On this day in Theatrical history William Farren, the second, born in 1786

On this day in 1786 William Farren the second was born into an acting family. His father was an actor and his brother Percy ran a troupe in Plymouth. William Farrens father had reached the pinnacle of his career in 1784 when he played Othello at Covent Garden, he would remain at Covent Garden until his death in 1795. Farren had been left £8000, the modern equivalent is seven hundred and ninety thousand pounds, by his father and so was able to start a career on the stage without worrying about his earnings. He would join his brothers troupe in Plymouth and debut on the stage of the Theatre Royal Plymouth in 1806 in the play 'Love a la Mode' by Charles Macklin. Moving on from this debut he carved a career from himself out of playing "crusty old bachelors, jealous old husbands, stormy fathers, worrying uncles or old fops" and reached the London stage in 1818 as Sir Peter Teazle in 'School for Scandal' at Covent Garden. Farren would then flit back and forth between the companies at Covent Garden and Drury Lane, although he did have a spell as the stage manager at the Haymarket, before falling ill onstage with paralysis in 1843. His popularity dropped after he came back from his illness due to the negative effect it had on all the aspects of his acting, so he moved into actor management and took over the Strand Theatre and later the Olympic theatre. Farren passed away at his home in Brompton Square in 1861.



7/5/1663 Charles the II is on the throne so lets party and open the Drury Lane Theatre!

Three years after the Restoration which gave King Charles II his throne and the Puritans, who had shut down all the theatres, were removed from their positions of power, the Theatre Royal, Bridges Street, was built. It was not until later that it would be known as Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. It was 1663 and London was at the height of its post Puritan debauchery, the banned plays were popular again and the King himself commanded performances to be put on to the delight of people all over the capital. The era gave us the still popular Restoration comedy genre which is typified by their bawdy and sexual content. The first production shown at the theatre was 'The Humorous Luietenant' by John Fletcher, a play that was debuted less than 50 years before by the last of Shakespeare's theatre company. The great diarist Samuel Pepys wrote a review of both the theatre and the production from the opening night, you can find the diary year 1663 on this page here, and was critical of the building. The building survived the Great Fire of 1666 but the previous year had been shut down due to an outbreak of the plague. After surviving the fire the theatre thrived once again until it burned down in 1672. Its replacement, the second Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, was built in 1674 and would remain for another 120 years.

On this date in 1680 Susanna Centlivre aka Susanna Carroll was born. Carroll is known to have been a contemporary of Aphra Behn and only a step behind her as the 'Second Woman of the English Stage.' It is believed that Carroll joined the Drury Lane Theatre in 1700 and in that first year the theatre produced her play 'The Perjur'd Husband' which was a risque tragedy. It was a hit which made her reputation as both a writer and an actor. Carroll wrote 19 plays and numerous poems and pressed through her writing the need for equality between men and women. She died in 1723 from a prolonged illness, she is buried in The Actors' Church, Covent Garden, London. 

Today in Theatrical History: May the 3rd

(Stephen Kemble as Falstaff)

George Stephen Kemble was born in 1758 to Robert Kemble of the famous acting family the Kembles. His siblings included such legends of the stage as Charles Kemble and Sarah Siddons. Stephen is probably best known for his management of provincial theatres such as the Theatre Royal in Newcastle which he ran from 1791 until 1806. During the summer season, Stephen would get great stars of the day to perform in his theatres, changing peoples perception that performing in the provinces was for apprentices or no talents. As an actor, Stephen was lauded and it was noted that it was a great shame that he had so many obligations in the provinces that he did not appear very often on the London stage. In 1806 Stephen effectively retired from the stage but still made rare appearances, especially in Durham, where in 1822, just two weeks after his last stage performance ,he died at the age of 64. Stephen Kemble bucked the trend, his parents had wanted him to become a pharmacist and instead he ran off with a travelling theatre company. He could have made a lot of money and been a major force on the London stage but he was happier in the provinces and his dedication to his theatres on the provincial circuit influenced how theatre would evolve over the coming centuries in the UK.

 

On this date in 1829 'Masaniello or The Dumb Girl of Portici' was presented in a double bill with 'My Wife! What Wife?' at Drury Lane in London. 'Masaniello' is based on the story of a Neapolitan fisherman, pictured above, who led a revolt against the Austrians ruling Naples in the 1640s. It is seen as one of the first 'Grand Operas' and it greatly influenced the people of Belgium who apparently rose up and began the Belgian revolution after hearing a patriotic and revolutionary duet during the show. I was unfortunate in that I could not find any information on the author of 'My Wife! What Wife?' but there is a programme in the University of Kent's special collection from the week of 15.5.1829 for the double bill. You can see more information on this programme and this double bill, including listings for the players and orchestra, at the link by clicking... here.

 

February the 7th in Theatrical History

On February the 7th 1753 'The Gamester' was produced at the Drury Lane Theatre. Essentially the play is all about the downfall that can be caused by the vice of gambling. The play is currently available from Amazon as a book in a translation by W. Reeