The Prince of Wales's, which
was opened in 1884, enjoyed, after two years of comedy,
its first comicopera success with Cellier'^ Dorothy^

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268 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

which, originally produced at the Gaiety in 1886 and
received there with but little favour, was transferred to
the newer theatre in the same year and enjoyed a
remarkable career with Marie Tempest, Hayden Coffin,
Ben Davies and Arthur Williams in the cast. The
same composer's DoriSy subsequently produced, did not
repeat this success. After a period of comedy, the
Prince of Wales's reverted to comic opera in 1889 with
Walter Slaughter's Marjorie and Planquette's Paul
JoneSy in which Frank Wyatt, Harry Monkhouse, Agnes
Huntington, Kate Cutler and Phyllis Broughton were
seen. Then the entertainment by degrees merged into
the newer form of ** musical comedy." In 1891 Jane
May had been first seen at the Prince of Wales's in
her inimitable dumb-show performance in Carr^ and
Wormser's L' Enfant Prodigue, In Tovm (with Arthur
Roberts) was the first of the ** musical comedies," in
1891, and was followed by Blue-Eyed Susan in 1892, A
Gaiety Girl in 1893, and Gentleman Joe (in which Arthur
Roberts gave one of his cleverest ** cockney" impersona-
tions) in 1895. A return to comic opera was made in
1896 with Audran's charming opera La Poupie^ with
Willie Edouin, Courtice Pounds, Alice Favier, and
afterwards Jessie Huddleston in the chief parts, in
1897, and The Royal Star^ with Edouin and Lottie
Venne, in 1898.

After another spell of comedy, the series of musical
comedies was resumed at the Prince of Wales's with
Leslie Stuart's The School Girl in 1903. Its chief
successors have been Sergeant Brue (transferred from
the Strand Theatre) and Lady Madcap in 1904, The
Little Cherub (afterwards called A Girl on the Stage)
and See See in 1906, Miss Hook of Holland in 1907, and
My Mimosa Maid in 1908.

The Lyric Theatre, in Shaftesbury Avenue, was

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opened in December 1888 with Dorothy y which was
transferred from the Prince of Wales's to continue its
lengthy run. In 1889 The Red Hussar ^ with music by
Edward Solomon, was given with Marie Tempest, Ben
Davies and Arthur Williams in the cast. After this
Marie Tempest played for some time in America. In
1890 La Cigale added to Geraldine Ulmar's reputation,
and in 1892 Lecocq's Incognita brought Aida Jenoure to
the front. The latter singer was also prominent in
Albeniz* The Magic Opal (1893), in which the American
singer May Yohe made her earliest London appearance.
Q^xyWs Little Christopher Columbtis (1893) and Dandy
Dick Whittington (1894), pieces more of the ** Gaiety
burlesque" type, further exploited May Yohe, who had
Lonnen and Eva Moore as companions in the cast of
the earlier of the two.

In 1892 Gilbert's work, in collaboration with Alfred
Cellier, had been heard at the Lyric in The Mountebanks^
in which Monkhouse, Lionel Brough and Ai'da Jenoure
distinguished themselves ; and in 1894 His Excellency^
by Gilbert and Osmond Carr, with Barrington, Gros-
smith, Jessie Bond, Nancy Macintosh and Ellaline
Terriss in the cast, was produced there. In the
following year Humperdinck's charming fairy tale.
Hansel and Gretel^ was given. Little Miss Nobody^ a
musical comedy, was produced in 1898, and in 1899
Evie Greene made her London d^hut in Louis Varney's
D Amour MouilU, Florodora in 1899, and The Silver
Slipper in 1901, were popular successes that called
attention to the music of Leslie Stuart; and 1903 saw
the production of The Medal and the Maidy by Sidney
Jones, a composer who was doing better work at
Daly's Theatre.

Ivan Caryll's The Duchess of Dantsigy a musical
adaptation of Sardou's Madame Sans-GSnCy which gave

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270 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

Evie Greene opportunity for some forcible acting
and was rather a play with music than a comic opera,
was produced in 1905. The same year brought
Howard Talbot's The Blue Moon. Since then the
Lyric has been more uniformly devoted to the
romantic drama, as has been detailed in the preceding
chapter.

Daly's Theatre, in Leicester Square, which has been
the home of the best musical pieces of more recent
days, was opened by Daly's American company in 1893
with The Taming of the Shrew, memorable for Ada
Rehan's performance as Katharine. This was followed
in the same year by Tennyson's play The Foresters.
Since 1884, when they first appeared in London at
Toole's Theatre, Daly's company had been seen at
various theatres — the Strand, the Opera Comique, the
Gaiety and the Lyceum. They now enjoyed the
advantage (till Augustus Daly's death in 1899) of a
permanent London home in which to perform whenever
they came over for a season. The management of the
theatre when they vacated it was taken over by George
Edwardes, who eventually, on Daly's death, became
the lessee of the theatre he had done so much to
popularize.

He had attracted the public to it by a kind of
entertainment that sufficiently resembled the prevailing
"musical comedy" in many respects, but differed suffi-
ciently from it to appeal to a more exacting audience and
to tastes slightly more discriminating and more musical.
The series of musical plays he produced between 1889
and 1 901 approximated more closely to comic opera,
which of late years has held up its head again, and the
astute manager is entitled to all credit for foreseeing
the inevitable swing-back of the pendulum. He was
fortunate in his composer, Sidney Jones, whose melodic

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BURLESQUE AND COMIC OPERA. 27 1

invention and technical skill are of a high order. The
fact that in many instances, both in these and subsequent
productions, some of the best numbers (from the musical
point of view) were speedily excised to make way for
what was more popular, and that the plot of the piece
was considered a negligible quantity when it became
the question of giving a popular favourite another
individual **turn," is only a symptom of the public
taste of the time.

The first of the series, An Arttsfs Models which was
produced in 1895, was frankly of the musical-comedy
type. In it Marie Tempest made her reappearance
after five or six years' sojourn in America. Among her
associates in the cast were Hayden Coffin, Lottie
Venne, Eric Lewis, Letty Lind and Leonora Braham.
The Geisha (1896), whose scene- was laid in Japan, was
a more ambitious effort and was enormously popular.
In addition to the performers just mentioned, Rutland
Harrington, Huntly Wright, Monkhouse and Juliette
Nesville were seen in this, and it ran for two years.
The Greek Slave ^ which contained some of Sidney Jones'
best music, followed in 1898, but was not so popular.
After a revival of A Gaiety Girl'in 1899, San Toy (with
China as its imaginary locale) was produced in the same
year, and held the boards till 1901. In this Marie
Tempest made her last appearance in musical pieces.
She subsequently abandoned comic opera in favour of
drama, and has developed into one of the foremost
comedy actresses of her day.

The Country Girly with music by Lionel Monckton,
followed in 1901, and The Cingaleey by the same com-
poser, in 1904. In the former of these the heroine's
part was played by Evie Greene, in the latter by Sybil
Arundale. In all of the series Hayden Coffin had been
seen as the tenor hero, and Huntly Wright was, with

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272 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

Rutland Barrington, the mainstay of the comic
element.

A frank return to comic opera was made, with
delightful results, in 1905 with Messager's The Little
Michus, in which George Graves came to the front as a
resourceful comedian. This was followed by Hugo
Felix's The Merveilleuses in 1906 and Lehar's The
Merry Widow in 1907.

The Duke of York's opened (as the Trafalgar Square
Theatre) with a comic opera, The Wedding Eve^ in
1892; and the first years of its life saw the productioa
on its stage of several musical pieces of no striking
merit, the most successful being Ivan Caryll's The Cray
Parisienne (1896), in which Ada Reeve and Louie
Freear were largely responsible for the satisfactory
result. Since the turn of the century the house has
been, under Frohman's management, devoted to
comedy.

The occasional seasons of musical pieces at the
Vaudeville have been noted in the preceding chapter;
and at Terry's (another comedy house) a considerable
measure of success was attained with the musical
comedy The French Maid in 1898, and a comic opera.
My Lady Molly ^ in 1903. The Pantomime Rehearsal^ an
Artless piece of burlesque which became very popular
and enjoyed a lengthy life at this and other theatres,
was first seen at Terry's in 1891.

Of excursions into comic opera at other houses
mainly connected with comedy, may be mentioned
Miss Decima (1891), All Abroad (1895), The White
Chrysanthemum (1905), and Amasis (1906), at the
Criterion; and The Girl Behind the Counter {1^06) ^ at
Wyndham's.

The Strand, the old house of musical burlesque, had
enjoyed a new period of activity in comic opera in the

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BURLESQUE AND COMIC OPERA. 273

late 'seventies and the early 'eighties with Madame
Favart (1879) ^^^ Olivette (1880). In its last years its
most conspicuous success was a musical comedy called
A Chinese Honeymoon^ which, thanks largely to a
quaintly humorous performance by Louie Freear, ran
from 1 90 1 to 1904.

The Shaftesbury Theatre was the scene of the pro-
duction (in 1893) o^ o*^® o^ ^^^ earliest of the musical
comedies, Osmund Carr's Morocco Bounds in which
Violet Cameron, Letty Lind, Shine, Danby and the
younger Grossmith appeared. Since 1898 the Shaftes-
bury has been (as far as musical pieces are concerned)
almost exclusively the scene of American productions
which it is hardly necessary to detail here, dating
from the triumphant production of The Belle of
New York in 1898. The series has even included
a piece written, composed and entirely played by
** darkies."

The Apollo Theatre, which was opened in 1901, has
been almost consistently devoted to musical plays, the
main exceptions being Martin Harvey's season with
A Cigarette-Maker's Romance and The Only Way in
1901 and Valentine's The Stronger Sex in 1907. The
house opened with The Belle of Bohemiay an American
musical comedy; and the series which has succeeded
that piece includes Kitty Grey in 1901, Three Little
Maids and The Girl from Kay's in 1902, Madame Sherry
in 1903, Veronique^ a welcome return to comic opera,
in 1904, Mr. Popple of Ippleton in 1905, The Dairymaids
in 1906, and Tom Jones and The Three Kisses in 1907.
Later in 1907 Roy Horniman's comedy The Education of
Elisabeth was produced at the Apollo. In this play
Miriam Clements, Florence Lloyd, H. V. Esmond and
Maud Millett acted.

Among those who have added to their reputation at

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274 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

the Apollo the most conspicuous have been Ruth
Vincent, whose finished singing did much for the
popularity of Veronique; Ethel Irving, who subsequently
has proved her possession of brilliant powers of comedy
acting; and two excellent comedians, very different in
their styles, the veteran Willie Edouin (who is since
dead) and the newer recruit G. P. Huntley.

Of the newest London theatres, the Aldwych, whose
"stars" are Ellaline Terriss and Seymour Hicks, was
opened in 1905 with a revival of Blue-Bell in Fairyland
(formerly seen at the Vaudeville in 1902). Subsequent
musical comedies seen there have been The Beauty of
Bath (1906), Nelly Neil (1907) and The Gay Gordons

(1907).

At the Waldorf, which was opened in 1905, a comic
opera called The Gipsy Girl was produced in 1907; and,
at the Hicks Theatre, My Darling (which was the
opening production), in 1907.

Among musical dramatic entertainments in the latter
part of the last century, a unique position was occupied
for many years by the German Reeds' Entertainment.
The beginning of this was a musical entertainment given
by Thomas German Reed (who had been musical-
director at the Haymarket) and his wife, who, as
Priscilla Horton, had become popular as an actress.
Their first performances were given in St. Martin's Hall
in 1855, the Reeds contributing the whole programme.
In the course of the next year they removed to what
they called the ** Gallery of Illustration" in Waterloo
Place, and there until 1873 they provided a mixed
musical and dramatic entertainment calculated to attract
persons who would not go to a theatre. The venture
was very successful, thanks partly to the new audience
they tapped and still more to the care with which the
entertainments were designed and the ability of the

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performers. John Parry, the famous ** entertainer at
the piano," joined the Reeds in i860 and remained with
them till 1869. His place in the company was then
taken by Corney Grain, who was a mainstay of the
entertainment till his' death in 1895. Farces and
musical farces by such writers as William Brough,
Shirley Brooks, and Burnand were given from the first
in Waterloo Place, Burnand and Sullivan's Cox and
Box (1869) being one of the great successes. In 1867
Reed had taken a lease of St. George's Hall in Langham
Place, and there produced Burnand and Sullivan's
operetta Contrabandtsta, He continued to act at the
** Gallery of Illustration " till 1871, when he retired and
his place was taken by his son Alfred German Reed.
Thomas Reed died in 1888.

Arthur Cecil made his first appearance as an actor at
the ** Gallery of Illustration" in 1869, and remained
with the company till 1874. In that year the Entertain-
ment was transferred to St. George's Hall. A large
proportion of the musical pieces given there were from
the joint pens of Arthur Law and Alfred Caldicott.
Their blameless character was scrupulously maintained,
as also was the skill with which they were performed ;
and certainly half the popularity of St. George's Hall was
due to Corney Grain's inimitable ** musical sketches"
which always occupied part of the programme. Fanny
Holland, Dora Thorne and Avalon Collard were for a
long time popular members of the little company, and
several other singers and actors made their first
successes there.

The elder Reeds retired from the management in
1877, and after that it was carried on by Alfred Reed
and Corney Grain in partnership. The popular Enter-
tainment came to a sad and sudden close by the death
of those most immediately concerned. Within ten days

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276 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

(in March 1895) Alfred Reed, his mother, and Corney
Grain all died, and St. George's Hall was closed. In
more recent years it has resumed its popularity with a
difTerent form of entertainment, the famous * * Maskelyne
and Cooke *' conjuring entertainment having migrated
thither when the Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly was pulled
down.

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CHAPTER XVIII.

SOME PROVINCIAL ENGLISH THEATRES.

As will have been gathered from the preceding- chapters,
the provincial theatres (while they maintained their
" stock companies " and had not yet become merely tem-
porary homes for touring companies) were extremely
valuable as training-schools of acting and as recruiting
grounds for the London theatres. The stock company
was a necessity in days when travelling was tedious and
difficult and the dwellers in towns at any distance from
London had to be content with home-grown amuse-
ments, except perhaps for the occasional visit of a
London "star." The advent of the railway made the
** star's" visit more frequently possible, and by degrees
the stock companies were given up and the provincial
theatres ended in relying upon whatever came their
way.

While the stock companies existed, the country
theatres were largely managed on the '* circuit " system.
By this system a certain number of theatres, in towns
suitably near to each other, would be combined under
one management and supplied in rotation with per-
formances by practically the same company. Thus, to
mention the most prominent, there were the Bath and
Bristol, Exeter, Salisbury, Kent, Manchester, Birming-
ham, Norwich, York and Newcastle circuits. The

277

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2/8 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

system was a boon to the actor, quite apart from the
valuable training it afforded ; for, as Macready tells us
in his " Reminiscences," a circuit would occupy a
company during the whole year, ** so that a respectable
player could calculate upon his weekly salary, without
default, from year's end to year's end."

Pride of place among the provincial theatres must be
given to the Bath theatre, which has a distinguished
record, and is notable as the first ''patent" house after
Drury Lane and Covent Garden and so the earliest
Theatre Royal out of London.

The first theatre in Bath was built soon after the
beginning of the eighteenth century, but had only a
short life. Another was erected about 1725, but this
in its turn had only a short existence, hampered as it
was by the opposition of theatrical performances given
in rooms attached to the inns in the town. The Orchard
Street Theatre, which was opened in 175O) was the first
to obtain a monopoly in theatrical entertainments, and
that only after a struggle with the competition of a
body of actors that styled themselves the ''Bath Com-
pany of Comedians" and gave their performances in the
Assembly Rooms. It was not, indeed, until after the
death of the proprietor of the Assembly Rooms that the
Orchard Street Theatre became the undisputed centre
of the drama in the town. It had an enterprising
manager in the person of a certain John Palmer, who
conducted it so satisfactorily that Chetwynd (in his
"History of the Stage") speaks of the company "at
Bath, where there is a regular theatre and an audience
as difficult to be pleased as that in London." Palmer
reconstructed the house in 1767, and his son, who
succeeded him, managed to get a grant of Letters
Patent from George III., and so was entitled to style his
house the Theatre Royal, Bath. It is worthy of note

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SOME PROVINCIAL ENGLISH THEATRES. 279

that a Theatrical Fund was started at Bath in 1801.
Except at Norwich, where a similar fund had been
started ten years previously, there was no such thing
known out of London at this time.

The Bristol theatre was licensed for acting towards
the close of the eighteenth century, and till 181 7 was
consistently worked in combination with the Bath
theatre, the same company supplying the entertain-
ments at both.

During Palmer's management the Bath company
included Henderson, who became a great favourite
there and subsequently went to the Haymarket; Foote^
who went the same way ; and Sarah Siddons, who
played at Bath from 1777 to 1781, a period of hard
work and much experience. When she left Bath for
London she, on her last appearance at Bath, delivered
a ** poetic address" (written by herself) in which she
alleged ^Hhree reasons" for her decision, the said
reasons being her three children, for whom she could
make more money by taking the London engagement.
After Palmer's time the house was managed on the
same lines and with continuing success, and an en-
gagement there was looked upon as a stepping-stone
to an appearance in London. Of other actors, after-
wards famous, who began at Bath, may be mentioned
Charles Incledon, who appeared there as a singer both
at the Assembly Rooms and the Theatre, with such
success that he was engaged for Vauxhall Gardens and
subsequently for Covent Garden; and EUiston, who
made his first appearance at Bath in 1791. He remained
a member of the company till 1804. Occasionally during
his later years there he appeared, by permission of his
manager, in London at the Haymarket and Covent
Garden. At one time he appeared one night at Bristol,
the next at Windsor, the next at Bath, and the next at

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28o A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAG

Windsor ag^in, sleeping in the coach on his nig^htly
journeys between these towns !

By degrees, as various actors who had been in their
earlier days associated with the Bath house returned
there to play as ** stars" on occasional visits, the
audience showed a tendency to be discontented with the
stock company and to desire repeated visits of this
nature. The Orchard Street house, which had become
too small, was closed in 1805, and in the same year
the Beaufort Square Theatre (on the site of the present
house) was opened. It was warmly praised for its
beauty and comfort, and was visited in its early years
by such prominent performers as Incledon, Cooke,
Master Betty, Mrs. Siddons, Dora Jordan, Munden, the
Charles Kembles, Braham, Elliston, Charles Mathews,
Macready and Edmund Kean.

In 181 7 the connection between the Bath and Bristol
theatres was severed. Visits from London favourites
continued to be frequent at Bath for another ten or
fifteen years, after which came a spell of ill-luck, both
the Bath and Bristol theatres being '*to let" in 1833.
Macready revived the fortunes of the Bath house by
undertaking its management in 1834, and the visits of
London "stars" were resumed. In 1838 the house
was remodelled.

Another run of ill-luck was stemmed by a pulpit
attack on the theatre in 1844, which caused a vigorous
reaction in the theatre's favour. Mrs. Macready
managed the house for five years from 1845 to 1850.
After her the management was continued by Chute,
who maintained an excellent stock company and once
more combined its management with that of the Bristol
theatre. After 1868 he confined himself to Bristol.
Marie Wilton (Lady Bancroft), Madge Robertson (Mrs,
Kendal) and Henrietta Hodson were among his corn-

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pany at the start of his management. The Bath
theatre was burned down in 1862; and in the following
year the present house was opened with a production of
A Midsummer Nighfs Dream, in which Ellen Terry
appeared as Titania and Madge Robertson as one of
the ** singing fairies." Irving appeared there in 1867,
and the house recovered its reputation as a place of
visit from London. The last stock company maintained
there dates as late as 1884, since when the theatre has
relied on touring companies.

At the beginning of the eighteenth century the stern-
minded inhabitants of Bristol were busy protesting
against the attempts of companies of players to instal
themselves in or about the city. Plays were forbidden
by the Corporation in 1702, but apparently to little
effect; for in 1704 and 1705 we again find strong
protests being made against the players, who in the
latter year had built a theatre just outside the town. In
1706 they built one inside, and were turned out again
in 1709. Macklin is mentioned as acting at Bristol in
1 7 17, and two playhouses are referred to in local
periodicals some ten years later.

The first Bristol theatre worthy of the name, the
Jacob's Well Theatre, was opened in 1729 by John
Hippesley, an actor who had been in the original cast
of Gay's Beggar's Opera, It stood a short distance
outside the town, a circumstance which made moon-
light nights very welcome to the management, as the
audience could make their way easier and more safely
to its doors. Nights during full moon were conse-
quently much in request for ** benefit" nights; on one
such occasion, we are told, the playbill included the
announcement *Mt is presumed Madame Cynthia will
appear in her utmost splendour," — an ill-advised hyper-
bole that nearly caused a riot from the Gallery's

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282 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

clamouring to see the ** foreign lady" perform ! Mrs.
Pritchard and Macklin were among those who played
at this theatre, which was a wretchedly incommodious
little place, so small that it was averred that, if an
actor had to leave the stage on one side and re-enter on
the other, he was obliged to walk round the outside of
the house. Its inconvenience led to the erection of a
new theatre in King Street, which was opened in 1766.

Owing to the strong opposition to theatres in Bristol,
particularly on the part of the Quakers, a licence was
refused to the new theatre, which for some twelve years
was obliged to struggle along by means of a subterfuge
which just evaded the law. The performance was
advertised as ** a Concert of Music, between the parts
of which will be exhibited, gratis, a Specimen of
Rhetoric diversified in the several characters of a
Comedy. . . . To which will be added a farce." In
1778, however, a Royal Licence was obtained, and the
house became prosperous, being worked in combination
with the Bath theatre from 1779, in which year Palmer
(the Bath manager) took it over. Theatrical perform-
ances were given once a month in winter and thrice
a week during most of the summer, with oratorios in
Lent. Mrs. Siddons acted there while she was in
Palmer's company from 1777 to 1781, before the days
of her London triumphs, and it shared with the Bath
house in the visits of various full-fledged ** stars."
After Palmer gave up its management in 1817, it had a
long spell of ill-luck, which was eventually dispelled in
1850, when Chute assumed its control, together with
that of the Bath house. After 1868 he devoted himself
entirely to the Bristol theatre, and his stock company
was the last of any importance there.

The first theatre at Exeter, which town was eventu-
ally worked together with Plymouth and Weymouth

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as a circuit, was opened in 1749. The first Plymouth
theatre was opened in 1758, and rebuilt in 1804. The
Exeter theatre was evidently a very incommodious
house; for, on the opening of a new theatre in 1787, a
prologue was spoken which included the following
lines: —

" From a small stage for scenery most unfit,
From shapeless boxes and an awkward pit.
Long dark approaches, passages confined,
And walls whose crannies wooed the passing wind,
With joy sincere our generous friends we greet
On boards where we have room to move our feet."

The managers, Messrs. Trewman and Hughes, were
enterprising, and were greatly praised for the staging
of their plays, these being mounted in a style that was
pronounced as fine as anything seen in London; but
the expense this entailed brought financial loss with it.
They maintained a good stock company, and soon
after the opening of the theatre were honoured by a
professional visit from Mrs Siddons.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century perform-
ances at the Exeter theatre were fitful, and, as was but
natural in the capital of a county so disturbed by fears
and rumours of invasion, ** patriotic" dramas met with
most favour. In 1805 Master Betty, fresh from his
London triumphs, appeared at Exeter. He ended his
career as a youthful prodigy at Bath three years later,
and in 181 2 he reappeared at Exeter as **Mr." Betty, but
the glamour was gone and he was coldly received.

From December 181 1 to April 181 3 Edmund Kean
(then an unknown and struggling actor) appeared with
his wife at Exeter, playing parts so widely diversified as
Shylock, Sir Edward Mortimer in The Iron Chesty and
Harlequin in the pantomin:>es. Three years later he

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284 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

reappeared there as a famous tragedian, after his
triumphant performances in London, and repeated his
visits several times in later years. Among other
famous names on the bills of the Exeter Theatre in
the early years of the century are those of Dora Jordan,
Maria Foote . (an Exonian, who afterwards became
Countess of Harrington), and Eliza O'Neill, famous for
her Juliet.

In 181 7 the newly-invented gas was tried as an
illuminant, but, an explosion unfortunately happening,
the theatre returned for a time to candles. Two years
later, however, gas was again adopted. The house was
burned down in 1820, and a new one opened in 1821,
Another slight explosion occurred in 1823, so a return
was once more made to lamps for the lobbies and
candles for the interior of the theatre. The house was
again burned down in 1885, and in October 1886 a new
one was opened on a better and more convenient site.
Eleven months later the new theatre was a heap of
ashes, the fire (which occurred on September 1887)
being memorable as one of the most disastrous, in the
matter of loss of life, of modern days. The house was
rebuilt in 1889.

In Birmingham there were three theatres, of a kind,
in existence as early as 1740, the chief being one in
Moon Street. Of this it is recorded that its per-
formances were announced by a man who perambulated
the streets beating a drum and distributing bills. These
three succumbed at the appearance of a slightly better
theatre that was built in King Street in 1752 and
enlarged twelve years later. It was not, however, till
1775, when a theatre was erected in New Street (on the
site of the present Theatre Royal) that dramatic per-
formances in Birmingham were of any particular
account. A better class of performers was attracted

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to the new house, which tried to get a formal licence in
1777 but failed. The King Street house was shut up in
1780. Its rival in New Street was burned in 1792,
rebuilt, and re-opened in 1795. • From 1800 to 1806,
and again from 1810 to 1813 the elder Macready was
its manager.

A patent was at last obtained in 1807, and the
Theatre Royal held up its head among its provincial
contemporaries. Edmund Kean and his wife appeared
there (at a salary of a guinea a week each) in 1808;
and six years later Kean, by that time a famous actor,
paid the first of several triumphant visits there. In
1 8 10, under his father's management, William Charles
Macready made his first appearance there as Romeo.
From 181 3 to 1819 Elliston was manager, and Alfred
Bunn from 1819 to 1824. In 1820 the house suffered
the usual fate by burning, and was rebuilt and opened
within the same year. In 1824 we find Stanfield
painting its scenery; and Kemble, Charles Kean,
Helen Faucit and Phelps are among those whose names
appear on its programmes in the first half of the
century. In 1862 Bancroft was a member of the stock
company there, while at the same time Kendal was
making one of his earliest appearances at an obscure
theatre in the same town in the melodrama of Sweeney
Tody the Demon Barber, Edward Sothern acted at the
Theatre Royal, and afterwards, on appearing at the
Haymarket, announced himself as **of the Theatre
Royal, Birmingham." His first performance of David
Garrick in England was also given at the Birmingham
theatre in 1864. London favourites visited the Theatre
Royal freely. Toole was there, with Irving in his
company, in 1869 ; in the 'seventies Royce was in the
stock company and Nellie Farren and Constance Loseby
were seen there. Ellen Terry appeared there in The

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286 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

Watuiering Heir in 1874, and acted there again with
Charles Kelly in 1879.

The Prince of Wales's Theatre, Birmingham, grew
out of a music-hall which was built in Broad Street in
1856. It obtained a licence as an "operetta hall" in
1862, and later (on the occasion of the Prince of Wales's
marriage) was opened by W. H. Swanborough as the
Prince of Wales's Operetta House. It was soon
devoted mainly to drama, and maintained a good stock
company; visits of "stars," too, became frequent.
Buckstone played therewith his Haymarket company;
and in 1865 Fechter was seen there in Hamlet ^ with
Henry Irving as his Laertes. Swanborough was suc-
ceeded by James Rodgers as manager in 1866, and
shortly afterwards Sothem played there with Madge
Robertson in his company. From 1869 to 1870 H. J.
Byron acted there, as well as providing plays; and in
the 'seventies the elder Farren, Toole, Irving, Mrs.
John Wood, Lionel Brough and Wilson Barrett w^ere
among those who appeared there under the old order
of things.

In the 'eighties two other theatres, both devoted to
melodrama, were opened in Birmingham — the Grand
Theatre (in Old Square) in 1883, and the Queen's
Theatre (in SndW Hill) in 1886.

The first Manchester Theatre Royal, which dates
from the same era as that of Birmingham and succeeded
an unpatented one built some forty-five years earlier,
was opened in 1775 and occupied a site in Spring Street.
Tate Wilkinson was for a time manager of it, and under
him Mrs. Siddons appeared there in 1776-77. It was
burned down in 1789, and rebuilt within a year. The
performances there, however, gave rise to numerous
complaints and a good deal of controversial letter-
writing and pamphleteering in the first years of the

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nineteenth century. Eventually a new and more com-
modious Theatre Royal was built in Fountain Street
and opened in 1807, with the elder Macready as
manager during the first two years of its existence.
It enjoyed a life of thirty-seven years, and then met the
common fate by fire. In 1845 the third (and present)
Theatre Royal was built in Peter Street, in which
thoroughfare the existing theatres of Manchester now
stand. Between 1823 and 1849 William Charles
Macready was frequently seen at the second and
third of the Theatres Royal. The Manchester circuit
included also Shrewsbury, Chester, Lichfield and
Buxton.

The most conspicuous feature in Manchester's more
recent theatrical history is the management of Charles
Calvert at the Prince's Theatre, which he opened in 1864
with a revival of The Tempest^ himself playing Prospero,
Mrs. Calvert Miranda, and Julia St. George Ariel.
Calvert (who had previously been stage-manager at the
Theatre Royal) produced a number of Shakespeare's
plays, with a good stock company, between 1864 and
1874, mounting them on the lines adopted by Charles
Kean at the Princess's in London. One of his greatest
successes was made with Henry F., which he subse-
quently reproduced in New York in 1875 after giving up
his Manchester management.

Of later years honourable exceptions to the almost
universal giving up of provincial theatres to touring
companies have been made at Manchester by Richard
Flanagan at the Queen's Theatre and Robert Court-
neidge at the Prince's, both setting before their public
Shakespearean productions of considerable merit. The
other Manchester theatres are the Comedy and the
St. James's, both opened in 1884.

Brighton, which has an honourable theatrical record.

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288 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

had no permanent theatre before 1774, when one was
built in North Street. Subsequently its licence was
transferred to a new theatre which was built in Duke
Street in 1790 and existed until 1806. Among the more
or less famous names connected with this house ma/ be
mentioned those of Incledon, Bannister, Emery , the
notorious Chevalier d'Eon (who gave exhibitions of
swordsmanship there), Mrs. Siddons, Elliston, and
Charles Kemble, the last-named making one of his
earliest appearances on the stage at Brighton in 1799.

The North Street theatre was superseded by one
built in the New Road. This was opened in 1807 with
Charles Kemble in HamleL As was natural from
Brighton's proximity to London and its growing
popularity as a fashionable resort, its own company's
performances were constantly supplemented by the
appearance of London favourites. Thus we find Mrs,
Siddons acting there in 1809, Master Betty in 181 2-13,
Dora Jordan in 1813, Elizabeth O'Neill in 1813 and
afterwards, Edmund Kean on several occasions from the
year 1814, and, at various times after this, Liston,
Madame Vestris and Charles Mathews, Macready,
Helen Faucit, and Boucicault.

In 1866, when the theatre had been for twelve years
under the managership of Henry Nye Chart, it was
rebuilt in its present form. It continued its prosperous
career, and among the actors there in the 'sixties
were Emery, Cathcart, Farren, Chippendale and
Buckstone.

In the early 'seventies we find Phelps and the Kendals
there, Lottie Venne and Fanny Coleman playing in
pantomime and burlesque, and Mrs. John Wood (billed
as **the Philadelphia comedienne ") and Lionel Brough
acting together. Mrs. Nye Chart succeeded her
husband in the managership in 1876, and at about that

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time the stock company system was given up and the
Brighton theatre relied on touring companies. Of late
years it has been specially favoured in the matter of
'* flying matinees," at which performances of London
successes, at the height of their popularity, have been
g-iven by the London companies concerned.

The York theatre and the York circuit were especi-
ally conspicuous in the last quarter of the eighteenth
century, when Tate Wilkinson was their manager.
The patent for the York theatre was obtained in 1759,
and it was worked by Wilkinson on the circuit system
in conjunction with the Hull theatre which had been
opened in 1768, the Leeds theatre which was opened in

1771, the Wakefield theatre, and the Doncaster theatre
which was built in 1776. Among actors, afterwards
famous, who made their initial successes in the York
circuit were John Fawcett, the elder Charles Mathews
and John Philip Kemble.

At Leicester a theatre was built in 1750; and in this
Mrs. Siddons appeared with her husband in 1778. A
new theatre, which the elder Macready managed for
some years, took its place in 1800; Edmund Kean,
William Charles Macready, Dora Jordan, the elder
Mathews and Liston were among those seen on its
boards, and it existed till 1836. In that year the
present theatre was opened, and among the names
connected with it in its early days are those of William
Farren, Macready, Charles Kean and Barry Sullivan.
Of later years (in 1883) an Opera House was opened in
Silver Street.

Liverpool's first duly patented theatre was opened in

1772. It stood in Williamson Square, and had been
preceded by an earlier house which, after a chequered
career, was transformed into a dissenting chapel. The

} oldest existing theatre in Liverpool is the Royal Court,

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290 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

which was opened under the name of the Royal Amphi-
theatre in 182 1, and remodelled in 185 1. At the Prince
of Wales's, opened later, Bancroft and Hare were both
in the stock company; and it was there that T. W.
Robertson's Society (which afterwards was one of the
successes at the London Prince of Wales's in Tottenham
Street) was first produced in May 1865. Other Liver-
pool theatres are the New Empire Theatre, which, under
the name of the Alexandra Theatre, was built in 1866
and has recently been remodelled, and the Shakespeare
Theatre.

Newcastle's first Theatre Royal, which was opened in
1789, was in its early years controlled by Stephen
Kemble, who was then in command of the Edinburgh
theatre. The Newcastle circuit, which occupied him
during the winter months, included Newcastle, Scar-
borough, Durham, Sunderland, North and South
Shields, Stockton, Darlington and Coventry. In the
early years of the nineteenth century, Macready, the
Charles Kembles, Emery and Charles Young were seen
at Newcastle, where a second Theatre Royal took the
place of the first in 1837.

Norwich is noteworthy in theatrical annals as the
earliest provincial town to establish a Theatrical Fund
on the model of that existing in the metropolis. The
Norwich fund was started in 1791, and the example was
followed by the city of Bath ten years later. The first
patented theatre in Norwich opened in 1759, the circuit
which it headed comprising also Yarmouth, Ipswich,
Bury, Colchester and Lynn. A new Theatre Royal was
erected on the site of the first in 1826.

Shefiield, after a period of unlicensed theatrical per-
formances in the yard of the Angel Inn, obtained its
first regular theatre in 1762. The ubiquitous Tate
Wilkinson was one of its earliest managers, and under

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SOME PROVINCIAL ENGLISH THEATRES. 29 1

him John Kemble, Dora Jordan and Mrs. Siddons were
introduced to Sheffield audiences.

The Tunbridge Wells theatre belonged to the West
Kent circuit, of which the component parts are given
below. Its first theatre, opened about 1770, was a
makeshift building in the Mount Sion district. Its
manageress (a Mrs. Baker) ultimately pulled it down,
and, partly with its materials, built a theatre on the
historic Pantiles. This in its turn was replaced by
another opened on the same site in 1802. A charming
coloured plate, depicting the outside of the house, is
given in a book entitled The Theatric Touristy published
in 1802. The same work comprises views of most of
the provincial theatres of the time. A contemporary
account describes the Tunbridge Wells theatre as **a
neat building which, if properly painted and decorated,
would be superior to most theatres of a similar size."
It was remarkable as standing in two counties, the
stage being in Sussex and the auditorium in Kent. A
respectable stock-company was maintained, and the
theatre was duly visited by the ** stars" from London.
Just a century after the opening of that house, the
present handsome theatre was inaugurated, in 1902.

To mention briefly the beginnings of theatrical history
in other provincial towns of any repute in that respect :
the Margate theatre was patented in 1787, and headed
the West Kent circuit, which included Tunbridge
Wells, Canterbury, Dover, Maidstone, Faversham and
Rochester; Reading succeeded in building a theatre in
1788; Richmond had a theatre as early as 1730, and a
new one in 1765, but it was for long considered an
unprofitable theatrical centre, as being too near London ;
Southampton's first theatre was an old silk-mill meta-
morphosed, and was followed by a house built (in French
Street) for the purpose and opened in 1803; Winchester,

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292 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

which had enjoyed a theatre of sorts since 1760 and
had subsequently tolerated theatrical entertainments in
its Town Hall, opened its earliest regular theatre in
1785; and Windsor, after putting up with performances
in a mere barn about a mile from the town, opened a
Theatre Royal in 1793.

The excellent suburban theatres that have sprung up
in greater London during the last ten or fifteen years
are run on the lines of present-day provincial theatres,
relying for the most part on touring companies and a
constant change of programme. Some are managed
more spiritedly than others, inviting occasional ** first
performances" or special seasons of some kind; but
in the main they proceed on similar lines. Among
the more prominent may be mentioned the Grand
Theatre at Fulham, and the King's at Hammersmith,
both built in 1897; the Kenningtoa theatre and the
Coronet at Notting Hill Gate, both built in 1898, and
the Camden Theatre, built in 1900. Clapham, Ealing,
Holloway, and other outlying districts have also been
well provided in this way of recent years; and in many
instances the suburban house has, from its convenience
and excellence of entertainment, proved a serious rival
to those nearer the centre of London.

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CHAPTER XIX.

THE SCOTTISH STAGE.

Before 1736 there was no regular theatre in Edinburgh.
In the earlier years of the century ** companies of
comedians" had given performances at various times in
the city, a favourite scene of their labours being Taylor's
Hall ; but the first theatre erected for the purpose was
that which Allan Ramsay, with unfortunate enterprise,
opened in Carrubber's Close in 1736. This was a
reconstruction of a booth fitted up in 1727 by Signora
Violante for dancing and acrobatic performances.
Ramsay's theatre only existed for about six months,
and was killed by the Licensing Act of 1737, to its
promoter's great financial loss.

About ten years later the germ of the first Edinburgh
Theatre Royal came into being with the building of a
new Concert Hall in the Canongate. Local opposition
being too strong to permit of a theatrical licence being
obtained, the usual device of advertising a concert,
**with plays gratis between the parts of the concert,"
was resorted to, and with these conditions the drama
in Edinburgh had perforce to be contented for some
twenty years more. The performances there, however,
became of sufficient importance for Mrs. Ward, who
was for many years a mainstay of the Canongate house,
to describe herself subsequently (on her appearance at
Covent Garden) as "from Edinburgh."

The dramatic performances offered were of the same
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294 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

character as those prevailing in the south, but the
management of the house left much to be desired. An
improvement in the state of affairs came about in 1752,
when John Lee (who came from Drury Lane) undertook
the management. Actors from the south would not
risk the expense and danger of the long journey to
Edinburgh for the sake of the few months' season
during which that city maintained an open theatre ;
consequently Lee was obliged to offer them an engage-
ment for the whole year, and utilized their services,
when the Edinburgh theatre was closed, at Glasgow,
Newcastle and Scarborough. Amongst his other re-
forms at Edinburgh, Lee is recorded to have succeeded
in banishing spectators from the stage, and his general
conduct of the theatre appears to have been good.
The enterprise ruined him, however, and in 1756 he
gave over the management to West Digges, an actor
who came from the Smock Alley Theatre at Dublin.

The same year saw the production in Edinburgh (to
the scandalizing of the ministry of the Kirk) of John
Home's Douglas^ a tragedy which its revered author
had previously offered to Garrick, who returned it to
him as ** totally unfit for the stage." In Edinburgh,
however, thanks partly to the reclame obtained by
ecclesiastical controversy and partly to its suiting the
prevalent taste for rhodomontade in verse tragedies, it
achieved a remarkable success ; and it was during its
first performance that an enthusiastic spectator is
recorded to have burst out with the historic apostrophe
** Whaur's yer Wully Shakespeare noo ?"

In his valuable ** Annals of the Edinburgh Stage" (to
which any inquirer into Scottish dramatic history must
be indebted) Mr. J. C. Dibdin records a little incident
during Digges' managership that serves to remind us
of the primitive lighting conditions of the theatre of his

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THE SCOTTISH STAGE. 295

day. In an ambitious revival of The Tempest elaborate
preparations had been made for the storm scene, and in
connection wilh this the managerial announcement was
made that **the stage will be entirely darkened for the
representation of the storm; the candles therefore
cannot be lighted until after the commencement of the
first act."

In 1759 Foote (of the Haymarket) made a very success-
ful appearance in Edinburgh, **his strange disposition
to adventure from the metropolis of England a journey
of 400 miles to Edinburgh" being wondered at and
admired. From 1762 to 1764 Mrs. Bellamy appeared
in Edinburgh.

At last, in 1767, a patent was secured for the Canon-
gate house, which was now able to describe itself as the
Theatre Royal, the patent being subsequently made
over by the proprietor to David Ross, who had acted
with Garrick at Drury Lane and made some reputation
there and at Covent Garden. He temporarily patched
up the rather decrepit theatre, and then cast about for
a site in the New Town on which to erect a new
Theatre Royal. His theatre was eventually built on
the spot now occupied by the Post Office, at the end of
Prince's Street, and was opened in December 1769.

His management was bad, and met with its deserts,
and his failure resulted in a remarkable piece of enter-
prise on the part of Foote, who was already popular in
Edinburgh. He took a three years' lease of the theatre,
and brought his whole Haymarket company thither to
act during the winter months, — for the Haymarket was
only licensed for the summer months, when Drury Lane
and Covent Garden were closed. One season in Edin-
burgh, however, proved enough for him, and he made
over his lease to Digges and returned to London,
eventually appearing once more in Edinburgh early in

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296 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

1774. Digges secured a partner; and under their
managership Mary Ann Yates, who was by this time
reputed in London as a tragic actress, appeared with
her husband at the Theatre Royal, as did also Mrs.
Inchbald and her husband, Elizabeth Younge from
Drury Lane, and Spranger Barry and his wife. Digges
retired in 1777, hopelessly indebted, and his partner
followed him a year later. For the next three years
the theatre's fortunes languished, despite the promises
(mainly unfulfilled) of Tate Wilkinson, manager of the
York theatre, who was lessee for a short time. Digges
managed to escape from his creditors and made one
more venture in Edinburgh, in 1781. In the summer
of the same year John Kemble made his first appear-
ance there^

John Jackson, who founded on his Edinburgh experi-
ences a gossipy chronicle which he published as a
** History of the Scottish Stage," became manager of
the Theatre Royal in the winter of 1781. When he
** commenced manager'* there, he says, the condition of
the house was lamentable. The roof was *Mike a sieve,
which let the rain through in a million of places," and
there were ** neither scenes, wardrobe, or any other
appendage suitable to a Theatre Royal." Jackson was
manager for two periods, first from 1781 to 1791, and
again for a year or two from 1801. His first spell of
managership was combined with the direction of a new
theatre he built in Glasgow in 1782. Mrs. Baddeley
appeared under him in Edinburgh from 1783 to 1785,
Mrs. Siddons at various times from 1784, John Hender-
son (the **Bath Roscius") in 1784, Mrs. Yates in 1785,
and Mrs. Jordan in 1786. In 1790 an ** Amphitheatre,
or Edinburgh Equestrian Circus," which subsequently
as a theatre offered a strong opposition to the Theatre
Royal, was opened in Leith Walk.

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The excitement caused by Mrs. Siddons' appearance
in Scotland was unprecedented. Mr. Dibdin records
that, besides an overwhelming rush of local spectators,
numbers even journeyed from Newcastle to see her act
in Edinburgh, and ** London thieves actually found it
to their profit to come all the way from town ; such a
harvest of wigs, hats, canes, snuff-boxes, purses and
watches never was gathered with greater ease."

The patent of the Theatre Royal had been, in 1788,
renewed for another twenty years, and Jackson con-
tinued in sole managership till 1791, when financial
difficulties drove him into partnership with Stephen
Kemble. Eventually Jackson retired temporarily from
the scene in 1793, ^"^ ^^ ^^^ following year Stephen
Kemble announced the opening of the Theatre Royal
with himself as sole patentee. His management was
more remarkable for promise than for achievement. It
is true that he was instrumental in introducing Incledon,
Elliston, and Henry Erskine Johnston (afterwards a
great favourite also in Glasgow) to Edinburgh audi*
ences; but his stock company as a rule was one of
little merit, and his conduct of the theatre was not such
as to attract prominent ** stars." In consequence of
this, and of his inability to prevent frequent rioting in
the theatre, his audiences fell away; and his retirement,
which took place in 1800, was viewed w^ith no regret.
Indeed he was soundly hissed on making an amazingly
ill-judged speech when he took farewell of his public.

In 1801 the irrepressible Jackson, having secured a
partner, again obtained command of the Theatre Royal.
Master Betty appeared under him in 1804 and Mrs.
Siddons in 1805; and in 1808 the latter's daughter-in-
law, Mrs. Henry Siddons, began a long and honourable
connection with the Edinburgh Stage. In spite of such
occasional attractions, however, Jackson did little to

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298 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

relieve his growing unpopularity. Contemporary news-
paper criticism speaks of his ** gross mismanagement"
of the theatre, and of his irretrievable loss of public
favour. In 1809 he disappeared from the scene.

Then, for nearly three years, the Theatre Royal was
closed. Henry Siddons secured the patent, and used it
to open, not the old Theatre Royal, but the **New
Theatre Royal" in Leith Walk in 1809. This was the
Circus already alluded to, which, originally opened in
1790, had been known in the interim (chiefly with
equestrian performances) as the "Edinburgh Circus,"
the "New Sadler's Wells," the "New Theatre Circus,"
the "Royal Circus," and "Corri's Rooms." The great
Ducrow had been seen there, and burlettas, concerts, and
various miscellaneous entertainments had occupied it.

Henry Siddons and his wife, on opening it as the New
Theatre Royal, were received with the favour that a new
and spirited management deserved ; Sarah Siddons
appeared there in 18 10, and John Kemble a little
later. Strenuous efforts had been made for some time
by the proprietors of the old Theatre Royal to force
Henry Siddops to use his patent there, and in 181 1 he
returned to the old house. He managed to maintain a
fairly high level of excellence in his productions there.
Besides Sarah Siddons, the comedian Munden canie to
assist the popularity of the theatre, and the elder Charles
Mathews met with a very warm reception in it. Henry
Siddons, however, was in very poor health, and growing
financial difficulties further harassed him. He died in
181 5, and the management was taken over by his widow,
in partnership with W. H. Murray, whose name ^vas
long and creditably connected with the Edinburgh Stag^e.
Mrs. Henry Siddons retired in 1830.

The new management made a frank and, as it proved,
acceptable appeal to the public for better support j and

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the fortunes of the Theatre Royal were now for a long
period brighter than they had been for many years.
Before Mrs. Siddons' retirement, such famous actors as
John Kembie, Elizabeth O'Neill, Edmund Kean, Charles
Kemble, Braham, Madame Vestris and Fanny Kembie
had assisted in reviving the popularity of the house, and
Mrs. Henry Siddons herself had achieved a reputation
thoroughly deserved by her considerable powers and
estimable personality.

The trump card of the Murray and Siddons manage-
ment was (as it has been of many subsequent
managements in Scotland) Isaac Pocock's adaptation
of Rob Roy^ which was produced in February 1819.
This perennially popular play (which had been seen in
March 181 8 at Co vent Garden, with Macready as Rob
Roy and Liston as the Bailie Nicol Jarvie, and later in
the same year at the Queen Street theatre in Glasgow)
met with enormous success in the Scottish capital.
The great hit was the performance of Charles Mackay,
already a favourite with Edinburgh audiences, as the
Bailie- Scott has left it on record that he was ** actually
electrified by the truth, spirit and humour which he
threw into the part. It was the living Nicol Jarvie.
... I do assure you I never saw a thing better
played. " The management was reported to have netted
upwards of ;^3000 on Roh Roy^ and ever since then the
piece has been a safe **draw'* for Scottish theatrical
audiences.

After Mrs. Henry Siddons' retirement, Murray
obtained a monopoly of theatrical affairs by taking
over the Leith Walk House as well as the Theatre
Royal. The Leith Walk theatre, since Murray had
abandoned it in 181 1, had been known successively as
Corri's Pantheon and the Caledonian Theatre. A
version of Roh Roy had been produced there early in

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i8i8, before Pocock*s play was seen at Covent Garden;
but it was withdrawn after a failure that must have been
rendered the more galling by the subsequent Rob Roy
triumph at the older theatre. Successive msmagements
failed to make a success of the unlicensed house, and it
was thus the easier for Murray to acquire it in 1830, and,
as the only person legally permitted by the patent to
perform plays in Edinburgh, to get the theatrical
interests of the city entirely into his own hands.

Murray was an astute manager, with a useful insight
to what his audiences wanted, and the result was that
for twenty years he was able 'to preserve the reputation
of the Edinburgh Stage at a high level. He ran his two
houses on different lines, as became the nature of the
audiences that patronized them ; for the Theatre Royal
was only open in winter, which was the Edinburgh
** season," and the Adelphi (as the Leith Walk house
was now called) in summer. Shakespeare and the
** legitimate " romantic drama, varied with opera, were
the staple fare at the Theatre Royal; melodrama and
farce at the Adelphi. Among the famous actors seen at
various times in Edinburgh under Murray's auspices
may be mentioned Madame Celeste, Ellen Tree, Charles
Kean, Buckstone, Mathews and Madame Vestris, G. V.
Brooke, and Helen Faucit. For many years Alexander
Mackenzie (father of Sir A. C. Mackenzie), who was
an excellent musician, was leader of the Edinburgh
orchestra.

Murray, whom all concerned w^ith him agree in
characterizing as a manager of the highest ability and
an honourable and courteous man, was also a capable
actor and a fairly successful dramatist. He retired, to
the general regret, in 1851, and died in the following
year.

With his death the monopoly for a time disappeared.

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The management of the Theatre Royal was undertaken
by the comedian H. F. Lloyd, and that of the Adelphi
by R. H. Wyndham. Lloyd was but an indifferent
manager, and his rule only lasted for a year. In 1853
the Adelphi was burned down, and Wyndham took over
the Theatre Royal, where he remained for the rest of
that theatre's existence. Under his management Toole
(who came from the Queen's Theatre, Dublin) made his
first Scottish appearance in 1853 and speedily became a
great favourite, and four years later Henry Irving made
his first bow to Edinburgh audiences. From 1857
Wyndham also controlled the new Queen's Theatre
which had been built on the site of the defunct Adelphi.
The Queen's had been opened in 1855, and had so far
enjoyed no great measure of prosperity under the
management of James Black, a Leith merchant.

May 1859 saw the final closing of the old Theatre
Royal, its site having been acquired by the Government
for the purpose of erecting the General Post Office.
The chief item in the bill of the farewell performance
was a revival of Masks and Faces y in which Irving, Mrs.
Wyndham and Edmund Glover (now a prosperous
Glasgow manager) appeared. Wyndham spoke a
valedictory address, and the curtain fell for the last
time.

Wyndham now transferred his patent to the Queen's,
which thus became the Theatre Royal. Irving remained
with him till September 1859, when he went to the
Princess's in London. Under Wyndham's manager-
ship at this period there were seen, amongst others,
Lydia Thompson, Wilson Barrett and Miss Heath,
Emma Nicol (a versatile actress who had acted in
Edinburgh for nearly fifty years), Louisa Pyne, E. A.
Sothern, and Dion Boucicault and his wife. In 1865
the theatre was again burned down, and was speedily

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302 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

rebuilt. The life of the new house was short, for in

1875 it was in its turn burned down, and after that
Wyndham retired from management.

A new house was opened on the same site in January

1876 by J. B. Howard, an actor already popular in the
city. Joseph Jefferson appeared there later in the year,
as did also Henry Irving, who now returned as a **star"
to the scene of his early efforts. The days of the stock
company were passing away, and with them disappears
the historical interest of the Edinburgh theatres. In
1883 Howard migrated to the newly built Lyceum
Theatre, which he managed in conjunction with a son
of R. H. Wyndham's; and in the following summer the
Theatre Royal once more fell a prey to the flames. It
was re-constructed and re-opened within the year, and
exists as the present-day Theatre Royal.

Besides the Lyceum, other latter-day Edinburgh
theatres worthy of note are the Princess's, which
existed from 1868 to 1886, and the Edinburgh Theatre,
which had a shorter life from 1875 to 1877. The first
manager of the Princess's was A. D. McNeill, who
became a popular actor and dramatist in Edinburgh,
after having previously acted in London, Birmingham
and Glasgow and having managed the Aberdeen
theatre. Wilson Barrett appeared at the Princess's in
1869; and subsequently Lydia Thompson, Lionel
Brough, Willie Edouin, Charles Collette, Marie Litton,
(in whose company was Charles Wyndham), Compton,
Chippendale, and Florence St. John were among those
who played there. McNeill endeavoured to maintain a
stock company there for some years after the system
had been more generally given up.

The Edinburgh Theatre started with an efficient stock
company, and great hopes, in 1875, ^"^ ^wo years
later its doors were finally closed.

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THE SCOTTISH STAGE. 303

Glasgow was without a permanent theatre of any
account until the enterprising John Jackson (who
between 1781 and 1790 managed theatres in Edin-
burgh, Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen) built one, in
what is now Dunlop Street, in 1782, he having a few
months previously become manager of the Edinburgh
Theatre Royal. Thirty years previously a wooden
booth had been built, outside the city boundaries, for
the performances of plays, but was wrecked by fanatics
during a religious ** revival." In 1764 another make-
shift theatre was set up (still outside the city walls) by
some admirers of the beautiful Anne Bellamy, who was
to act there. The forces of fanaticism made a deter-
mined attempt to destroy this, by setting fire to it
before it was opened. The building was not destroyed,
however, and Anne Bellamy saved the situation. She
insisted on giving her performance, as announced, in
the theatre whatever its condition ; her courage turned
the scale of popular opinion in her favour, and she was
not only welcomed by the Glaswegians when she
appeared but was assisted in doing so by generous
gifts of dresses and other necessaries that had been lost
in the partial fire. In 1780 the building was completely
burned down, this time by accident, just as Jackson had
arranged to undertake its management.

These events resulted in the opening of the Dunlop
Street Theatre (the first to be built within the city) in
1782. The astute Jackson worked upon the generous
instincts of the Glasgow folk by giving, soon after
he opened the theatre, a performance for the benefit
of the poor sufferers from an inundation of the Clyde,
and so disarmed the opposition of the **unco' guid"
and made his theatre popular. He maintained a
good stock company, which included Stephen Kemble
and Henry Siddons, and introduced such eminent

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304 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

performers as John Kemble, Dora Jordan and John
Henderson to Glasgow audiences. But the attempt
to manage the Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and
Dundee theatres together was too much for him,
and ended in bankrupting him in 1790. Stephen
Kemble, one of his creditors, succeeded him in
the management in Glasgow, as he did in Edin-
burgh, and controlled the theatre for eight or nine
years. At the beginning of the nineteenth century
Jackson reappeared as manager in both cities ; but his
management was equally unsatisfactory in both and did
not last long. It must be remembered, however, that
he (with his Edinburgh partner, Francis Aikin) did
Glasgow a service by opening a handsome new theatre
in Queen Street in 1805. Jackson died about a year
later, and the Queen Street house was directed by a
frequently changing succession of managers during its
quarter of a century of existence. Many of the ** stars"
that were appearing in Edinburgh, such as Bannister,
EUiston, Cooke, Edmund Kean, Elizabeth O'Neill and
Liston appeared there also; Pocock's Rob Rqywzs seen
there a few months before it took Edinburgh by storm;
and a little earlier an adaptation of Guy Mannering
had brought good audiences within its walls ; but its
fortunes gradually waned, and in 1829 it was burned
down.

Until J. H. Alexander undertook its management in
1822, the fortunes of the Dunlop Street theatre were at
a low ebb, and for a time the house was occupied by a
circus. The elder Macready combined its control with
that of the Dumfries theatre in 181 2, and under his
management William Charles Macready made an early
appearance at Glasgow, whither he frequently returned
to act in subsequent years.

Alexander, whp h^d previously been a London actor,

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THE SCOTTISH STAGE. 305

was a capable man, and his enterprise by degrees
renewed the popularity of the old house. Enterprise
was needed, for opposition was by no means lacking
during his thirty years of managership. In Dunlop
Street itself, a new theatre was opened by Frank
Seymour in 1825 under the name of the Caledonian
Theatre; in 1829 Seymour, who was by this time the
burned-out manager of the Queen Street house, opened
a new theatre in York Street and made an unsuccessful
effort to obtain the patent, his energies only resulting
in the closing of his new house within two years; in
1842 the Adelphi Theatre was opened, and by degrees
attracted good audiences ; and in 1845 a brief opposi-
tion was offered by the City Theatre, which was built
on the Green by J. H. Anderson and burned down after
a life of six months.

Alexander and Seymour carried on a ludicrous feud
over the Caledonian Theatre, the former (when he
found Seymour had forestalled him in obtaining the
lease of the theatre) hiring a large cellar which ran
beneath it, and giving rival performances therein.
Those below spared no pains in using as much stage-
fire as possible, in order that the acrid fumes should
ooze up through the chinks in the floor of the stage
above; while those above retorted by pouring water
down the chinks. Each endeavoured to drown the
other by clamour and noise of every description, and
the result was an almost inconceivable pandemonium.
So much did a section of the public enjoy the sport, that
the Queen Street theatre was deserted and its manager
forced to abandon it ; whereupon Seymour obtained its
lease and the Caledonian conflict was abandoned by
both himself and Alexander. Seymour's possession of
the Queen Street theatre only lasted for four years, for,
as we have seen, it was burned in 1829.

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The Adelphi Theatre, a wooden building on the
Green, was opened in 1842 by a certain D. P. Miller,
who had been an enterprising showman. He engaged
a fairly good company, and contrived to obtain the
appearance of such ** stars" as Phelps and Fanny
Kemble; but it was not long before the financial ruin
which in so large a proportion of cases awaited
theatrical managers, overtook him. The house was
burned down in 1848; and in the following year
Charles Calvert opened a new theatre, built this time
of brick, on the same site. It was christened the
Queen's Theatre and existed till 1863, when it in its
turn was burned.

Yet another minor theatre sprang into existence in
Alexander's time. This was the Prince's, which
Edmund Glover (who eventually succeeded Alexander
in Dunlop Street) had converted from a hall into a
theatre in 1849.- During Glover's management the
Prince's was well conducted, and gave opportunity for
the rise into popularity of Thomas Powrie, an actor who
eventually became a prime favourite with Glasgow
audiences.

To resume the history of the Dunlop Street house,
while Alexander was still manager there occurred a
panic in the theatre from an alarm of fire, resulting in
the deaths of a large number of the audience in a mad
rush for the doors. This was in February 1849. G. V.
Brooke appeared as **star" in 1850; and in 185 1
Alexander retired, to die a few months later in the
same year. From October 1851 the house was for a
year under the control of Mercer Simpson, who came
from Birmingham; but not even the presence of such
notabilities as Buckstone and Wright could conceal
the poverty of the performances; and it was well
for Glasgow when Edmund Glover transferred his

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THE SCOTTISH STAGE. 307

energies from the Prince's Theatre to Dunlop Street
in 1852.

Glover's management at Dunlop Street, which lasted
until his death in i860, was liberal and intelligent, and
he was rewarded by substantial success as well as by
the esteem of all who came into contact with him.
Under him Toole made his first appearance in Glasgow
in 1855, Ij'ving in i860, and Kendal in 1862. Shake-
speare, the ** legitimate" in tragedy and comedy, and
occasional opera, were what Glover put before his
patrons at the old house, the Prince's being at this time
mainly devoted to burlesque.

After varying fortunes under various managers in the
few intervening years, the historic Dunlop Street
theatre was burned to the ground in January 1863, and
with it practically ends the history of the Glasgow
stage. Times were rapidly changing, and the older
methods soon gave place to the touring system.

After the destruction of the Dunlop Street house, a
remodelled music-hall in the Cowcaddens was known
as the Theatre Royal until it in its turn was burned in
1879. Subsequently the present Theatre Royal, in Hope
Street, was built.

At the close of 1879 the Royalty Theatre, in
Sauchiehall Street, was opened with a production of
Offenbach's Madame Favarty which was then at the
height of its first popularity in England. The leading
members of the company engaged for this were Miss
St. Quentin, Fred Leslie and Beerbohm Tree. Other
existing Glasgow theatres are the King's Theatre,
which was opened in 1904, and the Grand (originally
the Prince of Wales's) and the Princess's, the two last
being mainly devoted to melodrama.

Another Scottish theatre with an honourable record
is the old Marischal Street Theatre Royal in Aberdeen,

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308 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

which was opened in 1795 and existed for seventy years.
One or two theatres had preceded it in the city, but
none had enjoyed more than a short life. As early as
1745, ^"^ again in 1751, we hear of Edinburgh players
giving performances in Aberdeen, but meeting with
very little encouragement and much opposition. In
1768, however, opposition was so far overcome that the
proprietor of the New Inn ventured upon fitting up, as
a public theatre, a hall in his house; and in 1773 West
Digges is said to have built a theatre in Shoe Lane,
where Edinburgh companies of actors appeared. From
1780 to 1789 a small theatre existed in Queen Street,
and about the same time another in what is now called
Chronicle Lane.

Still, the drama had no recognized position in
Aberdeen until the opening of the Marischal Street
Theatre. John Jackson, the Edinburgh manager,
had begun to build the house in 1788; but his
bankruptcy put an end to the scheme and the
building was temporarily put to other uses. In
1795 it was re-modelled and devoted to its original
purpose, its first manager being Stephen Kemble,
who also controlled the Edinburgh and Glasgow
theatres. His management did not last long, and
was followed by a succession of others, the first of
any length being that of Corbet Ryder, which lasted
from 1817 to 1842. After Ryder's death, his widow
carried it on until 1862, and was succeeded by two
sons-in-law.

It is unnecessary to particularize the performances
and performers at the Marischal Street house. A
sufficient stock company was usually maintained and
the more conspicuous actors from outside were, in the
main, the same peripatetic ** stars" that made the
round of the northern theatres. In the 'sixties, Wilson

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THE SCOTTISH STAGE. 309

Barrett was for some time a member of the stock
company.

With the lapse of time and the inevitable change of
conditions the old house lost its repute, and closed its
doors for ever as a theatre in 1873. It was converted
into a church. The present His Majesty's Theatre was
opened in 1872.

Perth, Montrose and Dundee were for many years,
for theatrical purposes, worked with Aberdeen as a
** circuit."

The original theatre in Dundee was pulled down to
make room for the Caledonian Railway Station; a
theatre which for many years stood in Castle Street
was burned down about 1890; the present Her
Majesty's Theatre having been built a few years
previously.

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CHAPTER XX.

THE DUBLIN THEATRES.

The earliest recorded theatre in Dublin was one opened
in 1634 in Werburgh Street. It enjoyed a chequered
career that was closed by the outbreak of the rebellion
of 1 64 1, when the house was closed by the authorities.
The Smock Alley Theatre, which subsequently played a
prominent part in Dublin's theatrical history, was
opened in 1662; and for half a century its position was
unchallenged by any rival. It had its vicissitudes, for
in 16^ part of it fell in, and again in 1701 the galleries
very properly (as all good moralists admitted) gave way
after a performance of Shadwell's licentious play The
Libertine. At various periods, too, after Charles II. 's
death the disturbed state of affairs in Ireland made
theatrical performances out of the question. Barton
Booth appeared at Smock Alley as Oronooko in 1698,
and Wilks and Quin were among those who made their
first essay at acting there.

Its first serious rival sprung from the enterprise of
the French dancer Madame Violante, who had settled
in Dublin in 1727 and proceeded to amuse the town (in
a house in Fownes Court) with dancing and acrobatic
entertainments. In 1731 she removed to another make-
shift theatre in George's Lane, where she continued for
a brief period with miscellaneous performances by a

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THE DUBLIN THEATRES. 3II

troup of children whom she trained to ape the efforts
of their elders in such pieces as The Beggars^ Opera.
It was not long before her establishment was closed
by the authorities, but it has earned record by the
fact that Peg Woffington was among her early pupils
and was much admired as Dolly in The Beggars^
Opera,

The Smock Alley theatre, however, survived this
opposition, as it did that of a music-hall opened in 1731
in Crow Street (on the site of the afterwards popular
Crow Street theatre), as well as that of a theatre which
was opened in Rainsford Street in 1732 but soon closed
its doors.

More serious opposition was offered by the opening
(in 1734) of another new theatre in Aungier Street,
under the title of the Theatre Royal. This led to the
re-building of the Smock Alley theatre, which had fallen
into very bad repair; and in the renovated house Quin
(by this time a famous actor) appeared in 1739, Peg
Woffington in 1741 and Garrick in 1742. The lively
Peg had previously appeared, in 1737, as Ophelia at the
Aungier Street house, where Quin, Ryan, Kitty Clive
and Mrs. Gibber were also seen in 1741.

The competition between the two theatres was keen,
* each striving to outdo the other in securing popular
favourites. Ultimately in 1743 ^ policy of union between
the rival managements was decided upon, and the sea-
son opened at Aungier Street with a company recruited
from the forces of both houses. The actors who were
left unemployed by this arrangement obtained possession
of the Smock Alley theatre, where they were fortunate
enough to secure the services of Thomas Sheridan,
whom the Aungier Street proprietors had failed to
attract by the salary they had offered him. Fortune
was, however, against the forlorn hope of Smock Alley,

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for Sheridan was so disgusted with the company that
he deserted it after a year and accepted an invitation to
act at Covent Garden. The result of this defection was
the abandonment of the enterprise, and the Smock
Alley house was prudently acquired by the Aungier
Street management. The disappointed actors from the
older house made one more bid for fortune at a theatre
built in Capel Street. They opened it in 1745, ^^^ want
of capital led to their discomfiture and the closing of
their theatre after a few years.

Things meanwhile had been going none too well in
Aungier Street, despite such occasional attractions as the
appearances of Spranger Barry and Foote. The upshot
was that Sheridan was invited to return there as
undisputed head of affairs, and thus there began a
management which was of the utmost service to the
drama in Dublin.

In 1745 Sheridan brought the fair Anne Bellamy to
Dublin, and in the same year and the following Garrick
also played at Aungier Street. In 1747 Henry Wood-
ward, a good comedian and pantomimist appeared
there; Macklin, Henry Mossop, and West Digges
between 1748 and 1750; and in 1751 Peg Woffington,
who now returned to Dublin in the height of her powers
and remained there till 1754. Sheridan's lot was by no
means enviable; for, besides constant financial diffi-
culties, he had to contend with recurrent friction
springing from professional jealousy, as well as with
riots arising both from that cause and from others
connected with the attitude of the ** young bloods" of
the day towards the theatre and its management. He
succeeded, however, in the difficult task of bringing
order and decency into a theatre which, when he under-
took its management, he described as ''one part a
bear-garden and the other part a brothel."

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THE DUBLIN THEATRES. 313

In March 1754 there occurred a more than usually
serious riot, sprung, as usual, from a trivial cause.
Sheridan's attitude with regard to it incensed the
audience, who forgot all the obligations under which
he had laid them and in a foolish fury wrecked his
theatre. He accordingly retired from the management
and went to London, but two years later (in October
1756) was induced to return to Dublin and once more
undertake the conduct of affairs which had languished
without him. To the eternal discredit of the Irish
audiences, he was forced on his reappearance to make
a public apology to the audience which had treated him
so badly. His only fault had been a perhaps too
obstinate regard for his dignity; in any case, he was
an excellent manager, and a man whom it was a cruelty
to humiliate in this fashion.

To add to Sheridan's troubles, it became known that
Spranger Barry intended to build a new theatre on the
site of the Crow Street music-hall. Every effort was
made by the Smock Alley management to get the new
scheme interdicted, but without success, and in October
1758 the Crow Street theatre opened its doors. Its
initial success was not great, nor was the older theatre
in very good case ; still the opposition of the other was
enough to spoil the prospects of each of the rivals.
The Smock Alley house was further handicapped by two
disasters. Sheridan, who had gone to London to
recruit for his company, leaving his partner Benjamin
Victor to manage the theatre in his absence, had
engaged two ** stars" in the shape of Theophilus Cibber
and a celebrated Harlequin of the name of Maddox,
both of whom were drowned by the foundering of the
vessel in which they were crossing to Ireland. On the
top of this came a crowning blow in the shape of
Sheridan's decision not to return to Dublin. Victor

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314 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

tried a final coup by engaging Macklin and his
daughter, but, when it came to the point, Macklin
cried off his bargain, putting forward his daughter's
health as an excuse for not fulfilling the engage-
ment. Eventually in the summer of 1759 both the
Smock Alley and Crow Street theatres closed their
doors.

Both shortly reopened under new management, the
Crow Street theatre now surpassing the older house in
enterprise. Henry Mossop and Foote were two great
attractions offered by it, and its management diplo-
matically prevented Tate Wilkinson from appearing at
the rival house. Smock Alley's only successful venture
at this period was the engagement of Mrs. Abington,
who made there her first Dublin appearance late in

1759-

In 1760 Mossop, who had declined to renew his
engagement at Crow Street, took and reconstructed
the Smock Alley theatre, and got together an efficient
company. Crow Street retaliated in kind, and a keen
competition began again. Mossop, Digges and Anne
Bellamy at Smock Alley were opposed to Barry,
Woodward and Fleetwood at Crow Street; and each
house strove to outdo the other while neither managed
to make their enterprise pay. The Barry and Mossop
rivalry continued till 1767, when Barry disappeared and
Mossop took both houses for a short time. The chief
point of dramatic interest during these years was the
presence in Dublin of Macklin, who appeared at Smock
Alley in 1761 and again at various times between 1763
and 1770. Mossop was soon obliged to give up Crow
Street to a new manager, and in I77i2 retired ruined
from Smock Alley, which was taken by Thomas Ryder,
who was already a popular actor in Dublin.

Crow Street ruined its new manager by 1776, in

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THE DUBLIN THEATRES. 315

which year Ryder acquired its lease and acted there,
retaining Smock Alley only so as to prevent competition.
He eventually had to surrender Smock Alley, owing to
his inability to pay its rent; the old competition re-
vived; and in 1782 Ryder disappeared from the
managerial scene, bankrupt, and became a member of
the company controlled by his rival Richard Daly, who
had been in control of Smock Alley since 1781. Daly's
first important engagement was that of John Kemble in
1781, and in 1783 he brought Sarah Siddons to Dublin.
A year later, owing to the failure of the manager who
had followed Ryder at Crow Street, that theatre fell
into Daly's hands, who now could prevent opposition.
He confined himself almost entirely to Crow Street,
and the Smock Alley house practically ceased to exist
as a theatre. In 1790 it was turned into a storehouse,
and later a church was built on its site.

Daly, whose means were diminishing, abandoned
theatrical management in 1798, and his place at Crow
Street was taken by Frederick Jones, who had success-
fully tried his hand in the control of a private theatre
opened in Fishamble Street in 1793. Jones' reign
was short, riots and want of patronage producing
the usual result; and the patent passed into the
hands of Henry Harris, who was manager of Covent
Garden.

Harris decided to abandon Crow Street theatre and
to build a new Theatre Royal. Accordingly a site was
obtained in Hawkins Street, and the new house was
opened in January 182 1. In the matter of comfort and
convenience it was a great improvement on its pre-
decessors; and Harris (who controlled it till 1828,
though he frequently sub-let it during that time) started
it with a good stock company, which included Paul
Bedford, Montague Talbot and the fair Mrs. Humby.

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3l6 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

A brother of William Farren acted as deputy-manager
when Harris was in London.

In its early seasons such favourites as Charles
Kemble, Liston, Braham and Edmund Kean appeared
at the Theatre Royal; and among those who subse-
quently visited it in Harris* time were Macready, who
acted there in 1824, T. P. Cooke in 1827, Charles Kean
in 1828, and in the same year the great Ducrow with
his circus.

In November 1828 the theatre audits ''properties"
were offered for sale by auction.

Undaunted by the experience of their predecessors,
fresh managers were found, and the theatre was re-
opened early in 1829. In May of that year Edmund
Kean and his son Charles acted together on its stage.
Charles and Fanny Kemble appeared there in 1830, as
also did some Siamese Dancers and a Performing
Elephant.

The history of the remaining fifty years of the life of
the old Theatre Royal is divided into two long and
meritorious managements, that of John William Calcraft
from 1830 to 1 85 1, and that of John Harris from 185 1
onwards.

Calcraft maintained a good stock company, and, to
protect his patent rights, took up also the lease of the
Adelphi Theatre, known later as the Queen's. He
suffered, however, from a new (though perhaps never
very formidable) opposition by the opening in 1883 of a
theatre in Lower Abbey Street, which John and James
Calvert managed to keep open till 1844.

During his management Calcraft, impelled by
financial reasons, fell into the snare of playing down
to the vitiated taste of the public. Thus, in his time,
while we find Compton, Helen Faucit, Mathews and
Madame Vestris, the Charles Keans, Webster and

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THE DUBLIN THEATRES. 317

Sims Reeves at the Theatre Royal, we also find there
Van Amburgh's Lions, a Belgian Giant and Performing
Monkeys.

John Harris, who succeeded Calcraft in 185 1, was a
manager of higher ideals and stronger determination.
He had been for three years in control of the Queen's
Theatre, as the Adelphi was now called; and on his
assuming the management at the Theatre Royal it soon
became evident that he intended to spare no pains to
restore the theatre's prestige. That ^im he accom-
plished to a remarkable extent. The great feature of
the early years of his rule was a series of excellent
Shakespearean revivals, in the course of which he pro-
duced, between 1851 and 1855 no fewer than fourteen
of the plays, all adequately mounted and capitally acted.
The London ** stars" were glad to visit Dublin under
such auspices, and altogether Harris may be given the
credit for a remarkable revival of dramatic activity in
Dublin. In the 'seventies, too, he gave his audiences a
succession of seasons of Italian opera. The Theatre
Royal was burned down in 1880, and there was no
Theatre Royal in Dublin till 1897, when the present one
was opened.

The old Queen's Theatre has for long been devoted to
melodrama. Other present-day theatres in Dublin are
the Gaiety (in King Street) and the Abbey Theatre, the
latter being opened in 1904 for the performance of Irish
dramas under the auspices of the National Theatre
Society. That body (or rather its earliest ancestor) was
founded in 1899, as the Irish Literary Theatre, by W.
B. Yeats, Edward Martyn and Lady Gregory. It was
known by that designation till 1901 ; as the Irish
National Dramatic Company in 1902; as the Irish
National Theatre Society from 1903 to 1905; and as the
National Theatre Society since 1905. Its performances

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3l8 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH STAGE.

in Dublin have been successively given at the Gaiety
Theatre, St. Teresa's Hall, the Molesworth Hall, and
finally at the Abbey Theatre, the plays produced being
mainly from the pens of W. B. Yeats, Edward Martyn,
George Moore, Lady Gregory, J. M. Synge and William
Boyle.

A body calling itself the Gaelic Theatre gave per-
formances in the Dublin Rotunda in 1903.

ERRATA.

Page 35, line 16. For " 1652 " read " 1662."

Page 133, line 3. Fifr "on^^ read " in,'^

Page 224, line 2. For " Elliott " read " Elliot."
Page 286, line 18. For "elder " read " younger.*'

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INDEX.

Aberdeen, earliest theatres in,
308; Marischal- Street Theatre,
308,309; HisMajesty'sTheatre,
309

Aberdeen Circuit, 309

Abington, Frances, at Dublin, 314;
in London, 87, 94

Acis and Galatea, 68

Adores Remonstrance, The, 31,
32

Actors, the clergy the earliest,
1-2 ; members of guilds as, 2-7;
become a separate class, 1 1 ;
earliest amateur, 12 ; boys as,
12, 19, 20, 26; conflict with
clergy, 12; declining status of,
14-15; acts and proclamations
respecting, 13, 14, 16, 30, 32 ;
position re-established, 26 ;
conflict with Puritans, 28-33 J
demeanour during Civil War,
33; Charles II. grants patents
to two companies, 35; rivalry
between them, 40 ; they are
amalgamated, 43-47 ; as public
favourites, 45; second patent
again granted, 47 ; as servants
of the public, 108; opposition
to, in Bristol, 282 ; in Glasgow,

303

Actresses, earliest on English
stage, 35, 39, 40

Addison, Joseph, 57

Adelphi Theatre, earliest days of,
loi, 122, 123 ; managed by
Yates, 123; by Madame Celeste
and Webster, 143 ; by Webster
alone, 143-145; the house re-
built, 145; managed by Chat-
terton, 145 ; by the brothers

Gatti, 240-242; known for a
short time as Century Theatre,
242 ; interior remodelled, 242

Admirable BashvilU, The, 225

Admirable Crichton, The, 234

After Dark, 155

Aikin, Francis, 304

Ainley, Henry, 208

Alabama, 210, 245

Alabaster Staircase, The, 210, 228

Aladdin, 257

Albeniz, Isaac, 269

Albery, James, 217, 245

Albion Theatre, 252

Aldwych Theatre, 274

Alexander, George, at Lyceum,
171 1 I73> 206; manager of
Avenue, 159, 228, 229; of St.
James's, 206-208

Alexander, J. H., manager of
Glasgow Dunlop Street theatre,
304-306; his feud with Seymour,
manager of Caledonian Theatre,

305

Alexandra Theatre, 253

Alice in Wonderland, 231, 246,
264

Alice Sit^by-the-Fire, 183, 234

All Abrocui, 272

Alleyn, Edward, 19, 26, 41

Amasis, 272

Amazon/^ The, 223, 224

Ambassador, The, 208

Amber Heart, The, 173

America, Vestris and Mathews in,
121 ; Macreadyin, 133; Charles
Keanin, 154; Irving and Ellen
Terry with Lyceum company
in, 171, 172; Ellen Terry in,
182 ; Kendals in, 205 ; Wynd-

319

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320

INDEX.

bam in, 216, 217, 218; Wilson
Barrett in, 238 ; Terriss in, 240,
241 ; Willard in, 244, 245 ;
MarieTempestin, 269; Charles
Calvert in, 287

Amour MouilUy L\ 269

Anderson, James R., at Dmry
Lane, 132; manager, 135

Anderson, John H., 305

Anderson, Mary, 178

Andromache, 225

Angela, 228

Anstey, F., 196, 231

Anstmtber, Eva, 196

Aphrodite against Artemis, 227

Apollo Theatre, 273, 274

Aquarium Theatre, 249

Aquatic Theatre, 99

Arabian Nights, The, 227

Arms and the Man, 227, 229

Ame, Thomas Augustine, 70, 83,

Arnold, Samuel, 124

Arrahna-Popu, 155

Artaxerxes, 83

Artists Model, An, 271

Arundale, Sybil, 271

Asche, Oscar, 199, 211, 242

Ashwell, Lena, at Wyndham's,
220; at New Theatre, 221;
manager of Great Queen Street
Theatre, 230

Astley, Philip, 100- lOi

Astley's Amphitheatre, lOi, 127

Attila, 199

Audran, Edmond, 267

Aunt Jack, 223

Australia, Charles Kean in, 154 ;
Toole in, 215 ; Wilson Barrett
in, 239

Avenue Theatre (afterwards The
Playhouse), comic opera at,
267 ; managed by Alexander,
228-229; by Jones, 229; by Ken-
dais, 229 ; by F. Farr, 229 ; by
Ilawtrey, 229 ; other plays at,
'230 ; partially destroyed, 195 ;
rebuilt and managed (as The
Playhouse) by Maude, 195, 196

Aynesworth, Allan, 223, 229

Baddblbt, Sophia, 296

Baker, Mrs., manager of Tun-
bric^e Wells theatre, 291

Bale, J. (Bishop of Ossory), 13

Ballad Monger, The, 193

Bancroft, L^dy, at Bath, 280;
first London appearance, 156,
157; at Strand, 158; part
manager of Prince of Wales's,
187-190; marriage, 189; part
manager of Haymarket, 190-
192 ; retirement from manage-
ment, 192; subsequent appear-
ances, 192 ; her *' Remini-
scences " quoted, 187-189,202

Bancroft, Sir S., at Birmingham,
285; at Liverpool, 290; first
London appearance, 188; mar-
riage, 189; part manager of
Haymarket, 190-192; retire-
ment from management, 192;
subsequent appearances, 192 ;
knighted, 192 ; his "Remini-
scences'* quoted, 187-189, 202

Bannister, John, at Haymarket,
103; at Drury Lane, 106; at
Brighton, 288; at Glasgow,

304

Barker, Granville, part manager
of Court, 226 ; of Savoy, 226,
227 ; The Marrying of Ann
Lute, 225; Prunella, 226;
The Voysey Inheritance, 226;
Waste, 227

Barrett, Wilson, in provinces, 221,
222, 286; at Edinburgh, 301,
302; at Aberdeen, 309; man-
ager of Court, 222 ; manager of
Princess's, 236-238; season at
Globe, 238; American tours,
238; manager of New Olympic,
239; season at Adelphi, 242;
at Shaftesbury and Lyric, 239 ;
at Lyceum, 180, 239; Aus-
tralian tours, 239 ; death, 239 ;
plays written by him, 238, 239

Barrie, J. M., The Admirable
Crichton, 234 ; Alice Sit-by 'the-
Fire, 183, 234; Jane Annie,
265; Josephine, 228; IMtU

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INDEX.

321

Mary, 220 ; The Little Minis-
l^i 195 5 Pantaloon^ 234; Peter
Pan, 234; The Professor's Love
Story, 228, 245; Punch, 228;
Quality Street, 247 ; Walker,
London, 215; The Wedding
Guest, 211

Barrier, The, 228

£arrington, Rutland, at Savoy,
262 ; manager of St. James's,
206 ; at Lyric, 269 ; at Daly's,
271, 271

Barry, Elizabeth, at Drury Lane,
44; at Lincoln's Inn Fields,

47,53

Barry, Shiel, 214

Barry, Spranger, at Drury Lane,
74, ; at Covent Garden, 74-76,
80, 96; at Aungier Street
theatre, Dublin, 312 ; manager
of Crow Street theatre, Dublin,
313, 314; at Edinburgh, 296

Barry Doyle^s Best Cure, 226

Bashford and Russell manage-
ment at Haymarket, 193

Basoche, The, 266

Bateman, ** Col." H. L., manager
of Lyceum, 162-164

Bateman, Isabel, 164

Bateman, Kate, 144

Bateman, Mrs. S. F., manager of
Lyceum, 164-167; of Saddler's
Wells, 150

Bath, earliest theatres in, 278;
Orchard Street theatre opened,
278 ; managed by Palmer, 278,
279 ; granted Patent as Theatre
Royal, 278; worked in con-

i 'unction with Bristol, 279, 280;
louse closed and new one
opened in Beaufort Square,
280; managed by elder Mac-
ready, 280 ; by Mrs. Macready,
280; by Chute, 280, 281;
burned down, 281 ; present
house opened, 281
Bath and Bristol Circuit, 280,

282
Bauble Shop, The, 219
Bear-Garden, The, 20, 31

Beau Austin, 200
Beaumont and Fletcher, 27
Beauty and the Barge, The, 195,

221
Beauty of Bath, The, 274
Beauty Stone, The, 265
Becky Sharp, 232
Bedford, Paul, at Dublin Theatre

Royal, 315 ; at Adelphi, 1 23,

143

Beere, Mrs. Bernard, at Globe,
247; at Criterion, 219

Bexar's Bush, The, 35

Beggar^ s Opera, The, 60, 61 , 68, 80

Behn, Aphra, 43, 46

Belasco, David, 241

Belgravia Theatre, 202

Bellamy, Anne, at Dublin, 312;
at Drury Lane, 75; at Edin-
burgh, 295 ; at Glasgow, 303

Belle of Bohemia, The, 273

Belle of May fair. The, 247

Belle of New York, The, 245, 273

Bellew, Kyrle, 249

Bells, The, 163

Bells of Hasleniere, The, 24 1

Beloved Vagabond, The, 2CX)

Belphegor, 156, 157

Benefit of the Doubt, The, 194, 228

Ben-ma-Chree, The, 238

Benson, E. F., 225

Benson, F. R., at Globe, 247 ; at
Lyceum, 179; other mention of
his touring company, 200, 254

Bernhardt, Sarah, at Gaiety, 257 ;
at Lyceum, 178

Besier, Rudolf, 242

Betsy, 217

Betterton, Thomas, in Davenant's
company at Lincoln's Inn
Fields and Dorset Gardens, 41,
42 ; at Drury Lane, 44 ; at
Lincoln's Inn Fields, 47; at
Queen's Theatre, Haymarket,
51 ; at Drury Lane, 53, 58

Betty, William, at Drury Lane
and Covent Garden, 97, 98;
at Edinburgh, 297; at Bath,
280 ; at Exeter, 283

Billington, Elizabeth, 95

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322

INDEX.

BilUngtoo, John, 214

Bilfy's LUtte Love Affair^ 221

Banyon, R. L., 199

BinningtoD, earliest theatres at,
284; theatre built in King
Street, 284 ; closed, 285 ;
another baiit in New Street,
285 ; twice bamed and rebuilt,
285; obtains Patent as Theatre
Royal, 285 ; managed bv elder
Macready, 285; by Elliston,
285; by Bunn, 285; Prince of
Wales's Theatre, 286; Grand
TheaUe, 286; Queen's Theatre,
286

Birmingham Circuit, 277

Black, James, 301

Black Cat, The, 225

Black Eye^d Susan, 125, 204, 216

Black Friars' Monastery, used as
theatre, 16-17; converted into
regular theatre, 18-20, 27

Black TuHp, The, 195

Blakeley, William, at Criterion,
217,218

Blot in Ihe 'Scutcheon, A, 133

Bluebeard, 258

Bluebell in Fairyland, 247, 274

Blue- Eyed Susan, 268

Blue Moon, The, 270

Bolton, Duchess of. See Fenton,
L.

Bond, Jessie, at Opera Comique
and Savoy, 263 ; at Lyric, 269

Booth, Barton, at Dublin, 310;
at Drury Lane, 53, 59, 61 ;
part manager of Drury Lane,
58-61 ; retirement and death,
61 ; his acting, 61, 62

Booth, Edwin, at Haymarket,
139; at Lyceum, 170

Boucicault, Dion, the elder, acts
at Brighton, 288; at Edinburgh,
301 ; at Princess's, 155; After
Dark, 155; Arrah-na-Pogue,
155; The Colleen Sawn, 144;
Dot, 213 ; Hunted Down, 184 ;
The Octoroon, 144 ; The Streets
of London, 155

Boucicault, Dion, the younger, 224

Boucicault, Nina, at Vaudeville, \
246; at Wyndham's, 220

Bourchier, Arthur, at St. James's,
206, 210; at Criterion, 210,
219 ; manager of Royalty, 210,
211 ; at Garrick, Strand and
Court, 211; part manager of
Criterion, 211, 221 ; manager
of Garrick, 211, 212

Bourchier, Mrs. Arthur. Su
Vanbrugh, V.

Bowkett, Sydney, 221

Boy actors, in sixteenth century,
12, 19, 20, 26 ; at Drury Lane,

97,98

Boy O'Carrol, 250

Boyle, William, 318

Boys Together, 242

Bracegirdle, Anne, 44

Braham, John, sings in London,
94» 95, 99; at Bath, 280; at
Dublin, 316; at Edinburgh,
299; opens St. James's Theatre,
126

Braham, Leonora, at Opera
Comique and Savoy, 263, 264 ;
at Daly's, 271

Brandon, Olga, at Shaftesbury,
244 ; at Avenue, 229

Brantinghame Hall, 206

Brayton, Lily, at Duke of York's,
234; at Adelphi, 242; at His
Majesty's, 234

Breaking a Butterfly, 231

Brett, H., 53

Brewster's Millions, 235

Brieux, Eugene, 225

Brigadier Gerard, 250

Brighton, 217

Brighton, theatre opened in North
Street, 288 ; another in Duke
Street, 288; another in New
Road, 288; rebuilt and man-
aged by Nye Chart, 288 ; man-
aged by Mrs. Chart, 288, 289

Bristol, earliest theatrical per-
formances at, 281 ; Jacob's
Well Theatre opened by Hip-
pesley, 281 ; new house built
in King Street, 282; licence

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INDEX.

323

obtained, 282; managed, to-
gether with Bath theatre, by
Palmer, 282 ; by Chute, 282

Britannia Theatre, Hoxton, 251,
252

Broken Hearts, 202, 204

Brooke, Gustavus, at Olympic,
122; at Edinburgh, 300; at
Glasgow, 306

Brookfield, Charles, at Comedy,
227; at Criterion, 219; The
Cuckoo, 229, 247; Dear Old
Charlie, 247

Brooks, Shirley, 275

Brough, Fanny, at Duke of York's,
233 ; at Prince of Wales's, 232 ;
at Haymarket, 196

Brough, Sydney, at Comedy, 228 ;
at Criterion, 219

Brough, William, The Field of the
Cloth of Gold, 255 ; writes for
German Reeds, 275

Broughton, Phyllis, at Gaiety,
258 ; at Prince of Wales's, 268

Brown Potter, Mrs., at His
Majest/s, 248 ; at Savoy, 266

Browne, Pattie, 224

Browning, Robert, A Blot in
the ^Scutcheon, 133; A SouVs
Tragedy, 225

Bruce, Edgar, manager of Aqua-
rium Theatre, 249; of Prince
of Wales's, 190; of Prince's,
230, 231

Brunswidc Theatre, loi

Buchanan, Robert, Clarissa Bar-
lowe, 246; Dr, Cupid, 246;
Joseph^ s Sweetheart, 246; Lady
Clare, 247 ; Miss Tomboy, 246 ;
Sophia, 246 ; The Strange Ad-
ventures of Miss Brown, 246 ;
Sweet Nancy, 248

Backstone, J. B., his plays per-
formed at Adelphi, 123, 143;
acts at Surrey Theatre, 1 25 ;
at Coburg, 127; at Haymarket,
137; manager of Haymarket,
138-142; acts at Lyceum,
156; at Birmingham, 286; at
Brighton, 288; at Edinburgh,

300$ at Glasgow, 306; his
acting, 138; anecdotes of, 138,

139

Bunn, Alfred, manager of Bir-
mingham theatre, 285; man-
ager of Drury Lane and Covent
Garden, 114-117; of Drury
Lsbe for second time, 135

Burbage, James, at Blackfriars'
theatre, 17, 26; builds The
Theatre, 17, 18

Burbage, Richard, 26

Burlesque, at Gaiety, 255-259,
261; at Lyceum, 155-157; at
01]nnpic, 120, 255; at Opera
Comique, 263; at Prince of
Wales% 188, 189; at Royalty,
159, 255; at Strand, 158, 255;
at Toole's, 214, 215

Bumand, Sir F. C, Betsy, 217;
Black Eye' d Susan, 216; Blue-
beard, 258; The Colonel, 190;
Conirdbandista, 275; Cox and
Box, 275; A Gay Widow, 224;
The Headless Man, 218; His
Majesty, 265 ; Ixion, .1 59

Bury, theatre at, 290

Butler, The, 214

Buxton, theatre at, 287

Byron, H. J., at Birmingham,
286; his burlesques at Strand,
158, 255; at Prince of Wales's,
187-189 ; Daisy Farm, 243 ;
Dearer Than Life, 214; Four-
fun Days, 217

Byron, Lord, writes address for
opening of Drury Lane, 106;
on Committee of Management,
107

Caine, T. H. Hall, The Ben-ma-
Chree, 238; The Christian,
234; The Good Old Times, 238;
7 he Manxman, 239, 245

Calcraft, J. W. , manager of Dublin
Theatre Royal, 316, 317

Caldicott, Alfred, 275

Cabinet Minister, The, 195, 223

Casar and Cleopatra, 227

Called Back, 231

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324

INDEX.

Calmour, A. C, T^U Am^
Heart 173 ; The Judgment of
Pharaoh, 251

Calvert, Charles, manager of
Glasgow Qaeen's Theatre, 306;
his Shakespearean productions
at Manchester Prince's Theatre,
287

Calvert, Mrs. Charles, 287

Calvert, Tames, 316

Calvert, John, 316

Cambises, ii

Cambridge University, plays acted
at, 12

Camden Theatre, 292

Cameron, Violet* 214, 267, 273

Campbell, Herbert, 253

Campbell, Mrs. Patrick, at St.
James's, 206, 207 ; at Garrick,
209; at Lyceum, 178, 179; at
Avenue, 229; at Prince of
Wales's, 231

Canary, The, 231

Candida, 225

Candidate, The, 217, 218

Canterbury, theatre at, 291

Captain Brassbounds Conversion,
183, 225

Captain Drew on Leazfe, 220

Captain Swift, 193

Carmen Up to Data, 259

Carr, J. Comyns, Boys Together,
242; King Arthur, 175; The
Rose of Persia, 265

Carr, Osmond, His Excellency,
265 ; Morocco Bound, 273

Carre, Michel, 268

Carson, Murray, at Terry's
Theatre, 233; Rosemary, 219;
Simple Simon, 212

Carte, R. D'Oyly, manager of
Opera Comique, 262, 263 ; of
Savoy, 263-266; of English
Opera House, 266

Carte, Mrs. D'Oyly, 266

Carton, R. C, The Home Secre-
tary, 219; Lady Barbarity,
228; Lady Huntworth's Experi-
ment, 211, 221; Liberty Hall,
207 ; Lord and Lady Algy, 228,

229; Mr, Hopkinson, 230;
Public Opinion, 221 ; Robin
Goodfellow, 209; The Squire
of Dames, 219; Sunlight and
Shadow, 206, 229; Wheels
within Wheels, 211, 221; A
White Elephant, 228

Cartwright, William, 40

Caryll, Ivan, his music for Gaiety
pieces, 261 ; Dandy Dick Whit-
tington, 269 ; The Gay Parisi-
enne, 272; Little Christopher
Columbus, 269; The Lucky
Star, 2!66

Case of Rebellious Susan, The, 219

Cassilis Engagement, The, 225

Caste, 189, 210, 216

Castle of Andalusia, 96

Catch of the Season, The, 247

Cathcart Rowley, 288

Cato, 57, 58» 61

Cavendish, Ada, at Strand, 159;
at Olympic, 147; at Globe, 247

Cecil, Arthur, with German Reeds,
275; at Prince of Wales's, 190';
at Court, 222-224; part manager
of Court, 222-223; at Avenue,
229

Celeste, Madame, at Haymarket,
137 > P^>^ manager of Adelphi,
138, 143; of Lyceum, 157; at
Edinburgh, 300

Cellier, Alfred, Doris, 268;
Dorothy, 231, 248, 267, 268,
269; The Mountebanks, 265,
269

Censorship of Plays, first estab-
lished, 67; Coleman as Ex-
aminer of Pla3rs, 103 ; agitation
for abolition of, 227

Century Theatre, 242

Chambers, Haddon, Boys To-
gether, 242; Captain Swifts
193 ; The Fatal Card, 241 ; The
Idler, 207; 7 he Old Lady, 223 ;
The Tyranny of Tears, 219

Chance, the Idol, 220

Chapman, George, 27

Charing Cross Theatre^ see Folly
TheaUe

Digitized byCjOOQlC

INDEX.

325

Charity that began at Homey The,
226

Charles I, , 163

Charley* s Aunt, 159, 160, 248

Chart, H. Nye, 288

Chart, Mrs. Nye, 288

Chassaigne, Francis, 267

ChattertoD, F. B., manager of
Dniry Lane, 135, 136; of
Adelphi, 145; of Princess's,

15s

Cherry Girl, The, 247

Chester Miracle Play, 2, 3, 7

Chester Theatre, 287

Chetwood, W. R., 56

Chevaleer, The, 211

Children of the King, The, 224

Chili Widow, The, 211

Chinese Honeymoon, A, 2J2

Chippendale, W. H., at Brighton,
288; at Edinburgh, 302

Christian, The, 234

Christmas Carol, A, 144

Chronicle Plays, 1 1

Chudleigh, Arthur, part manager
of Court, 223, 224

Chute, J. H., manager of Bath
and Bristol theatres, 280, 282

Cibber, Colley, at Drury Lane,
44» 45> 48, 52-63; part manager,
54-63; retirement and death,
63; his Apology quoted, 36, 44,
48, 52, 56 ; Lovers Last Shift,

Cibber, Mrs. S. M., at Dublin,
311; at Drury Lane and Covent
Garden, 70, 74, 75, 81

Cibber, Theophilus, at Drury
Lane, 64-66; at Haymarket, 66;
at Covent Garden, 69 ; drowned
on his way to Dublin, 313

Cigale, La, 269

Cigarette- Maket^s Romance, A,
250, 273

Cinder Ellen, 259

Cingalee, The, 271

Circuits, theatrical : the Bath and
Bristol, 277, 280, 282; Birming-
ham, 277; Exeter, 277, 282;
Kent, 277, 291 ; Manchester,

277, 287; Newcastle, 277, 290;
Norwich, 277, 290; Salisbury,
277; York, 277, 289; Aberdeen,

309
Circus Girl, The, 260
City Theatre, 127
Clapham Theatre, 292
Clarence Theatre, 253
Clarissa Harlowe, 246
Clark, Thornton, 233
Clarke, J. S., manager of Hay-
market, 142; of Strand, 159
Claudian, 215, 237
Clayton, John, at St. James's,

158; at Queen's Theatre, 160;

at Gaiety, 257 ; at Prince of

Wales's, 190; at Court, 202;

manager of Court, 222, 223;

death, 223
Clements, Miriam, 273
Clito, 238
Clive, Kitty, at Dublin, 311; at

Covent Garden, 70; at Drury

Lane, 74, 81
Cloches de Corneville, Les, 214
Coates, Robert, at Haymarket,

103, 104
Cobourg Theatre (afterwards

Victoria), 127, 128
Cockpit, Drury Lane, 19, 34
Coffin, Hayden, at Prince of

Wales's, 268; at Daly's, 271
Coghlan, C. F., 222
Colchester, theatre at, 290
Coleman, Fanny, at Brighton,

233; at Terry's, 288
Collard, Avalon, 275
Colleen Bawn, The, 144
Collette, Charles, 302
Collier, Jeremy, 46
Collier, W., 53
Collins, Arthur, 136
Collins, Wilkie, Man and Wife,

190 ; The New Magdalen, 147
Colman, George, the elder, part

manager of Covent Garden,

84; manager of Haymarket,

102
Colman, George, the younger,

manager of Haymarket, 102-104

Digitized byCjOOQlC

326

INDEX.

Colonel^ Thty 190

Colonel Newconu^ 200

Comedy Opera Company, 262,
263

Comedy Theatre, opened with
comic opera, 227, 267; plays
subsequently produced at, 227,
228

Comic Opera, 262-274

Comparison belween the two
Stages, A, 48

Compton, Henry, at Dublin, 316;
at«Haymarket, 139; at Strand,
158; at Edinburgh, 302

Confederacy, The, 51

Congrcve, William, his plays at
Drury Lane, 45, 46, 54, 57,
62; at Lincoln's Inn Fields, 47,
48; Love for Love, 48; The
Way of the World, 6^

Conquest, George, 252

Conway, H.B., 173

Cooke, G. F., at Covent Garden,
96; at Bath, 280; at Glasgow,

304
Cooke, T. P., at Surrey, 125; at

Adelphi, 123; at Dublin, 316
Copp^e, Francois, 179
Coquelin, B. C., 178
Coronet Theatre, 292
Corsican Brothers, The, 170
Coryate, Thomas, Crudities, 21
Costume, in Miracle Plays, 6;
later conventions in, 45, 77,
III; closer accuracy attempted
by Macklin, 95 ; by J. P. Kemble,
III; by C. Kemble, 115; at
Prince of Wales*s by the Ban-
crofts, 188
Country Girl, The, 271
Country Mouse, A, 232
County Councillor, The, 233
Cousin Kate, 195
Court Theatre, early days, 202;
managed by Marie Litton, 202;
by Hare, 202, 203 ; by Barrett,
221, 222; by Clayton, 222, 223;
demolished, 223; new house
built, 223 ; managed by Chud-
lelgh and Mrs. Wood, 223, 224;

Sti^e Society performances at,
224; Independent Theatre per-
formances at, 225, 226; managed
by Barker and Vedrenne, 226;
by Otho Stuart, 226

Courtneidge, Robert, 287

Covent Garden, first theatre
opened, 68; managed by J.
Rich, 68-70, 73-76; Handel's
operas at, 68-69; ^^ oratorios,
70; managed by Harris, 84-86,
89; by J. P. Kemble, 92-98,
107-110; interior remodelled,
96; burned down, 98; new
house opened, 107; "O.P."
riots at, 107-109; managed by
C. Kemble, 114; by Bunn, 114-
117; by Macready, 129, 130;
by Vestris and Mathews, 130,
131; burned down, 131; present
house opened and devoted to
opera, 131

Coventry Miracle Play, 3-6

Cox and Box, 275

Craig, Gordon, 250

Craigie, Mrs., 206

Crawford, Marion, 250

Criterion Theatre, opened, 217;
manag^ed by Henderson and
Wyndham, 217; by Wyndham,
217-219; by Wyndham and
Bourchier, 221 ; musical pieces
at, 272

Critic, The, 88

Crusaders, The, 229

Cuckoo, The, 229, 247

Cumberland, Richard, 93

Cup, The, 170

Curtain Theatre, 18

Cushman, Charlotte, 151

Cutler, Kate, 268

Cyrano de Bergerac, 220

Dacrb, Arthur, at Court, 222 ; at

Comedy, 227
Dacre, Helena, 232
Dairymaids, The, 273
Daly, Augustin, 220
Daly, Richard, 315

Digitized byCjOOQlC

INDEX.

327

Daly Company at Toole's, 215;

at Strand, 159; at Opera Co-

mique, 270; at Gaiety, 270; at

Lyceum, 178; at Daly's, 270
Daly's Theatre, opened, 220;

managed by Daly, 270; his

American company at, 270;

managed by George Edwards,

with comic opera, 270-272.
Danby, Charles, at Opera Co-

mique, 263; at Shaftesbury, 273
Dancing Girl, The, 193
Dandy Dick, 222, 223, 264
Dandy Dick Whittington, 269
Danischeffs^ The, 158
Dan'l Druce, 185
Dante, 180

Darling of the Gods, The, 200
Dauban, John, 256
Daughters of Babylon, The, 239
Davenant, Sir William, 34, 35
David Garrick, 142, 218, 285
Davidson, John, 179
Davies, Ben, at Prince of Wales's,

268; at Lyric, 269
Davies, H. H., Captain Drew on

Leave, 220; The Mollusc, 221 ;

Mrs, Gorringe's Necklace, 220
Davis, Fay, at Criterion, 219; at

St. James's, 208; at Garrick,

211
Deacon, The, 244
Dead Heart, The, 143, 144, 174,

192
Dean*s Daughter, The, 206
Dear Old Charlie, 247
Dearer than Life, 214
Dekker, Thomas, Gulfs Horn-
book 23, 27
Delane, Dennis, 74
De la Pasture, Mrs., Peter's

Mother, 221, 228; The Lonely

Millionaires, 226
Denny, W. H., 264
Destruction of Jerusalem, The, 4
DeviPs Disciple, The, 227
Diana of DobsorCs, 230
Dibdin, Charles, the elder, at

Covent Garden, 94; at Lyceum,

icx>

Dibdin, Charles, the youngeti at
Sadler's Wells, 99

Dibdin, J. C, )x^ Annals of the
Edinburgh Stage, quoted, 294,
297

Dibdin, Thomas J., 125

Dick Hope, 205

Dick Venables, 244

Dickens, Charles, adaptations
from his novels, 124, 144, 147,
155, 163, 200, 247, 250

Digges, West, at Dublin Aungier
Street theatre, 312; at Smock
Alley theatre, 314; manager of
Edinburgh theatre, 294, 295,
296; builds a theatre in Aber-
deen, 308

Dillon, Charles, manager of Ly-
ceum, 156, 157

Diplomacy, 190, 192, 203, 209

Doctor^ s Dilemma, The, 226

Dodo, 225

Doggett, Thomas, at Queen's
Theatre, Haymarket, 51 ; at
Drury Lane, 53-58 ; part man-
ager, 54-58

DolPs House, The, 231, 254

Don, The, 214

Don Juan, 260

Don fuan^s Last Wager, 231

Doncaster, theatre at, 289

Dora, 184

Doris, 268

Dorothy, 231, 248, 267, 268, 269

Dorothy £>' the Hall, 221, 248

Dorset Gardens Theatre, 35, 42

Dot, 213

Douglas, 80, 294

Dover, theatre at, 291

Doyle, Sir A. Qoiizxi, Jane Annie,
265 ; A Story of Waterloo, 175

Dr, Bill, 206, 228

Dr, Cupid, 246

Drayton, Michael, 27

Drew, John, 159

Drink, 155, 243

Drury, W. P., 196

Drury Lane, performances at
Cockpit in, 35 ; Wren's theatre
opened, 35, 41; early years,

Digitized byCjOOQlC

328

INDEX.

44-45; managed by C. Rich,
47-53; by Collier, 5354; by
Gibber, Wilks and Doggett, 54-
58; by Gibber, Wilks and
Booth, 58-63; by Highmore,
63; by Fleetwood, 63; by
Lacy and Garrick, 63, 71-82 ;
by Sheridan, 86-89; pwHed
down, 89, 90; new theatre
opened, 90, 91 ; managed by
Sneridan, 90-93 ; burned down,
93; present house opened,
under a Committee of Manage-
ment, 105-107, 114; managed
by Elliston, 114; interior re-
modelled, 114; managed by
Bunn, 114-117; by Macready,
131-134; byBunn again, 135;
by Anderson, 135; by E. T.
Smith, 143; by Ghatterton,
135-136; by Harris, 136; by
GoUins, 136
Dryden, John, 38, 42, 43, 45, 54
Dublin, theatres at : —
Abbey Theatre, 317, 318
Adelphi Theatre (afterwards

Queen's), 316, 317
Aungier Street theatre, opened,
311 ; rivalry with Smock
Alley, 311; their companies
united, 311; Aungier Street
managed by T. Sheridan,
312, 313
Gapel Street Theatre, 312
Grow Street Theatre, opened
by Spranger Barry, 313, 314 ;
rivalry with Smock Alley,
314; both houses managed
by Mossop, 314; by Ryder,
315; by Daly, 315; Grow
Street managed by Jones,
315 ; by Henry Harris, 315
Fishamble Street Theatre, 315 j
Gaelic Theatre performances,

318

Gaiety Theatre, 317

Irish Literary Theatre (after-
wards National Theatre
Society) performances, 317,
318

Queen's Theatre, 316, 317
Rainsford Street Theatre, 311
Smock Alley Theatre, opened,
310; rebuilt, 311; rivalry
with Aungier Street, 311;
their companies united, 311 ;
Smock Alley managed by T.
Sheridan, 311, 312; taken
over by Aungier Street
management, 312; managed
by Sheridan and Victor, 313,
314 ; by Mossop, 314; rivalry
with Grow Street, 314 ; both
houses managed by Mossop,
314; by Ryder, 315; by
Daly, 315; Smock Alley
closed, 315
Theatre Royal, in Hawkins
Street, opened, 315; managed
by Henry Harris, 315, 316;
by Calcraft, 316, 317; bj
John Harris, 317; burned
down, 317; present Theatre
Royal opened, 317
Duchess de la VcUlUre, TTie, 130
Dtuhess ofDantzig, Tkty 269
Ducrow, Andrew, .at Edinburgh,

298 ; at Dublin, 316
Duenna^ The, 86
Duke of Killicrankie, The^ 221
Duke of York's Theatre, opened
(as Trafalgar Square Theatre)
by Wyatt, 233, 272 ; renamed
Duke of York's, 233 ; managed
by Frohman, 233-235
Dulcamara^ 157

Du Maurier, Gerald, at Comedy,
228; at Duke of York's, 234,
235 ; at Hicks', 235
Dumfries, theatre at, 304
Dundee, theatres at, 309
"Dundreary, Lord," 141, 142
D'Urfey, Thomas, 43, 45
Duse, Eleonora, 178
Duval, George, 128

Ealing Theatre, 292
Earl and the Girl, The, 266
East London Theatre, lOi

Digitized byCjOOQlC

INDEX.

329

Easllake, Mary, at Princess's, 237,
382

Edinburgh, theatre opened by
Ramsay in Carubber's Close,
293 ; plays^ given in Canongate
Concert Hall, 293 ; Concert
Hall managed by Lee, 294 ; by
West Digges, 294; becomes
Theatre Royal by Patent, 295 ;
new Theatre Royal built, 295 ;
managed by Ross, 295 ; by
Foote, 295; by Digges, 295,
296; by Wilkinson, 296; by
Jackson, 296, 297 ; by Stephen
Kemble, 297; by Jackson
again, 297, 298 ; , closed for
three years, 298 ; Qrcus in
Leith Walk opened, 296 ;
managed by Henry Siddons as
New Theatre Royal, 298;
Siddons returns to old Theatre
Royal, 298; that house mans^ed
by his widow and W. H.
Murray, 298, 299 ; by Murray
alone, 299, 300; Murray also
manages Leith Walk house, re-
named Adelphi, 300; Theatre
Royal managed by Lloyd, 301 ;
by Wyndham, who also man-
ages Adelphi, 301; Adelphi
burned down, and Queen's
Xheatre built on its site, 301 ;
managed by Black, 301 ;
Theatre Royal demolished, and
title of Theatre Royal trans-
ferred by Wyndham to Queen's,
; 301 ; that house twice burned
down, 301, 302 ; retirement of
Wyndham, 302 ; new Theatre
Royal built by Howard » 302;

* "biimed down, 302 ; present
Theatre Royal built, .3b2;
Lyceum Theatre, 302; Prin-
cess's Theatre, 3[02 ; Edinburgh
Theatre, 302 '

Ediss, Connie, 262

Edouin, Willie, at Edinburgh,
302 ; at Strand, 159; at Prince
of Wales's, 268 ; at Apollo, 274

Education of BHtabeth, The, 373

Edwardes, George, manager of
Gaiety, 258.; of Daly's, 270 j
Ofte of the Blest ^ 241 ,

Egan, Pierce, 122

Egerton, Daniel, 119 >

Elder Miss Blossom^ The^ 205

Eleanor ^ 226

Electrd, 226

Elephant and Castle Theatre, 251,
252

Elizabethan Stage Society, 227

Elliot, W. G., at Court, 224 ; at
Terry's, 232

Elliott, Maxine, at Comedy, 228;
at Lyric, 249

Elliston, R. W., at Bath, 279,
280; at Brighton, 288; man-
ager of Birmingham theatre,
285; at Haymarket, 103; at
Drury Lane, 106 ; manager of
Surrey Theatre, lOO, 125 ; of
Olympic, 100 ; of Drury Lane,
114; at Haymarket, 118

Emden, W. S, 147

Emef'ald Isle, The, 265

Emery, John, at Haymarket, 103 ;
at Newcastle, 290

Emery,Samuel, at Lyceum, 155; at
Queen's, 160; at Brighton, 288

Emery, Winifred (Mrs. C. Maude),
at Princess's, Imperial, and
Court, 194; at Lyceum, 173,
194; at Avenue, 229; at
Comedy, 228; at Haymarket,

194, 195
Enemy of the People, The^ 193,

254
Enfant Prodigue, Z', 268
English Drama Society, 227
English Nelly 2Zl
English Opera House (afterwards

Lyceum), 123
English Opera House (afterwards

Palace Theatre), 266
Eon, Chevalier d', 288
•Esmond, H. V., at Terry's, 232 ;

at St. James's, 207 ; at Wynd-

ham^s, 220; at Apollo, 273;

Billfs Little Love Affair, 221 j

The CfGrindles, 196; One

Digitized byCjOOQlC

330

INDEX.

Stimmtr^s Day, 228; UncUr
tk$ Greenwood Tree, 249

Estcourt, Richard, 53

Esther, 68

Etherege, Sir George, 43

Eugene Aram, 164

Eoerybod/s Secret, 195

Exeter, earliest theatre in, 282,
283; new hoose opened, 283;
lit by gas, 284; burned down
three times, 284 ; present house
built, 284

Exeter Circuit, 282

Pagan, J. B., 242

Fairbrother, Louisa, 156

Fairy s Dilemma, The, 21 1

Falcon, The, 204

Falconer, Edmund, 157

Falka, 267

Famous Victories of Henry V,,
The, II

Farquhar, George, 54

Farr, Florence, 229

Farren, E. («• Nellie"), at Olym-
pic, 147 ; at Queen's Theatre,
160 ; at Birmingham, 285 ; at
Gaiety, 256-259; benefit at
Drury Lane to, 259, 260;
death, 260

Farren, William, the elder, at
Leicester, 289 ; at Haymarket,
118, 137; at Olympic, 120;
manager of Strand, 158; of
Olympic, 145, 146

Farren, William, the younger, at
Brighton, 288 ; at Birmingham,
286; at St. James's, 158; at
Imperial, 249; at Vaudeville,
246; at Criterion, 219; at
Court, 224

FascincUing Mr, Vanderveldt,
The, 211,212

Fatal Card, The, 241

Faudt, Helen, at Covent Garden,
129, 130; at Haymarket, 137;
in Paris, 133; at Drury Lane,
13 c; at Birmingham, 285; at
Br^hton, 288; at Edinburgh,
300; at Dublin, 316

Faust, 173

Famt Up to Date, 259

Faversham, theatre at, 291

Favier, Alice, 268

Fawcett, John, 289

Fazio, 125

Fechter, Charles, 286

Fedora, 215

Fees, in theatres, 144, 256

Felix, Hugo, 272

Fenn, Frederick, 225

Fenton, Lavinia, 60

Femald, C. R, 231

Fiander^s Widow, 212

Fido, 196

Field, Michael, 225

Field of the Cloth of Gold, The,

255
Fielding, Henry, his plays at

Haymarket, 66, 67
Filippi, Rosina, at Comedy, 227 ;

at Court, 223
Fitch, Clyde, 228
Fitzroy Theatre, 187
Flag Lieutenant, The, 196
Flanagan, Richard, 287
Fleetwood, Charles, manager of

Drury Lane, 63, 65 ; at Dublin,

314
Fleming, George, The Canary,

231; The Light that Failed, z^i)
Florodora, 269
Eoggeri/s Fairy, 217
Folies Dramatiques, 230
Folly Theatre (afterwards Toole's

Theatre), early days, 214;

managed by Henderson, 214;

managed by Toole, 214, 215
Fool af^ his Money, A, 214
FooPs Paradise, A, 2og
Foote, Lydia, at Olympic, 147 ; at

St. James's, 158; at Court, 222
Foote, Maria, 284
Foote, Samuel, at Bath, 279; at

Dublin, 312; at Haymarket,

78-80 ; acts in Edinburgh, 295 ;

takes Haymarket company

there for a season, 295
Footlights, introduced by Garrick

at Drury Lane, 78

Digitized byCjOOQlC

INDEX.

331

For Swprd or Song^ 250

For the Crown^ 179

Forbes Robertson, J., at Olympic,
185; at Lyceum, 174; at Gar-
rick, 209; temporary manage-

, ment at Lyceum, 178, 179; at
Avenue, 229; at Prince of
Wales's, 231 ; at Lyric, 249 ; at
Scala, 251

Ford, Ernest, 265

Ford, John, 27

Foresters^ Thtt 270

Forrest, E^lwln, quarrels with
Macready, 133; at Princess's

Fortune Theatre, 19, 27
Forty Thieves^ The^ 257
Fourteen Days^ 217
Francis, M. .£., 212
Frankenstein^ 259
Fraser, Agnes, 266
Freear, Louie, 273
Freedom of Suzanne y They 221
French Maid, The, 233, 272
Frohman, Charles, 233
Fulham, Grand Theatre at, 292
Fulda, Ludwig, 234
Fyffe, R. E., 251
Fyles, Franklin, 241

Gaelic Theatre, the, 317

Gaiety Girly Ay 268, 271

Gaiety Theatre, opened, 256;
managed by Hollingshead, 256-
258; by Edwardes, 258-261;
demolished, 261 ; new Gaiety
opened, 261 ; managed by
Edwardes, 261, 262

Gallery of Illustration, 274, 275

Galsworthy, John, 226

Gammer Gurton^s NeedUy 10

Ganthony, Richard, 229

Garden of Lies y They 208

Garrick, David, early appear-
ances at Goodman's Fields,
Drury Lane and Covent Garden,
67 ; at Dublin, 67, 311, 312 ; at
Drury Lane, 69, 70 ; at Covent
Garden, 70 ; manager of Drury
Lane, 71-82; travels abroad,

80; retirement and death, 81,
82; his acting, 72, 73-78, 81-
83; his treatment of Shakes-
peare's plays, 77, 78, 83

Garrick Theatre, Charing Cross
Road, opened, 208; managed
by Hare, 208-210; by Willard,
210; by the Kendals, 210; by
Bourchier, 211, 212

Garrick Theatre, Leman Street,
208

Gascoigne, George, /ocastay 11

Gatti, A. and S., managers of
Adelphi, 240-242 ; of Vaude-
ville, 246, 247

Gattie, A. W., 224

Gay, John, his plays at Drury
Lane, 57 ; The Beggar* s Oj>efa
at Lincoln's Inn Fields, 60

Gay Lord Quexy They 210

Gay Parisienney They 272

Gay Widow y Ay 224

Ceishay They 271

Gentleman foe y 268

Geoffrey, Abbot of St. Albans, i

German, Edward, The Emerald
IsUy 265; Merrie Englandy
266 ; The Princess of Kensing-
tony 266

German Reeds' Entertainment,
274-276

Getting Marriedy 196

GhostSy 225, 254

Giddens, George, with Wyndham
in America, 216 ; at Criterion,
217-219; at Terry's, 233; at
Vaudeville, 246

Gilbert, Mrs., 159

Gilbert, Sir W. S., Brantinghame
Hally 206 ; Broken HeartSy 202,
204 ; DatCl Druccy 185 ; Dul'
camaray 157; Engagedy 185;
The Fairy s Dilemmay 211;
Foggert/s Fairy y2i7'y TheGon-
dolierSy 264, 266; The Grand
Dukcy 265; Gretchen, 147, 185;
The Happy Landy 202; His
Excellency y 26$', HM.S. Pina-
forey 263, 266; lolanthey 264,
266; The Mikado, 264, 266;

Digitized byCjOOQlC

332

INDEX.

TTU Mountebanks, 265; The
Palace of Truths 142, 231 ;
/W^nr^, 263, 266 ; The Pirates
of Penzance, 263, 266; The
Princess, 147 ; Princess Ida,
264; Pygmalion and Galatea,
142; Robert the Devil, 256;
Ruddigore, 264; The Sorcerer,
262; Sweethearts, 190; Thes-
pis, 257, 262 ; Trial by fury,
262; Utopia, 265; 7%^ Wfif-
^/Vf^ March, 202 ; 7)1* Wicked
World, 142; T/i^ Yeomen of the
Gucu'd, 264, 266
Gilchrist, Connie, 258
Gildon, Charles, 4S
Gillette, William, at Lyceum,
178 ; Held by the Enemy, 238 ;
Secret Service, 242 '
Girl Behind the Counter, The,

272
Girl from Ka/s, The, 273
Girl I Left Behind Me, The, 241
Girl on the Stage, A, 2(68
Girls of Gottenburg, The, 261
Glasgow, theatres in : —
Earliest theatres, 303
Adelphi Theatre, 305, 306
Caledonian Theatre, 305
City Theatre, 305
Dunlop Street theatre, opened,
303 ; managed by Jackson,
303> 304; by Stephen
Kemble, 304; by Jackson
again, 304; by elder Mac-
ready, 304; by Alexander,
304-306 ; by Simpson, 306 ;
by Glover, 306, 307 ; burned
down, 307
Grand Theatre, 307
King's Theatre, 307
Prince's Theatre, 306
Princess's Theatre, 307
Queen Street theatre, opened,
304; managed by Seymour,
305 ; burned down, 304, 305
Queen's Theatre, opened by
Calvert, 306; burned down,
306
Royalty Theatre, 307

Theatre Royal, in Hope Street,

307
York Street theatre, 305

Globe Theatre, on Bankside, 18-
20, 26, 27

Globe Theatre, Newcastle Street,
Jennie Lee at, 247 ; , Mrs. Ber-
nard Beere at, 247; Ada Caven-
dish at, 247; Penley at, 231,
248; Wilson Barrett at,, 238;
Mansfield at, 247; Bensoucoa»-
pany at, 247 ; Hare at, 2io>
248 ; demolished, 248

Glover, Edmund, manager of
Glasgow Prince's Theatre, 306;
of Dunlop Street theatre, 306,
307 ; acts at Edinbui^h, 30X

Glover, Julia, at Drury I^e, 106 ;
at Hay market, 118

Godfrey, G. W., The Que4tes
Shilling, 203; The MiUumedrO,
222 ; Vanity Fair, 224 .

Goldsmith, Oliver, 84

Gondoliers, The, 264, 266

Good Old Times, The, 238

Goodman's Fields theatre, opened,
61 ; Garrick's^^^f^at, 67 ; kut
days of, 67

Good-ncUured Man, The, 84

Goodwin, Nat, 228

Gorboduc, II

Gorki, Maxim, 225

Gosson, Stephen, 29

Graham, H., 233

Grain, Corney, 275, 276

Grand Duchess, The, 265

Grand Duke, The, 265

Grand Theatre, Fulham, 292

Grand Theatre, Islington, 25 1 , 252

Graves, George, 272

GrecU Conspiracy, The, 210, 234

Great Friends, 225

Great Queen Street theatre. See
Novelty Theatre

Greatest of These, The, 205, 210

Grecian Theatre, 252, 253

Greek SUwe, The, 271

Greene, Evie, at Lyric, 269, 270;
at Daly's, 271

Greene, Robert, 27

Digitized byCjOOQlC

INDEX

333

Greet, Ben, his touring companies,
aop, 254

Gregory, Lady, 317, 318

Gretchen^ 147

Grey, Sylvia, at Gaiety, 258, 260

Grimaldi, Giuseppe, at Covent
Garden, 98; at Drury Lane
and Sadler's Wells, 99

Grossmith, George, the elder, at
Opera Comique, 262 ; at Savoy,
203-264 ; at Lyric, 269

Grossmith, George, the younger,
at Shaftesbury, 273; at Gaiety,
261

Qrossmith, Weedon, at Court, 223,

, 2^; at Avenue, 2^, 230 ; at
Vaudeville, 246; at Prince of
Wales's, 231 ; at Haymarket,
196; The Night of the Party ^^"^0

Grundy, Sydney, 'Die BtUs of
Haslemere^ 241 ; Clito^ 238 ;
The DearCs Daughter^ 206;
The Greatest of These^ 205;
Haddon Hail, 265 ; The Late
Mr, Castello, 228 ; Mamma,
223 ; A Marriage of Conveni-
^^6y 195, 241; 7 he Musket*
eersy 248; 754* New Woman,
227, 228; The Silver Shield,
227 ; Sowing the Wind, 227,
228 ; The Union Jack, 241 ;
A Village Priest, 193; A
White Lie, 205

Gudgeons, 233

Guvnor, The, 245

Guy Manneringy 304
Gwynne, Nell, 42, 44

^addori Hall, 26s
"Half-Price," at Haymarket,

140 ; at Adelphi, 145
Hamilton, Cicely, 230
Hamilton, Cosmo, 196
Hamilton, Henry, Harvest, 238;

The Three Musketeers, 248
Hammersmith, King's Theatre at,

292
Hanbary, Lily, 224
Handel, G. F., his operas at

King's Theatre, 68 ; at Covent

Garden, 68-69; oratorios at
Covent Garden, 70

Hands Across the Sea, 238

Hankin, St. John, The Cassilis
Engagement, 225 ; The Charity
that began at Home, 226

Hansel and Gretel, 269

Happy Land, The, 202

Harbour Lights, The, 241

Hare, Gilbert, at Garrtck, 209;
at Globe, 210

Hare, Sir John, at Liverpool, 290;
at Prince of Wales's, 202;

. manager of Court, 202-203;
part manager of St. James s,
203-205; acts at Court, 223;
manager of Garrick, 208-210;
of Glob^, 210; subsequent
appearances at Duke of York's,
210, 235 ; at Wyndham's, 210;
at Comedy, 210; knighted, 2 10

Harlequin King, The, 250

Harris, Sir Augustus, 136

Harris, Henry, manager of Dublin
Crow Street theatre, 315; of
Theatre Royal, 315, 316

Harris, John, manager of Dublin
Theatre Royal, 316, 317

Harris, Thomas, manager of
Covent Garden, 84-86, ^

Harrison, Fred., part manager of
Haymarket, 194, 195; sole
manager, 196

Hart, Charles, 40, 44, 50

Harvest, 238

Harvey, Martin, at Court, 224;
at Lyceum, 180; at Prince of
Wales's, 231 ; at Lyric, 249 ;
at Apollo, 273; at Imperial,
250

Hauptmann, Gerhart, 225

Havana, 261

Hawthorne, Grace, 238

Hawtrey, Charles, at Comedy,
227 ; at Trafalgar Square
Theatre, 233; at Court, 224;
at Comedy, 228; at Avenue,
229; at Prince of Wales's, 231;
at Haymarket, 196 ; at Vaude-
ville, 247

Digitized byCjOOQlC

334

INDEX.

Hajdn, F. J., 96

Haymarket Theatre, the 'Mittle
house" opened, 61, 65; Ma-
dame Violante at, 66 ; Fielding
at, 66; Drury Lane actors at,
66; unlicensed, 67; Patent
granted, 79; managed by Foote,
78-80, 295 ; by the elder Col-
man, 102; by the younger
Colman, 102-104 ; present
theatre opened under Morris'
management, 117; managed
by Webster, 136-138 ; by Buck-
stone, 138-142; by J. S.
Clarke, 142; by the Bancrofts,
191, 192; by Russell and
Bashford, 193; by Tree, 193;
by Harrison and Maude, 194,
I95» by Harrison, 196; its com-
pany plays at New Theatre
during reconstruction, 221

Headless Man, The, 218

Heart of Hearts, 246

Heath, Caroline, 301

Hedda Gabler, 254

Heid by the Enemy, 238

Hemminge, John, 27

Henderson, Alexander, manager
of Folly, 214; of Criterion, 217

Henderson, Isaac, 220

Henderson, John, at Bath, 279; at
Edinburgh, 296; at Drury
Lane, 87, 88, 94; at Hay-
market, 102 ; at Glasgow, 304

Henley, W. E., 200

Henslowe, Philip, 27

Her Father, 196

Her Majesty's Theatre. See King's
Theatre, Haymarket

Her Royal Highness, 246

Her Son, 221

Hermann, Henry, 237

Herod, 200

Heroic Stubbs, The, 233

Hey wood, John, 10

Hichens, Robert, 176

Hicks, "Brayvo," 127

Hicks, Seymour, at Gaiety, 259-

• 261; at Vaudeville, 246, 247;
at Aldwych, 274; Bluebell in

Fairyland, 247; The Cherry
Girl, 247; One of the Best, 241

Hicks' Theatre, 220, 235, 274

Highmore, — , manager of Drury
Lane, 63

Hill, Annie, 232

Hippesley, John, 281

Htppolytus, ±26

His Excellency, 265, 269

His Excellency the Governor, 21 1,

234

His House in Order, 208

His Majesty, 265

His Majesty's Theatre, opened on
part of site of Her Majesty's,
127, 196; managed by Tree,
196-200

ffis m/e, 196

Historie of King Leir, The, 1 1

HM,S* Pinafore, 263, 266

Hobbes, John Oliver, 208

Hobby Horse, The, 204

Hodson, Henrietta, at Bath and
Bristol, 280; at Queen's, 160

Holland, Fanny, 275

Holland House, played at, 34

HoUingshead, John, manager of
Gaiety, 256-258

HoUoway Theatre, 292

Home, John, Douglas, 80, 294

Home Secretary, The, 219

Honey, George, 189

Honey, Laura, 118

Hood, Basil, 265, 266, The Emer-
ald Isle, 265 ; Merrie England,
266; The Princess of Kensing-
ton, 266; The Rose of Persic^
265

Hood, Marion, at Opera Comique,
263; at Gaiety, 258

Hoodman Blind, 238 :

Hope, Anthony, The Adventure
of Lady Ursula, 233 ; Captain
Dieppe, 234; Pilkerton^s Peer-
age, 211; The Prisoner ofT^nda,
207; RHpert of Hentzau, ^ori

Hope Theatre, 20

Horniman', Roy, 273

Horton, Christiana, 69

Horton, Priscilla, 274

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INDEX.

335

Hours of performance, of Miracle
Plays, 7; in Elizabethan thea-
tres, 21, 25; in Restoration
theatres, 36; in early part of
eighteenth century, 11 1; at
Haymarket under Buckstone,
140

House of Usna, Thcj 225 '

Housekeeper^ They 205

How he Lied to Her Husband^ 226

Howard, Bronson, Brighton^ 217;
Saratoga y 216; Young Mrs,
Winthropy 222

Howard, J. B., manager of Edin-
burgh Theatre Royal, 302; of
Lyceum, 302

Hoxton, Britannia Theatre at,
251, 252

Huddleston, Jessie, t68

Hughes, ADBie, at Prince of
Wales's, 231, 232; at Criterion,
-aiU; at Comedy, 228

Hughes and Trewman manage-
ment at Exeter Theatre, 283

Human Nature^ 243

Hull, theatre at, 289

Humby, Mrs. Anne, 315

Humperdinck, E., 269

Hunted Down^ 184

Huntington, Agnes, 268

Huntley, G. P., 274

Hypatia, 193, 244

Hypocrites, The, 235

Ibsbn, Henrik, comments on, 253;
The DoWs House, 231, 254;
The Enemy of the People, 193,
254; Ghosts, 225, 254; Hedda
Gabler, 254; fohn Gabriel Bork-
man, 254; The Lady from the
Sea, 254; Little Eyolf, 254;
The Master Builder, 254;
The Pillars of Society, 254;
Rosmersholm, 229, 254; The
Vikings, 182; When We Dead
Awaken, 254; The Wild Duck,

254
Ici on parte Franfais, 213
IdecU Husband, An, 193
Idler, The, 207

If I were King, 208

Imperial Theatre, opened (as
Aquarium Theatre) by Bruce,
249 ; managed by Miss Litton,
as Imperial, 249; reconstructed
250; managed by Mrs. Langtry,
250; by Ellen Terry, 250; by
Waller, 250 ; by Harvey, 250

Importance of being Earnest, The,
207

Impulse, 204

In Chancery, 232

In the Days of the Duke, 242

In the Ranks, 241

In Town, 260, 268

Inchbald, Elizabeth, her plays,
93; acts at Covent Garden, 94;
at Edinburgh, 296

Incledon, Charles, at Vauxhall,
279; at Covent Garden, 96,
279; at Brighton, 388; at Edin-
burgh, 297

Incognita, 269

Independent Theatre, 225

Indian Emperor, The, 42

Inn-yards, used as theatres, 14,

18,34

lolanthe, 264, 266

Ion, 118

Ipswich, theatre at, 290 .

Ireland, W. H., 93

Irene Wycherley, 23Q

Iris, 211

Irish Literary Theatre, 317

Irish National Dramatic Com-
pany, 317

Irish National Theatre Society,

317

Iron Chest, The, 283

Ironmaster, The, 204

Irving, Ethel, at Apollo, 274 ; at
Criterion, 221

Irving, H. B., at Garrick, 209;
at St James's, 207; at Duke of
York's, 234 ; at Lyric, 249

Irving, Sir Henry, early appear-
ances in provinces and Scotland^
161, 301, 307; at Princess's,
154; at St. James's, 158; at
Bath, 281; at Queen's Theatre,

Digitized byCjOOQlC

336

INDEX.

160-162; at Binningham, 285,
386; at Haymarket, 162; at
Gaiety, 162; at VaudeTille, 162;
acts at Edinburgh, 302 ; at
Lyceum under Bateman, 162-
165; in The Beils, 163; Charles
/., 163, 164; Richelieu\ 164;
Hamlet^ 164, 168; Macbeth,
164, 173, 174; Othello, 164, 170^
Queen Mary, 164; Richard JI I. ,
164, 176; The Lyons Mail, 165;
manager of Lyceum^ 165-177 ;
in Merchant of Venice, 169,
177; Corsican Brothers, 170;
The Cup, 17a; Romeo and
Juliet, 171 ; Much Ado about
Nothing, 171; lour in America,
171; in Twelfth Night, 172;
. Olivia, 172; Macbeth, 173, 174;
The Dead Heart, 174, 192;
Ravenswood, 174; Henry VIII.,
174; King Lear, 174; Becket,
174, I75> 181 ; King Atthur,
175 ; 5/tfry of Waterloo, 175 ;
knighted, 175 ; in Cymbtlne,
17s » Madame Sans- Gene, 175;
/V/^r M^ Gr<fa/, 176; T'ii^f
Medicine Man, 176; illness,
176; scenery destroyed by fire,
176; losses, 177; at Lyceum
under management of a com-
pany, 177, 178 ; in Robespierre,
177; Coriolanus, 177; last ap-
pearance with Ellen Terry, 177;
reasons for severance of pro*
fessional partnership with her,
177, 178; Dante, 180; last
years, 180, 181 ; death, 181 ;
criticism of, as actor, 181 ; as
manager, 181, 182

Irving, Laurence, Peter the Great,
176; Robespierre, I'n

Ulingtoni Grand Theatre, 251,
252

Italian Wife, The, 125

Ivanhoe, 266

Ixion^ 159

Jack Sheppard, 143
Jack Straw, 247

Jackson, John, manager of Edin-
burgh Theatre Ro^, 296-298,
304 ; of Glasgow Dunlop Street
theatre, 303-304; of Glasgow
Queen Street theatre, 304;
builds a theatre in Aberdeen,
308

James, David, at Criterion, 218;
part manager of ,Vaudeville,\
245, 246 ; at Gaiety, 258

JatiA Annie^ 265

Jane Eyr£^ 347

fane Sk^re^ 57

Jedbury^Jnnii^r, 233

Jefferics, Maud, 239

Jefiferson, Joseph, 144

Jeffreys, Ellis, 235

Jenoure, Aid a, 269

Jerome, J. K., Sunset, 2271
Woodbarrow Farm, 227, 246

Jerrold, Douglas, Black-Eye*d
Susan, 125, 204; his plays at
Haymarket, 137

/est. The, 219

/im the Penman, 244

Jo, 247

Joan of Arc, 263

/ocasta, II

Jodrell Theatre, 230

John Bults Other Island, 226

John Chilcote, M,P.^ 208

/ohn Gabriel Borkman, 254

John Glayde's Honour, 208

Johnston, H. E., 297

Jones, Frederick, 315

Jones, Henry Arthur, The Bauble
Shop, 219; The Case of Re-
bellious Susan, 219; Chance,
the Idol, 220 ; The Chevaleer,
211 ; The Crusaders, 229; The
Dancing Girly 193; The
Decuon, 244 ; Heart of Hearts^
246 ; The Heroic Stubbs, 233 ;
Hoodman Blind, 238; The
Hypocrites, 235; fudah^ 244;
The Lcukeys Carnival, 234;
The, Liars, 219, 221 ; The
Lord Harry, 238; The Mcut^
ontvres of Jane, 195 ; TTke
Masqueraders, 207 ; Mickaei

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INDEX.

337

and his Lost Angel, 179 ; The
Middleman, 244 ; Mrs. Dan^s
% Defence, 220; The Physician,
219; The Princesses Nose, 2"^^',
The Pogue^s Comedy, 210, 245 ;
Sainls and Sinners, 246 ; The
Silver King, 237; The Tri-
umph of the Philistines, 207 ;
Whitewashing Julia, 211 , ^

Jones, Sidney^ An Artisfs Model,
271; A Gaiety Girl, 271 \ The
Geisha, 271 ; The Greek Slave,
27 1 ; The Medal and the Maid,
269; San Toy, 2^1

Jonson, Ben, 27

Jordan, Dora, at Drury Lane, 89,
106 ; at Edinburgh, 296 ; at
Glasgow, 304; at Bath, 380;
at Exeter, 284; at Brighton,
288; at Leicester, 289; at
Sheffield, 291

fosephine, 228

/oseph^s Sweetheart, 194, 246

Judah, 244

Judas Maccabaus, 70

Judgment of Pharaoh, The, 251

Junius, 238

Kban, Charles, becomes an actor
against his father's wish, 115;
acts with him on latter's last
appearance, 1 16; at Haymarket,
137 ; at Birmingham, 285 ; at
Dublin, 316; manager of Prin-
cess's, 148-154 ; rivalry with
Phelps, 149, 150; at Leicester,
289; at Edinburgh, 300; last
years, 154; his acting, 151, 152

Kean, Mrs. Charles, at Hay-
market, 118, 137; at Dublin,
316; at Princess- s, 151, 154,
165 ; at Edinburgh, 300

Kean, Edmund, earliest appear-
ances as a boy, 99, 1 1 1 ; at Birm-
ingham, 285; at Exeter, 112,
283, 284; at Dorchester, 112;
at Haymarket, 112; at Drury
Lane, 112-115; at Brighton,
288; at Leicester, 289; at Edin-
burgh, 299; at Glasgow, 304;

a^ Dublin, 316; at Covent
Garden, 115, 116; in America^
115; at Haymarket, 116; death,
116; his acting, 123, 133

Keeley, Mrs. M. A., at Olympic,
120; at Lyceum, 124, 155; at
Drury Lane, 132; at Adelphi,
143; at Princess's, 151

Keeley, Robert, at Olyn^pic, f 20,
121 ; at Adelphi, 123 ; at
Lyceum, 124; at Drury Lane,
1 32; part manager of Princess^
151 ; manager of Lyceum, 155

Keith, Norah, 212

Kelly, Charles, 171, 286

Kemble, Charles, at Haymarket,
103, 118; manager of Covent
Garden, 114, 115; at Bath,
280; at Newcastle, 290; at
Edinburgh, 299 ; at Dublin,

Kemble* Fanny, at Haymarket,
103; at Covent Garden, 115; at
Dublin, 316; at Edinburgh,
299 ; at Glasgow, 306

Kemble, Henry, at Court, 202; at
Avenue, 229; at Prince of
Wales's, 231 ; at Haymarket,
196

Kemble, Henry Ste];>hei), 127

Kemble, John Philip, at Edin-
burgh, 296, 298, 299 ; at Glas-
gow, 304; at Dublin, 315, 316;
at Brighton, 288; at York, 289;
at Drury Lane, 88-92 ; stage-
manager there, 91-92 ; manager
of Covent Garden, 92, 96-98,
107-110 ; at Birmingham, 285 ;
his acting, 93» i"» I33

Kemble, Stephen, atGlasgow, 303;
manager of Edinburgh Theatre
Royal, 297 ; manager of New-
castle theatre, 290 ; of Glasgow
Dunlop Street theatre, 304 ; of
Aberdeen Marischal Street
theatre, 308

Kendal, Mrs. M., at Bath, 280,
281 ; earliest London appear-
ances, 139, 140; at Birming-
ham, 286; at Gaiety, 256; at

Digitized byCjOOQlC

338

INDEX.

Haymarket, 142, 201, 202 ; at
Brighton, 288 ; at Court, 201,
202 ; at Prince of Wales's, 190,
202, 203 ; back to Court, 203 ;
part manager of St. James s,
203-205 ; touring in America
and provinces, 205 ; subsequent
appoirances at Court, Garrick,
and St. James's, 205, 210; at
Avenue, 229 ; at His Majesty's,

183, 199

Kendal, W. H., at Birmingham,
285 ; at Glasgow, 307 ; at Hay-
market, 142, 201, 202; at
Brighton, 288; at Court, 201,
202 ; at Prince of Wales's, 190,
202, 203 ; back to Court, 203 ;
part manager of St James's,
203-205; touring in America
and provinces, 205 ; subsequent
appearances at Court, Garrick,
and St. James's, 205, 210; at
Avenue, 239

Kenney, James, 96

Kennington Theatre, 292

Kent Circuit, 291

Kerr, Fred, at Terry's, 232, 233 ;
at Court, 224; at Vaudeville, 246

Killigrew, Charles, 47

Killigrew, Thomas, 35

King, Thomas, 87, 99

King Arthur^ 175

King RenPs Daughter^ 170

King's Theatre, Hammersmith,
292

King's Theatre, Haymarket
(afterwards Her Majesty's),
opened as Queen's Theatre,
51 ; managed by Vanbrugh and
Betterton, 51 ; by Swinny, 52-
54; Handel's operas at, 68;
Porpora at, 69 ; burned down,
83 ; new house opened, 90 ;
Covent Garden company at,
98; Italian opera at, 126;
burned down, 126; new house
opened, 127; demolished, 127

Kingston, Gertrude, 233

Kingsway Theatre, 230

Kipling, Rudyard, 249

KiHy Grey, 273

Knowles, James Sheridan, Vir-
ginius, 129 ; his plays at Hay-
market, 137

Kynaston, Edward, 40, 44

Kyngejohany 13

Lackers Carnival^ The^ 234

Lacy, James, part manager of
Drury Lane, 63, 71-86

Lacy, fohn, 40

Lacy,T. H., 151

Ladiei Battle, The, 203

Lady Barbarity, 228

Lady Bountiful, 209

Lady Clancarty, 205, 249

Lady Clare, 247

Lady Frederick, 212, 221, 226

Lady from the Sea, The, 254

Lady Huntworth'^s Experiment,
211, 221

Ladf Madcap, 268

Lady Molly, 233

Lady Windermtr^s Ftm, 207

Lane, Mrs. S.^252

Langtry, Mrs., manager of St.
James's, 206; of Princess's,
238 ; of Imperial, 249, 250

Last of the Dandies, The, 200

Late Lamented, The, 223

Late Mr. Castello, The, 228

Law, Arthur, his plays for German
Reeds, 275 ; Dick Venables,
244 ; The New Boy, 233

Leah, 144

I^ah Kleschna, 221

Leclercq, Carlotta, at Princess's,

151

Leclercq, Rose, at Princess's,
151 ; at St. James's, 207 ; at
Court, 224; at Comedy, 228

Lecocq, A. C, 269

Lee, Jennie, 247

Lee, John, 294

Leeds, theatre at, 289

Lqige, R. G., 250

Lehar, Franz, 272

Lehmann, R., 265

Leicester, theatres at, 289

Leigh, Anthony, 44

Digitized

by Google

INDEX.

339

Leiy, Dtnrward, 263

Lemon, Mark, 143

Lennox, C. Gordon, 228

Leslie, Fred, at Glasgow, 307 ;
at Comedy, 267 ; at Gaiety,
258, 259

Le Thiere, Miss, 190

Lettyy 234

Lewes, C. L.^ 95

Lewis, Eric, at Court, 223 ; at
Daly's, Til

Lewis, lames, 159

LiarSy Tke^ 219, 221

Libertine^ ThCy 310

lAbirty Hull, 207

Licensing Act of 1 737, 66-67

Lichfield, theatre at, 287

Life in London, 122, 123

Light that Failed, The, 249

Lighting of theatres, in Eliza-
bethan theatres, 21 ; in Restora-
tion theatres, 40 ; in Garrick*s
time, 78, 295 ; *' patent lamps"
at Drury Lane, 89; gas at
Exeter theatre, 284; at Hay-
market, 136; electric light in
theatres, 263

Lights of London, The, 236, 244

Likeness of the Night, The, 205

Lincoln's Inn Fields, Davenant's
theatre in, 35, 41 ; Betterton's
theatre in, 47, 49, 51 ; C. Rich
manager of, 59-61, 72 ; opera
at, under Porpora, 61 ; last
days of, 61, 68

Lind, Letty, at Gaiety, 262; at
Shaftesbury, 273; at Daly's,
271

Linden, Marie, 209

Linkman, The, 261
Liston, John, at Haymarket, 103,
117; at Covent Garden, 299;
at Glasgow, 304; at Dublin,
316; at Drury Lune, 114; at
Olympic, 120, 121, 145 ; at
Brighton, 288; at Leicester,
289
Literary Theatre Society, 227
Little Admiral, The, 249
Little Cherub, The, 268

Little Christopher Columbus, 269

Little Eyolf, 254

Little lack Sheppard, 258

Little Lord Fauntleroy, 231

Little Mary, 220

Little Michus, The, 272

Little Minister, The, 195

Little Miss Nobody, 269

Litton, Marie, at Edinburgh, 302 ;
manager of Court, 202; of
Iiqperial, 249

Liverpool, theatres in, 289, 290

Lloyd, Florence, 273

Lloyd, H. F., jor

Locke, W. J., 212

Loftus, Cissie, at GtMfty, 260,
262 ; at Court, 224

London Assurance, 203

London Theatre, 252

Lonely Millionaires, The, 226

Lonnen, E. J., 269

Lord and Lady Algy, 228, 229

Lord Harry, The, 238

Loseby, Constance, at Birming-
ham, 285 ; at Gaiety, 256

Lost in London, 155

Love for Love, 48

Lovell, G. W., 205

Lov^s Last Ship, 44

Lucky Miss Dean, 221

Lucfy Star, The, 266

Lumley, Ralph, 215

Lutz, Meyer, 261

Lyall, Charles, 256

Lyceum Theatre, earliest days of,
99-100; Drury Lane company
at, 100 ; new house opened,
123; burned down, 124; new
house opened, 124, 125; man-
aged by the Keeleys, 155 j by
Vestris and Mathews, 155, 156;
the ** Wizard of the North " at,
156 ; the Italian opera at, 156,
157; managed by Dillon, 156,
157 » ^y Madame Celeste, 157;
by Falconer, 157 ; by Bateman,
162-164; by Mrs. Bateman,
164, 165 ; by Irving, 165-177 ;
by a Company, 177, 178, 180 ;
occupants during Lyceum com-

Digitized byCjOOQlC

340

INDEX.

puiy's absences, 178-180; re-
constructed and used as a music-
hall, 178; as a ''popular''
theatre, 178

Lynn, theatre at, 290

Lyric Theatre, opened, 248; comic
opera at, 268-270; Wilson
Barrett at, 239 ; Forlies Robert-
son at, 249 ; Martin Harvey at,
249 ; Waller at, 249

Lytton, Henry, 266

Lytton, Lord, his pla]^ at Dmry
Lane, Covent Garden, and
Hay market, 130

Maeaire, 2x30

Macintosh, Nancy, 265, 369
Mackay, Charles, 299
Mackay, W. G., 226
Mackenzie, Alexander, 300
Mackenzie, Sir A. C, 265, 300
Mackintosh, William, 244
Macklin, Charles, at Bristol, 282 ;
at Drury Lane, 63-65, 70, 74 y
at Haymarket, 66 } at Dublin,
312, 314; at Covent Garden,
75» 83» 88, 95; The Man of the
^orld, 88 ; retirement, 95
Macleod, Fiona, 225
MacNeil, A. D., 302
Macready, William, manager of
Royalty, Wellclose Square, loi;
of Bath theatre, 280 ; of Birm-
ingham theatre, 285; of Man-
chester theatre, 287 ; of Leices-
ter theatre, 289 ; of Glasgow
and Dumfries theatres, 304
Macready, Willianl Charles, at
Birmingham, 285; at Glasgow,
304; at Dublin, 316; at Man-
chester, 287 ; at Covent Garden,
no, 129; at Drury Lane, 114;
in America, 129; manager of
Covent Garden, 129, 130, 299 ;
acts at Haymarket, 131, 137 ;
manager of Drury Lane, 131-
133 ; in America, 133 ; in
Paris, 133 ; at Haymarket and
Drury Lane, 133 ; at Princess's,
>33» 151 ; at Brighton, 288; at

Leicester, 289 ; death, 133 ; his
acting and clmracter, 133, 134
Madame Fcevari^ 159, 267, 273, 307
Madame Sans- Ghu, 175, 269
Madame Sherry y 273
Maddick, Dr. D., 251
Maddox, — , 3,13 1 .1

Maeterlinck, M., 225, 231 , -

Magda, 179 .1 .'; . l/;^,:

Magic Opaly The,,z^:.
Magistrate^ The, 22^.^23 v'
Maidstone, theatre tul^i^t [.
Major Barbara, 226 . . / \

Makers of Men, 239 . , , x v • v
Maltby, Alfred, at CtJterion> 2t7X
218 ; at Terry's, 233 . > . I »
Mamma, 223 . ? ; ' . ' ' {

Man and Superman, 22%"^ - > . ^
Man and H^ife, 190
Manjrom Blankle^s^Tke; V^i

231 {

Man of Forty ^ The, 210& ^ '
Man 0/ Honour, A, 225, 229 ,
Man of the World, The, 88 -
Manchester, earliest Theatre
Royal in, built in Spring Street,
286 ; burned and re-built, 286 ;
second Theatre Royal built in
Fountain Street, 287 ; managed
by elder Macready, 287 ;
burned, 287 ; present Theatre
Royal opened m Peter Street,
287; Prince's Theatre, 287;
Queen's Theatre, 287 ; Comedy
Theatre, 287; St. James's
Theatre, 287
Manchester Circuit, 287
Manoeuvres of Jane, The, 195
Man*s Shadow, A, 193
Mansfield, Richard, at Globe,

247; at Lyceum, 178
Manxman, The, 239, 245
Margate, theatre at, 291
Margery Strode, ig6
Marius, C. D., 267
Marjorie, 268

Marlowe, Christopher, 27, 41
Marriage of Convenience, A, 195,

241
Marriage of Kiity, The, ^34

Digitized byCjOOQlC

INDEX.

341

Marrying of Ann Leeie, The, 225

Marshall, Rebecca, 40

Marshall, Robeit, The Alabaster
Staircase^ 210, 228 ; Ihe Duke
of Killikrankiey 221 5 Hi$ Ex-
cellency the Governor ^ 211; A
Royal Family y 224

Marston, J. Westland, 133, 137

Mattin, I^dy. See Faucit, H. S.

Martin, Sir Theodore, 170

Martyn, Edward, 317, 318

Mascotte, La, 267

Masks and Faces, 190, 301

Mason, A. E. W., 196

Masqtteraders, The, 207

Massinger, Philip, 27

Master Builder, The, 254

Mathews, Charles, the elder, at
Bath^ 280; at Edinburgh, 298;
at York, 288; at Leicester,
289 ; at Covent Garden, 98,
no; at Haymarket, 103; part^
manager of Adelphi, 123 ; his'
" At Homes," 123, 124

Mathews, Charles^ the younger,
at Olympic, 120; marriage, 121;
in America, 121 ; part manager
of Adelphi, 123; manager of
Covent Garden, 130, 131; at
Brighton, 2S8; at Edinburgh,
300; at Dublin, 316; at Hay-
market, 137 ; at Princess's, 151;
manager of Lyceum, 155, 156

Mathews, Mrs. Charles. See
Vestris, L. E.

Mating. See Morning Per-
formances

Matt 0' Merry Mdunt, 221

MaudC) Cyril, at Vaudeville and
Comedy, 194; at Criterion,
219; at Trafalgar Square
Theatre, 233 ; part manager
of Haym&rket, 194, 1955 with
Haymarket company at New
Theatre, 221 ; acts at Wal-
dorf, 196; at Duke of York's,
334; manager of The Play-
house, 195, 196 ; his History of
the Haymarket quoted, 137-
141, 191, 196

Maude, Mrs. C. See Emery, W.

Maughan^ W. Somerset, Jcuk
Straw, 247 ; Lady Frederick,
212, 226; A Man of Honour,
225, 230; Mrs, Dot, 228

May, Alice, 263

May, Jane, 268

May fair, 204

Meadows, Drink water, 151

Medal and the Maid, The, 269

Medicine Man, The, 176

Melodrama, modern, 236-245

Merivale, Herman, 174

Mermaid Society, 227

Merrie England, 266

Merry Widow, The, 272

Merveilleuses, The, 272

Message front Marsi A, 229

Messager, Andr^, The Basoehe,
266 ; The Little Michus, 272 ;
Mirelte, 265; Veronique, 273,

274
Messenger Boy, The, 261
Mice and Men, 249
Michael and his Lost Angel, 179
Middleman, The, 244
Middleton, Thomas, 27
Mikado, The, 264, 266
Millar, Gertie, 262
Millard, Evelyn, at St. James s,

207, 208; at Diike of York's,

233 ; at Lyric, 249
Miller, D. P., 306
Millett, Maud, at Terry's, 232,

233; at St. James's, 207; at

Apollo, 273
Milliottaire The, 222
Milman, H. H., 125
Miracle Plays, 1-8
Mirette, 265
Miss Decima, 272
Miss Esmeralda, 259
Miss Hook, of Holland, 268 -
Miss Tomboy, 246
Modjeska, Helena, 222
Mohun, Michael, 40, 44, 50
Mollusc, The, 22 1
Monckton, Lady, at Comedy,

227 ; at St, James's, 207 5 at

Avenue, 229

Digitized byCjOOQlC

342

INDEX.

MoDckton, Lionel, 271
Momy^ 130, 190, 192, 209
Moneyspinner, The, 204
Monkboose, Harry, at Gaiety,

258 ; at Prince of Wales's, 268;

at Daly's, 271
Monsieur Beaucairey 228, 249, 250
Monte CristOf 259
Montgomery, Walter, 139
Montrose, theatre at, 309
Moonlight Blossom, The, 231
Moore, Decima, 264
Moore, Eva, at Court, 223, 224 ;

at Lyric, 269 ; at St. James's,

208; at Criterion, 221
Moore, J. Sturge, 227
Moore, George, The Strike at

Arlingford, 225; writes for

Irish Literary Theatre, 318
Moore. Mary, at Criterion, Wynd-

ham's, and New Theatre, 218-

221
Moralities, 8, 9, 13
Morals of Marcus, The, 212
Morning Performances, 142, 143
Morocco Bound, 273
Morris, Mrs., proprietress of

Haymarket, 138, 139
Morton, Thomas, 93
Moser, G. von., 227
Mossop, Henry, at Dublin

Aungier Street theatre, 312;

at Crow Street theatre, 314;

manager of Smock Alley and

Crow Street theatres, 314
Mother Goose, 98
Mountebanks, The, 265, 269
Mountfort, Susanna, 44
M.P„ 189
Mr» Hopkinson, 230
Mr. Popple oflppleton, 273
Mr, Sheridan, 212
Mts» Dan^s Defence, 220
Mrs, Dot, 228

Mrs, Gorring^s Necklace, 220
Mrs, Maxwelts Marriage, 225
Mrs, Ponderburji's Past, 224, 229
\Mrs, Warrtr^s Profession, 225
Mummy and the Juumming Bird,

The, 220

Manden, J. S., at Bath, 280; at
Edinburgh, 298

Murray, Alma, 228

Murray, Gilbert, Andromache,
225 ; Electra, 226 ; Hippolytus,
226; The Trojan Women^ 226

Murray, H. Leigh, at Strand,
158 ; at Lyceum, 156

Murray, Mrs. Leigh, at Strand,
158 ; at Lyceum, 156 ; at Court,
222

Murray, Mrs. Gaston, 202

Murray, W. H., manager of Edin-
burgh theatres, 298-30P,

Musical Comedy, 26(>-262, 266,
268, 270-274

Musicians, in Elizabethan the-
atres, 25 ; position of orchestra
altered in later theatres, 25-26

My Darling, 274 ,

My Lady Molly, 272

My Milliner^ s Bill, 222

My Mimosa Maid, 268

Mysteries. See Miracle Plays

Mystery of Edwin Drood, The, 200

Najezda, 193 -

Nance Oldfield, 178

National Theatre Society, 317

Nautch Girl, The, 264

Neilson, Julia, at Criterion, 219;
at St. James's, 208; at Hay-
market, 231 ; at Shaftesbury,
250 ; at Comedy, 248 ; at New
Theatre, 221, 248

Neilson, L. Adelaide, 135

Nell Gwynne, 267

Nelly Neil, 274

Nelson* s Enchantress, 229

Nero, 200

Nesville, Juliette, 271

Nethersole, Olga, at Garrick,
209 ; at Court, 224 ; at Adelphi,
242

Never Too Late to Mend, 155, 166

Neville, Henry, at 01ympia« X42,
243; at Princess's, 243; at
Drury Lane, 243; M Vaude-
ville, 246

New Aladdin, The, 261

Digitized byCjOOQlC

INDEX.

343

Ntw Boy^ The, 233

New Century Theatre, 227

New Chelsea Theatre, 202

New CloTvn, The, 228

New Magdalen, The, 147

New Men and Old Acres, 201

New Theatre, 220, 221

New Woman, The, 194, 227,
228

Newcastle, theatres at, 290

Newcastle Circuit, 290

Newington Butts Theatre, 19

Nicholls, Harry, 253

Nicol, Emma, 301

Night of the Party, The, 230

Night Out, A, 246

Niobe, 159

Nisbett, Louisa, at Drury Lane,
132; at Haymarket, 137

Niters First, 230

Nokes, James, 44

Norreys, Rose, at Court, 222,
223

Northbrooke, John, 28 ,

Norton, Thomas, 11

Norwich, theatres at, 290

Norwich Circuit, 290

Notorious Mrs, Ebbsmith, 209

Novelty (afterwards Kingsway)
Theatre, opened with comic
opera and farce, 230; known
as Folies Dramatiques, 230 ; as

. Jodrell Theatre, 230 ; as Great
Queen Street Theatre, 230;
managed by Lena Ashwell, as
Kingsway Theatre, 230

Nowadays, 238

Oberon, 115

Octoroon, The, 144

Odette, 243

Offenbach, Jacques, The Grand
Duchess, 265 ; Madame Favart,
159, 267, 273, 307

Ogilvie, Stuart, Hypatia^ 193;
The Sin of St, Hulda^ 245

aOrindles, The, 196

O'Keefe, John, writes for Drury
Lane, 93 ; The Castle of Anda-
lusia, 96 ; Wild Oats, 96

Old Guard, The, 267

Old Heidelberg, 208

Old Lady, The, 223

Old field, Anne, 62

Oliver, M. C. ("Pattie"), at
Princess's, 155; manager of
Royalty, 159

Oliver Twist, 200

Olivette, 159, 273

Olivier, Sidney^ 225

Olympic Revels, 120

Olympic Theatre, earliest days
of, 100; managed by Elliston,
100 ; by Oxberry, Egerton and
Vining, 119; by Madame
Vestris, 119-121 ; burned down,
122 ; new house opened, 145 ;
managed by Farren, 145, 140 ;
by Wigan, 146; by Robson
and Emden, 147 ; by Miss
Cavendish, 147; by Neville
243; pulled down, 148; New
Olympic built, 148; its short
career, 148, 239

On the Cards, 256

One of the Best, 241

One Summer's Day, 228

O'Neil, Eliza, at Covent Garden,
no; at Exeter, 284; at
Brighton, 288; at Edinburgh,
299 ; at Glasgow, 304

Only Way, The, 180, 250, 273

"O.P." (Old Price) Riots, 107-
109

'Op d me Thumb, 225

Opera, at Covent Garden, 68-
70, 115, 127, 131 5 at Her
Majesty's, 126, 127; at Lyceum,
124, 157; at Queen's (after-
wards King's) Theatre, 51-54,
68, 69, 83, 90, 117, 126; at
St. James's, 126; at Olympic,
147; at Princess's, 151

Opera Comique theatre, opened,
262 ; Gilbert and Sullivan
operas at, 262-263; subse-
quent productions at, 263,
264 ; Independent Theatre,
performances at, 225; de-
molished, 264

Digitized byCjOOQlC

344

INDEX.

Oratorio, at Covent Garden, 70> 96

Orchestra. Ste Musicians

OnAu/, The, 261

Ord, Robert, 326

Orger, Mary Ann, 120

Otway, Thomas, 43

0$tr Atiuruan Cousin , 141

Otir Beys, 2AI, 245,246

Our Fiat, 159

Ours, 189, 210

Owen, Emmie, 265

Oxberry, William, 119

Pair tf Sputtules, A, 209

FaUue 9f Puck, 7 he, 196

PeUaee of Truth, The, 142, 231

Palace Theatre, 266

Palfrey, May, 246

Palmer, John, manager of Bath
Theatre, 278; of Bristol Theatre,
282

Palmer, John, of Drury Lane, 87,
loi

Pammachus, 12

Pantaloon, 234

Pantheon, 90

Pantomime, popularity of in eigh-
teenth century, at Drury Lane
and Lincoln's Inn Fields, 59;
at Covent Garden and Drury
Lane, 75, 98

Pantomime Rehearsal, The, 272

Paolo and Francesca, 208

Park Theatre, Camden Town, 253

Parker, Sir Gilbert, 196

Parker, L. ^., Gudgeons, 233; The
Jest, 2I9; Makers of Men, 239;
Rosemary, 2195 The ^wash-
buckler, 234

Parry, John, 275

Parvenu, The, 222

Passmore, Walter, 266

Passport, The, 233

Patents for theatrical perform-
ances, granted to Davenant and
Killigrew, 35 ; these merged
into one, 43; second Patent
again granted, 47; Patents con-
fined to Drury Lane and Covent
Garden, 67; Patent granted to

Haymarket, 79; to Bath theatre,
278; to Birmingham theatre,
235; to Edinburgh theatre,
295

Paiiencey 263, 266

Patridar^s Daughter, The, 133

Paul, Mrs. Howard, 263

Paul /ones, 26&

Paulton, Harry, 159

Pavilion Theatre, Whitechapel,
251, 252

Paw Clawdian, 215

Payne, EdwSird, 261

Peele, George, 27

Peep <f Day, 157

Peg Woffington, 232

Pillias and MHisande, 231

Penley, W. S., at Comedy, 227,
267; at Globe, 231; at Globe
and Royalty, 248

Peoples Idol, The, 239

Pepys, Samuel, his ** Diary"

• quoted, 34, 35, 37, 39

Perdita, 157

PeHl, 190, 203

Perry, Florence, 265

Perth, theatre at, 309

Peter Pan, 234

Peter the Great, 176

Peter's Mother, 221, 228

Peltitt, Henry> The Bells of Hasle-
mere, 241; Hands across the
Sea, 238; The Harbour Lights,
241; In the Ranks ^ 241; The
Union fack, 241

Pharisee, The, 245

Phelps, Samuel, early appear-
ances, 117; at Birmingham,
285; at Covent Garden, 130;
at Drury Lane, 132; at Hay-
market, 137; manager of Sad-
ler's Wells, 148-150; his rivalry
with C. Kean, 149, 150; acts
at Drury Lane, 1 35; at Queen's
Theatre, 160 ; at Princess's,
155; at Brighton, 288; at Glas-
gow, 306 ; criticism of his
acting, 150, 151

Philanderer, The, 225

Phillips, F. C, 206

Digitized byCjOOQlC

INDEX.

345

Phillips, Stephen, Herod, 200;
NerOy 200; Paoio and Francesca,
208; Ulysses, 200
Phillips, Watts, The Dead Heart,
I43» 174; ^0^1 «*» London, 155
Physician, The, 219
Pillars of Society, 'J he, 254
Pinero, A. W., 7>5^ Amazons,
223; 7"^^ Beauty Stone, 265;
7}4^ Benefit of the Doubt, 194,
228; 7^/4^ Cabinet Minister, 195,
223; Dandy Dick, 222; 7%<j
(7ay ZiVflf C«^^, 210; ^M
House in Order, 208; T^A^
Hobby Horse, 204; /« Chancery,
232; /rw, 211; 7 he Ironmaster,
204 ; Za^ Bountiful, 209 ;
Z^//y, 234 ; Tiitf Magistrate,
222 ; May/air, 204; 7%^ Money-
spinner, 204; 7%^ Notorious
Mrs, Ebbsmith,2Qg; The Prin-
cess and the Butterfly, 2orj ;
7%^ Profligate, 208, 209; 7%^
Rector, 222; 7"^^ Schoolmistress,
222; Tii^ Second Mrs, Tan-
queray, 205, 207, 209; 7%^
Squire, 204; ^z«/^^/ Lavender,
232; 7%tf Thunderbolt, 208;
714^ Times, 232; Trelawny of
the Wells, 224; Z^^ ff^^tf>&<fr
^^jf, 205 ; -<4 ^35^ without a
Smile, 221
/V«>& Dominoes, 217
Pinkethman, William, 53, 69
Pirates of Penzance, The, 263, 266
Pit, abolished and restored at
Haymarket, 191; ** booking"
of, at Lyceum, 173; at The
Playhouse and Kingsway, 196
Plague, used by Puritans as argu-
ment against theatres, 28-30
Planch^, J. R., writes for Vestris
and Mathews at Olympic, 120,
255; at Covent Garden, 130;
at Lyceum, 156
Planquette, Robert, 7^^*^ Cloches
de Comeville, 214; The Old
Guard, 267; Nell Gwynne, 267;
Paul /ones, 268; Rip van
Winkle, 259^ 267

Play, 189

Playhouse, The, 195, 196

Plymouth, theatre at, 282, 583

Polygraphic Hall, 214

Porpora, N. A., at Lincoln's Inn,

61, 68; at King's Theatre, 69
Pounds, Courtice, at Savoy, 264 ;

at Prince of Wales's, 268
Pounds, Louie, 266
Powell, William, 84
Power, Tyrone, at Adelphi, 123 ;

at Haymarket, 137
Pocock, Isaac, Rob Roy, 299,

304

Poupee, La, 268

Powrie, Thomas, 306

Prayer of the Sword, The, 242

Preston, Jessie, 259

Preston, Thomas, ii

Prices of admission, in Elizabe-
than theatres, 24-25; in Restor-
ation theatres, 36, 37; at Covent
Garden in early nineteenth
century, ill; at Buckstone's
Haymarket, 140; at Webster's
Adelphi, 144, 145

Prince of Wales's Theatre, Coven-
try Street, opened (as Prince's
Theatre), 230 ; managed by
Bruce, 230, 231; various plays
and comic operas at, 231, 232,
267, 268 ; musical comedy at,
268

Prince of Wales's, Tottenham
Street (formerly West London
Theatre), early days of, 127,
128, 187; managed by Marie
Wilton and H. J. Byron, 187-
189 ; by Mr. and Mrs. Ban-
croft, 189, 190; by Bruce, 190;
demolished, 190

Prince's Theatre. See Prince of
Wales's Theatre, Coventry
Street

Princess, The, 147

Princess and the Butterfly, The,
207

Princess Ida; 264

Princess of Kensington, The^ 269

Princesses Nose, The, 234

Digitized byCjOOQlC

346

INDEX.

Prioce»'s Theatre, early days of,
151 ; managed bv C Kean,
151-154; by A. Harris, 154;
l^ ViniDg, Webster, and Chat-
terton, 155; recoostmcted, 155;
managed by Wilson Barrett,
236-238; subsequent produc-
tions at, 238, 239

Prisontr of Ztnda^ The, nyj

Pritchard, Hannah, at Drury
Lane, 74, 81 ; at Bristol, 282

PrivaU Sicrttaty, TTU, 231

/V« Tknt., 196

Professof^s Lcve Story ^ The, 228,

Profligate, TTke^ 208, 209

Prom$uo/May, The, 247

Pnmella, 226

Pryce, Richard, 225

Prynne, W., Histrio-Mcutix, 29,

30
Pmhlk OfimoH, 221
Pmuk^ 228
Puritans, their opposition to

theatres, 28-33
PygmcUion and Galatea, 142
Fyne, Louisa, 301

QuaUty Street, 247
Queetls Shilling, The, 203
Queen's Theatre, Haymarket.

See King's Theatre
Queen's Theatre, Lon^re, 160
Queen's Theatre, Shaftesbury

Avenue, 235
Queen's Theatre, Tottenham

Street See Prince of Wales's

Theatre
Question of Memory, A, 225
Qmet Rubber, A, 202
Quin, James, at Drury Lane, 59 ;

at Lincoln's Inn Fields, 59;

at Covent Garden, 67, 70, 73,

74, 82; at Dublin, 310, 311

Raffles, 228
Raising the Wind, 97
Ralph Roister Doister, 10
Ramsay, Allan, 293
Raoenswood, 174

Reade, Charles, writes for Adelphi,

143; Dora, 184; Drink, 155;

Never Too Late to Mend, 155,

166
Reading, theatre at, 291
Rector, The, 222
Red Bull Theatre, 19, 34
Red Hussar, The, 269
Red Lamp, The, 193, 2^
Reece, Robert, his Gaiety bur-

lesques, 255, 257
Reed, Alfred, 275, 276
Reed, T. German, 274, 275
Reed, Mrs. German, 274-276
Reeve, J., 123
Reeves, Sims, at Drury Lane, 133;

at Dublin, 317
Regency Theatre, 187
Rehan, Ada, at Strand, 159;

at Dal3r's, 270
Rehearsal, The, 40
Rejected Addresses, 106
Respublica, 13
Resurrection, 200
Return of the Prodigal, The, 226
Rich, Christopher, manager of

Drury Lane, 47-54
Rich, John, manager of Lincoln's

Inn Fields, 59-61, 72; of Covent

Garden, 61, 68-70, 73-76, 84;

his death, 84
Richard III., as patron of drama,

II
Richelieu, 130, 164
Richmond, theatre at, 291
Righton, E., 207
Rinaldo, 68
Riots, at Lincoln's Inn Fields,

72; at Drury Lane, 80; at

Covent Garden, 98, 107-109;

at Haymarket, 104, 191 ; at

Edinburgh Theatre Royal, 297;

at Dublin Aungier Streettheatre,

312, 313
Rip van Winkle, play, 144;

comic opera, 259, 267
Ristori, Adelaide, 136
Rivals, The, 85, 86, 195, 224
Rob Roy, 299, 300, 304
Robert the Devil, 256

Digitized byCjOOQlC

INDEX.

347

Roberts, Arthur, at Avenue, 267 ;
at Opera Comique, 91 ; at
Gaiety, 92; at Prince of Wales's,
268

Robertson, J. Forbes. See Forbes
Robertson, J.

Robertson, Madge. See Kendal,
Mrs. M.

Robertson, T. Vf,,Cas^e, 189, 210;
David Garrick, 142, 218 ; The
Ladies' Battle, 203 ; M,P,, 189;
Ours, 189, 210; Play, 189;
School, 189, 209, 210; Society,
189, 290; his death, 190; re-
vivals of his plays at Hay market,
192

Robespierre, 177

Robin Goodfellow, 209

Robin Hood, 249

Robson, T. F. , at Grecian Theatre,
252; at Olympic, 145-147

Rochester, theatre at, 291

Rodgers, James, 286

Rogues Comedy, The, 210, 245

Romance of a Shopwalker, The, 246

Romany Rye, The, 236

Rorke, Kate, at Criterion, 217 ;
at Comedy, 227; at Garrick,
209 ; at Shaftesbury, 245

Rorke, Mary, at Court, 202 ; at
Criterion, 217

Roselle, Amy, at Court, 222 ; at
Comedy, 227; at Princess's, 238

Rosemary, 219

Rosmersholm, 229, 254

Ross, Adrian, 264

Ross, David, 295

Rostand, Edmond, 220

Rousby, Mrs., 160

Rowe, Nicholas, 57

Royal Academy of Music, 68

Royal Circus, 100, 125

** Royal Command "performances,
104, 205, 218

Royal Divorce, A,2^\

Royal Family, A, 224

Royal Grove, 10 1

Royal Kent Theatre, 252

Royal Necklace, A, 250

Royal Star, The, 268

Royalty Theatre, Dean Street,
early days of, 159; managed by
Miss Cavendish, 159; by Miss
Oliver, 159; by Miss Santley,
159; Independent Theatre
at, 225; managed by Bour-
chier, 159 ; by Alexander, 159

Royalty Theatre, Well Close
Square, 1 01, 252

Royce, £. W., at Birmingham,
285 ; at Gaiety, 257, 258

Ruddigore, 264

Runaway Girl, The, 260

Rupert ofHentzau, 207

Russell and Bashford management
at Haymarket, 193

Ruy Bias, 259

Ryan, Lacy, at Covent Garden,
69; at Dublin, 311

Ryder, Corbet, 308

Ryder, John, 132, 151

Ryder,Thomas, manager of Smock
Alley and Crow Street theatres,
Dublin, 314, 315

Ryley, Madeline, fedbury. Junior,
233 ; Mice and Men, 249 ; The
Sugar Bowl, 235

Sackvillb, Thomas, Earl of
Dorset, 11

Sadler's Wells Theatre, early
days of, 99, 126; managed by
Phelps, 148-150; by Mrs. Bate-
man, 150

St. George, Julia, 287

St. George's Hall, 275, 276

St. James's Theatre, opened by
Brahara, 126 ; French plays at,
126, 157; managed by Webster,
157 ; by Miss Herbert, 158 ; by
Mrs. John Wood, 158 ; by the
Kendals, 203-205 ; by Barring-
ton, 206; by Alexander, 206-
208 ; interior remodelled, 208

St. John, Florence, at Edinburgh,
302; at Strand, 159; at Avenue,
267 ; at Gaiety, 259 ; at Savoy,
265 ; at Criterion, 221

St. Martin's Hall, 274

St. Quentin, Miss, 307

Digitized byCjOOQlC

348

INDEX.

Sainis and SmnerSt 246

Salaries of Actore, 4, 53, 97

Salisbury Circuit, 277

Salvini, Tommaso, 135

Sampson, 70

San Toy^ 271

Sans Pareil Theatre, 101

Santley, Kate, 159

Saraioi^a^ 2 16

Sardou, Victorien, Dante, 180;
Dtfloniacy, 190; Madame Sans-
Cine, 175, 269; Peril, 190;
Robespierre, 177

Savoy Theatre, opened, 263;
comic opera at, 263-267 ; man-
aged by Barker and Vedrenne,
226, 227

Saxe-Meiningen company, at
Drury Lane, 136

Scala Theatre, 190, 191, 251

Scarlet Pimpernel, The, 22 1, 248

Scenery, in Miracle Plays, 5-6;
in earliest theatres, 16-17; i"
Elizabethan theatres, 22, 24;
in Restoration theatres, 35, 39,
40; early in nineteenth century,
105, io6, 115; at Drury Lane
in Macready's day, 131, 132;
in Phelps' and C. Kean's Shake-
spearean productions, 148-153;
in Irring's, 169, 171, 173, 174;
in Forbes Roberison's and
Waller's, 179, 180; in Tree's,
197-199; at Prince of Wales's
under Bancrofts, 188

Scheming Lieut evan/. The, 86

School, 189, 209, 210

School for Scandal, Tlie, 87, 190,
216, 218

School Girl, 7 he, 268

Schoolmistress, The, 222, 223

Scott, Clement, Odette, 243; The
Swordsman^ s Daughter, 241

Scott, Sir Walter, on Pob Roy,
299

Scrap of Paper, A, 202, 203

Second in Command, The, 195

Second Mrs, Tanqueray, The,
205, 207, 209

Secret Service, 242

Seats in theatres, prices of in
Elizabethan days, 24, 25 ; in
Restoration theatres,^ 36, 37; in
early nineteenth century, 11 1,
144, 145 ; orchestra- stalls intro-
duced at Haymarket, 136; pit
abolished there, 191 ; restored,
191 ; "booking" of seats hither-
to unreserved, at Lyceum, 173;
at The Playhouse and Kings-
way, 196

Seats if the Mighty, The, 196

Sedley, Sir Charles, 43, 54

See See, 268

Sentries, outside Patent theatres,

Sergeant Brue, 268

Seymour, Frank, manager of Glas-
gow Queen Street, York Street,
and Caledonian theatres, 305

Seymour, Katie, 262

Shad well, Thomas, 310

Shaftesbury Theatre, opened by
Miss Wallis, 244; Willard at,
244; Wilson Barrett at, 239;
subsequent performances at,

245» 273

Shakespeare, William, his con-
nection with The Theatre, 18 ;
with the Globe and Blackfriars
theatres, 19, 20, 27; his plays
as produced by Garrick, 77, 78,
83; by J. P. Kemble, 96, 98;
by E. Kean, 113; by C.
Kemble, 115; by Macready,
129, 132; by Chatterton, 135;
by Phelps, 148- 150; by C.
Kean, 151- 154; by John Harris
at Dublin, 317; by Irving, 168-
177; by Forbes Robertson, 179;
by Waller, 179, 180, 250; by
Tree, 193, 197-199; by Benson
Company, 247; by Calvert,
Flanagan and Courtneidge at
Manchester, 287

Shamus O^Brien, 264

Shaw, G. Bernard, The Admir-
able Bashville, 225 ; Arms and
the Man, 227, 229 ; Ccesar and
Cleopatra, 227; Candida, 225;

Digitized byCjOOQlC

INDEX.

349

Captain Brassbouncts Conver-
sion^ 183, 225; The DeviPs
I^isciple, 227; The Doctor's
Dilemma^ 226 ; Getting Mar-
riedj 196; How He Lied to Her
Htisbandy 226 ; [ohn Builds
Other Island^ 226 ; ^Man and
Superman^ 225; Mrs. Warren^ s
Profession^ 225 ; The Philan-
derer ^ 225 ; Widowers* Houses^
225 ; You Never Can Telly 225,
227

She Stoops to Conquer, 81, 84,
158, 195, 218, 246

Sheffield, theatre at, 290

Shelton, George, 214

Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, pro-
duction of The Rivals, 85; The
Scheming Lieutenant, The
Duenna, and A Trip to Scar-
borough, 86 ; The School for
Scandal, 87; The Critic, 88;
manager of Drury Lane, 86 93

Sheridan, Thomas, manager of
Dublin Smock Alley theatre,
311-314; acts at Covent Gar-
den, 312; manager of Dublin
Aungier Street theatre, 312-313

Shine, J. L., 273

Shirley, A. W., 239

Shirley, James, 27

Shop Girl, The, 260

Shoreditch, Standard Theatre,
251, 252

Short Vieiu of the English Stage, 46

Shrewsbury, theatre at, 287

Siddons, Henry, at Glasgow, 303;
manager of Edinburgh Theatre
Royal, 298

Siddons, Mrs. Henry, at Edin-
burgh Theatre Royal, 297-299

Siddons, Sarah, first appearance,
at Drury Lane, 82; at Bath,
279, 280; at Bristol, 282; at
Manchester, 286 ; at Leicester,
289 ; at Sheffield, 291 ; at
Edinburgh, 296, 297-299; at
Drury Lane, %%, 89, 91, 93 ; at
Dublin, 315; at Exeter, 283;
at Brighton, 288; at Covent

Garden, 92, 96-98, no, in;
her acting, in

Siddons, William, manager of
Sadler's Wells, 99; at Leicester,
289

Siege of Rhodes, 35

Sign of the Cross, The, 239

Silver Box, The, 226

Silver King, The, 237, 244

Silver Shield, . The, 227

Silver Slipper, The, 269

Simple Simon, 212

Simpson, Mercer, 306

Sims, G. R. , The Harbour Lights,
241 ; In the Ranks, 241 ; 7 he
Lights of London, 236 ; Two
Little Vagabonds, 239

Sin of St, Hulda, The, 245

Slaughter, Walter, 268

Smith, J. and H., Rejected
Addresses, 106

Smith, William, 87

Smoking, in theatres, 25, 32

Society, 290, 189

Soldiers, as guard at Patent
theatres, 72 ; quell riot at Hay-
market, 104

Solomon, Edward, The Little
Nautch Girl, 264; The Red
hussar, 269; The Vicar of
Bray, 264

Sophia, 246

Sothern, Edward, at Birmingham,
285, 286; at Haymarket, 141,
142

SouPs Tragedy, A, 225

Soutar, Robert, 256

Southampton, theatres at, 291

Sowing the Wind, 227, 228

Spring Chicken, The, 261

Squire, The^ 204

Squire of Dames, The, 219

Stage, form of, for Miracle Plays,
2-5; in Elizabethan theatres,
20-25 ; in Restoration theatres,
35-37; presence of spectators
on, 23, 25, 27, 71, 72, 77, 78,
294 ; arrangement of, at Drury
Lane in Kean's day, 106, 107

Stage Dora, 215

23*

Digitized byCjOOQlC

3SO

INDEX.

Stagi'Playit^s Complaint^ The

30-31
Stage Society, 224-226
Stalls, introduced at Haymarket,

"36
Standard Theatre, Shored itch,

2S«. 252
Stanfield, Garkson, 131, 285
Stanford, Sir C. Villiers, 264
Steele, Sir Robert, writes for

Drury Lane, 54, 59, 62
Steer. Janette, 233
Stephens, Yorke, at Ayenue, 229;

at Terry's, 233
Stephenson, B. C, The Fatal

Card^ 241 ; Impulse, 204
Stevenson, R. L., 200
Still, J., Bishop of Bath and

Wells, 10
Still Waters Run Deep, 147, 218
Stirling, Mrs. M. A., at Drury

Lane, 132; at Hayniarket, 137;

at Strand, 158; at Imperial,

249 ; at Vaudeville, 246
Stockwood. John, 28
Story of Waterloo, ^,175
Strand Theatre, earliest days of,

125; managed by Farren, 158;

Byron*! burlesques at, 158 ;

comic opera at, 273 ; managed

by Clarke, 159; last days of,

159, VI
Strange Adventures of Miss

£ro2vn, 246
Street, G. S., 225
Streets of London, The, 155
Strike at Arlinsford, The, 225
Stronger Sex, The, 273
Stuart, Leslie, Florodora, 269;

The School Girl, 268; The

Silver Slipper, 269
Stubbcs, Philip, 29
Sturgis, Julian, 266
Suburban theatres, 292
Sudermann, H.. 179
Sugar BoTi'l, 7 he, 235
Sudgen, Charles, 246
Sullivan, Sir Arthur, The Beauty

Stone, 265 ; Contrabandista,

275 ; Cox and Box, 275 ; The

Efnerald Isle, 265; The Gon-
doliers, 264, 266; The Grand
Duke, 26s ; If addon Hall^ 265;
HM.S, Pinafore, 263, 266;
lolanthe, 264, 266 ; Ivanhoe,
266; The Mikado, 264, 266;
Patience, 263, 266; The Pifcttes
of Penzanee, 263, 266; Princess
Ida, 264 ; The Rose of Persia,
265; Ruddigore, 264; The
Sorcerer, 262; Thespis^ 257,
262; Trial by fury, 262;
Utopia, 265 ; 'The Yeomen of
the Guard, 264, 266

Sullivan, Barry, at Leicester, 289';
at Drury Lane, 135

Sunday, 248

Sunlight and Shadow, 206, 229

Sunset, 227

Surrey Theatre, earliest da)rs of,
100 ; managed by Elliston, 100;
by Dibdin, icx>; by Elliston
again, 125 ; burned down and
new house built, 125

Sutro, Alfred, Ihe Barrier, 228 ;
The Fascinaling Mr, Vander-
velit, 211; fohn Glaydes
Honour, 208; The Walls of
Jericho, 211

Swan Theatre, 20, 21

Swanborough, W. H., 286

Swashbuckler, The, 234

Sweeney Tod, 285

Sweet Lavender, 232

Sweet Nancy ^ 248

Sweet Nell of Old Drury, 231

Sweet and Twenty, 246

Sweethearts^ 190

Swinny, Owen, manager of
Queen*s Theatre, 52-54

SwordsmafCs DaugHer^ The, 241

S>'nge, J. W., 318

** Tailors' Riot," 104
Talbot, Howard, 270
Talbot, Montague, 315
Talfourd, Sir T. N., 118
Tarleton, Richard, 27
Taylor, Tom, writes for Adelphi,
143 ; for OJympie, 184 ; Lady

Digitized byCjOOQlC

INDEX.

3SI

Clancarty, 249 ; Our American
Cousin^ 141 ; still Waters Run.
Deep, 147, 218

Tempest, Marie, in comic opera,
at Prince of Wales's, 268; at
Lyric, 269 ; at Daly's, 271 ; in
drama, at Criterion, 221 ; at
Prince of Wales's, 231, 232 ; at
Duke of York's, 234; at
Comedy, 228

Temple, Richard, 262

Tennyson, hotdy Becket^ 174, 175,
181; TAe Cup, 170; T/te
Falcon, 204; TAe Foresters,

* 270 ; TAe Promise of May, 247 ;
Queen Mary, 164

Terriss, Ellaline, at Criterion,
219; at Court, 224 ; at Lyric,
269 ; at Gaiety, 260, 261 ; at
Vaudeville, 246, 247 ; at Ald-
wych, 274

Terriss, William, first London ap-
pearance, 240; at Court, 168,
240 ; at Lyceum, 240 ; with
Lyceum company in America,
240 ; introduces Daly Company
to London, 240 ; at Adelphi,
240, 241 ; in America, 241 ; at
Lyceum again, 241 ; returns to
Adelphi, 241-242 ; assassina-
tion, 242

Terry, Benjamin, at Princess's,
151 ; touring with his daughters,

Terry, Daniel, part manager of
Adelphi, 123

Terry, Edward, at Surrey and
Strand Theatres, 232 ; at
Gaiety, 232, 257, 258; opens
Terry's Theatre, 232; subse-
quent appearances, 232

Terry, Ellen, early appearances at
Princess's, 153, 154, 165 ; at
Royalty, 165 ; at Bath and
Bristol, 165, 281 ; at Hay-
market, 139, 166; at Olympic,
166; at Queen's Theatre, 160-
162, 166 ; at Birmingham, 285,
286 ; at Prince of Wales's," as
Portia, 167 ; at Court, in Olivia^

167; at Lyceum, 168-178; as
Ophelia, 168; Portia, 169; in
The Cup, 170; as Desdemona,
170 ; Juliet, 171 ; Beatrice, 171 ;
Viola, 172; Olivia, 172; in
Faust, 173 ; Amber Heart, 173;
as Lady Macbeth, 173, 174;
in The Dead Heart, 174 (
Ravensivood, 174; Henry VIII,,
174; as Cordelia, 174; Imogen,
175'; Madame Sans-G^ne, 175;
m Robespierre, 177 ; Coriolanus,
177 ; last appearance with
Irving, 177 ; reasons of sever-
ance of professional partnership
with him, 177, 178; in manage-
ment on her own account, 182,
183, 250 ; in The Vikings, 182,
250 ; at His Majesty's, in The
Merry Wives of Windsor, 182,

183 ; in ^ Winter's Tale, 183 ;
"jubilee" celebration at Drury
Lane, 183 ; at Duke of York's,
in Alice Sit -by -the' Fire, 183 ;
at Court, in Captain Brass^
houna^s Conversion, 183

Terry, Florence, 184

Teriy, Fred, at Lyceum, 172 ; a^
Hay market, 231 ; at Shaftes-
bury, 250 ; at Comedy, 248 ;
at New Theatre, 221, 248

Terry, Mrs. Fred. See Neilson,
Julia

Terry, Kate, at Princess's, 153,
I54> 183 ; at St. James's, 184 ;
at Lyceum, 184; at Adelphi,
184; at Olympic, 147, 184 ; at
Manchester, 216 ; retirement,

184 ; re-appearance at Garrick,
184

Terry, Marion, at Olympic, 185 ;
at Strand, 185 ; at Haymarket,

185 ; at Prince of Wales's, 185 ;
at Court, 222;- at Comedy,
227, 228; at Lyceum, 179,
185 ; at St. James's, 185, 186,
207 ; at Vaudeville, 247 ; at
New Theatre, 220

Terry-Lewis, Mabel, 184
Tevy's Theatre, 232, 233, 27^

Digitized byCjOOQlC

352

INDEX.

Theatres, inn-yards used as, 14,
18, 34 ; earliest buildings for,
17-27; arrangement in Eliza-
bethan days, 20-26; early
attacks on, 28-30 ; closed during
Civil War, 30-32 ; arrangement
of Rest oration theatres, 35-40;
orchestra stalls introduced at
liaymarket, 136 ; Pit abolished
there, and restored, 191 ; Pit
booked at Lyceum, 173 ; all
seats booked at Playhouse and
Kingsway, 196. [Se€ aJso
Actors, Costume, Lighting,
Patents, Prices of Admission,
Scenery, Stage.]

Theatric Touristy The, 291

Theatrical Fund, instituted at
Norwich, 290 ; at Bath, 279

The Theatre, in Shoreditch, 17,
16, 26, 28

Thi4lf, The, 208

Thomas, Brandon, 241

Thompson, Lydia, at Edinburgh,
301, 302 ; at Prince of Wales's,
189

Thome, Dora, 275

Thome, Fred, 232

Thome, Sarah, 214

Thome, Thomas, part manager of
Vaudeville, 245, 246

Thoroughbred^ 215

Three Kisses^ The^ 273

Three Little Maids^ 273

Three AfusketeerSy The, 200, 248

Thunderbolt^ The, 208

Ticket -of' Leave Man, The, 147,

243

Tinus, The, 232

Toddles, 195, 234

Todhunter, John, 225

Tom, Dick and Harry, 233

Tom Jones, 273

Tom Thumb, 66

Toole, J. L., at Edinburgh, 301 ;
at Glasgow, 307 ; at St. James's
and Lyceum, 157, 213; at
Adelphi, 213 ; at Queen's The-
atre, 160, 214 ; at Birmingham,
285, 286; at Gaiety, 162, 214;

manager of Folly (afterwards
Toole's) Theatre, 214-215 ; re-
tirement and death, 215

Toole's Theatre. See Folly The-
atre

Toreador, The, 261

Touring, first undertaken by Hay-
market company, 137, 286,
295

Toumeur, Cyril, 27

Trafalgar Square Theatre. See
Duke of York's Theatre

Traill, H. D , 176

Transgressor, The, 224

Tree, Ellen. See Kean, Mrs. C

Tree, H. Beerbohm, at Glasgow,
307 ; first London appearance
at old Prince of Wales's, 190 ;
at Criterion, 217 ; at Prince's,
192, 193, 231 ; at Hay market,
193 ; at Comedy, 193 ; manager
of Haymarket, 193, 200;
Shakespearean productions
there, 193 ; manager of His
Majesty's, 196-200 ; Shake-
spearean productions there,
197-199; acts in Berlin, 199;
his treatment of Shakespeare's
plays, 153, 197, 198; his acting,
198, 199; as manager, 199,
200; institutes a dramatic
school, 200

Tree, Mrs. H. Beerbohm, 222

Tree, Viola, 199

Trevor, Leo, 196

Trewman and Hughes manage-
ment at Exeter, 283

Trelawny of the Wells, 224

Trilby, 193, 199

Trip to Scarborough, A, 86

Tristram, Outram, 227

Triumph of the Philistines, The,
207

Trojan Women, The, 226

Tunbridge Wells, theatres at,
291

Twin Sister, The, 234

Two Little Vagabonds, 239

Two Roses, The, 162, 206, 245

Tyranny of Tears, The, 219

Digitized byCjOOQlC

INDEX.

353

Udall, Nicholas, lo

Ulmar, Geraldine, at Savoy, 264 ;

at Lyric, 269
Ulysses^ 200

UrUce DicHs Darlings 162, 214
Uncle's Will, 204
Under the Greenwood Tree^ 249
Under the Red Robe^ 195
Unger, Gladys, 212
Union fack^ The, 241
Upper Crust, The, 214
Utopia, 265

Vachell, H. a., 221
Valentine, Sidney, Fiandet^s

Widow, 212 ; The Stronger

Sex, 273
Vanbrugh, Irene, at St. James's,

207 ; at Court, 224 ; at Globe,

210; at Duke of York's, 234,

235

Vanbrugh, Sir John, writes for
Drury Lane, 46, 48, 54 ; man-
ager of Queen's Theatre, Hay-
market, 51, 52 ; The Relapse,
as amended by Sheridan, 86

Vanbrugh, Violet, at Garrick,
210, 211

Vandenhoff, J. M., 118

Vanity Fair, 224

Varney, Louis, 269

Vaudeville Theatre, opened, 245 ;
managed by James and Thome,
245, 246; interior reconstructed,
246; managed by Gattis, 246,
247
. Vaughan, Kate, at Grecian
Theatre, 253 ; at Gaiety, 257,
258

Vcdrenne, J. E., part manager of
Court, 226, 227

Venne, Lottie, at Brighton, 288 ;
at Comedy, 227 ; at Court, 224;
at Prince of Wales's, 268 ; at
Daly's, 271; at Vaudeville, 247

Verdi, Giuseppe, 178

Veronique, 273, 274

Very Little Hamlet, 258

Vestris, L. E. , at Drury Lane and
Coven t Garden, 120; manager

of Olympic, 119-121; marriage,
121; in America, 121; manager
of Covent Garden, 130, 131; at
Brighton, 288; at Dublin, 316;
at Edinburgh, 299, 300; at
Hay market, 137; at Princess's,
151; manager of Lyceum,. 155,
156; retirement and death, 156

Vezin, Herman, at Princess's,
151; at Queen's, 160; at Gaiety,
257; at Strand, 185; at St.
James's, 158; at Court, 168

Vicar of Bray, The, 264, 265

Victor, Benjamin, 313

Victor, Miss M. A., 246

Victoria Theatre, Westminster.
See Cobourg Theatre

Vikings, The, 182, 250

Village Priest, A, 193

Vincent, Ruth, 274

Vincent, Samuel, Young Gallanfs
Academy, 37

Vining, George, at Princess's,
151; manager, 155

Vining, James, at Hay market, 118;
manager of Olympic, 1 19

Violante, Madame, at Haymarket,
()6, 69; at Edinburgh, 293; at
Dublin, 310, 311

Virgin Goddess, The, 242

Virginius, 129

Volcano, The, 223

Vortigem, 93

Voysey Inheritance, The^ 226

Wakefield, theatre at, 289

Waldorf Theatre, 274

Walker, Thomas^ 60

Walker, London^ 215

Wallack, H. J., 127

Waller, Lewis, at Garrick, 209;
at Avenue, 229; at Haymarket,
193; at Duke of York's, 233,
234; at Criterion, 219; at Globe,
248; at Lyceum, 179, 180; at
Comedy, 220; at Imperial, 250;
at Lyric, 249

Waller, Mrs. Lewis, 248

Walls of Jericho, The, 211

Wandering Heir, The, 166, 286

Digitized byCjOOQlC

354

INDEX.

Wandering Minstrel^ The^ 147

Ward, Fanny, 246

Ward, Mrs., of the Edinburgh

Theatre, 293
Ward, Mrs. Humphrey, 226
Waring, Herbert, at Court, 223;

at St. James's, 207; at Terry's,

233

Warner, Charles, at Princess's,
I55i 243; at Olympic, 243; at
Vaudeville, 243, 246; at St.
James's, 158, 243; at Hay-
market, 243; at Imperial, 243;
at Princess's, 243; at Sadler s
Wells, 243; at Adelphi, 243

Warren, T. G., 230

Warwick, Giulia, 263

IVastet 227

fVay of the World, The, 69

Weaker Sex, The, 205

Weber, C. M., 115

Webster, B. N., manager of Hay-
market, 136-138; acts at Dublin,
316; manager of Adelphi, 138,
143-145; of Princess's, 155; of
St. James's, 157

Webster, John, 27

Wedding Eve, The, 272

Wedding Guest, The, 211

Wedding March, The, 202

Welch, James, at Comedy, 228;
at Wyndham's, 221

West Kent Circuit, 291

West London theatre. See Prince
of Wales's Theatre

Westminster Theatre, 249

Weymouth, theatre at, 282

Wharton, A. P., 230

Wheels within Wheels, 211, 221

When Knights were Bold, 221

When We Dead Awaken, 254

When We were Twenty-one, 228

Where there is Nothing, 225

Where's the Cat? zi^j

White Chrysanthemum, The, 272

White Elephant, A, 228

White Heather, The, 224

White Lie, A, 205

Whitechapel, Pavilion Theatre,
251, 252

Whitewashing Julia, 211

Wicked World, The, 142

Widnell, Victor, 239

Widower^ Houses, 225

Wife Without a Smile, A, 221

Wife's Secret, The, 205

Wigan, Alfred S., manager of
Olympic, 145-147; acts at
Princess's, 151 ; at Lyceum,
155 ; at Queen's Theatre, 160

Wigan, Mrs., 155

Wild Duck, The, 254

Wild Oats, 96

Wilde, Oscar, An Ideal Husband,
193 ; The Importance of beiHg
Earnest, 207 ; Lady Winder-
mere's Fan, 2Xfj ; A Woman of
No Importance, 193

Wilderness, The, 208

Wilkinson, — , at Adelphi, 123

Wilkinson, Tate, managerof Shef-
field theatre, 290; of Manchester
theatre, 286 ; of York theatre,
281; of Edinburgh Theatre
Royal, 296 ; at Dublin, 314

Wilks, Robert, at Drury Lane,
53 ; part manager, 54, 57, 62 ;
at Dublin, 310

Willard, E. S., at Princess's, 237,

243, 244 ; at Haymarket, 244 :
at Shaftesbury, 244 ; in America,

244, 245 ; at Comedy, 228,
245 ; at Garrick, 210, 245

Williams, Arthur, at Grecian,
253 ; at Gaiety, 258 ; at Prince
of Wales's, 268; at Lyric,
269
Wills, W. G., Black Eyed Susan,
204 ; Charles /., 163 ; Claud-
ian, 237 ; Faust, 17Z;A Royal
Divorce, 251
Wilton,Marie. 5^ Bancroft, Lady
Winchester, theatre at, 291, 292
Windsor, theatre at, 292
Wisdom of the Wise, The, 208
Woffington, Peg, at Dublin, 311 ;
at Drury I^ne, 69, 74 ; at
Covent Garden, 70, 80 ; at
Dublin again, 312
Woman of No Importance, A, 193

Digitized byCjOOQlC

INDEX.

355

Wood, Mrs. John, monster of
St. James's, 158; at Birming-
ham, 286; at Brighton, 288; at
Criterion, 217; at Vaudeville,
246; at Court, 222, 223; man-
ager of Court, 223, 224; at
Criterion, 223; at Drury L^ne,
224

Woodbarrow Farm^ 227, 246

Woodward, Henry, at Dublin,
312, 314; at Drury Lane, 75;
at Covent Garden, 80, 94

Woolgar, Miss S. J., 155

Workman, C. H., 267

Wormser, Andre, 268

Wren, Sir Christopher, 35

Wrench, Benjamin, 122

Wright, Edward R., at Adelphi,
123, 143; at Glasgow, 306

Wright, Huntley, 271

Wjratt, Frank, at Prince of
Wales's, 268; at Savoy, 264;
mans^er of Trafalgar Square
Theatre, 233

Wycherley, William, writes for
Drury Lane, 43, 45, 54

Wyes, William, 246

Wyndham, Sir Charles, surgeon
in American Civil War, 215;
first appearance in New York,
215, 216; first London appear-
ance, at Royalty, 159, 216; at
St. James's, 216; at Queen's
Theatre, 160, 216; at Edin-
burgh, 302; in New York, 216;
toured in America with his own

company, 216; at Court, 217;
part manager of Criterion, 217;
at Olympic, 217; in America,
217; sole manager of Criterion,
217-219; in America, 218; part
manager of Criterion with Bour-
chier, 221; subsequent appear-
ances at, 221; builds Wynd-
ham's Theatre, 219, 220;
knighted, 220; builds New
Theatre, 220
Wyndham, R. H., manager of
Edinburgh Adelphi, 301 ; of
Queen's and Theatre Royal,
301, 302
Wyndham, Mrs. R. H., 301
Wyndham's Theatre, 219-221,
272

Yardley, William, 233

Yarmouth, theatre at, 290

Yates, Mary Ann, 29(5

Yates, Richard, 74

Yeats, W. B., Where there is
Nothings 225; writes for Irish
Literary Theatre, 317, 318

Yeomen of the Guardy The^ 264,
266

Yiddish theatre, 252

Yohe, May, 269

York, theatre at, 289

York Circuit, 289

You Never Can Tell, 225, 227

Young, Charles, 290

Young Mrs. JVtnthrop, 222

Younge, Elizabeth, 296

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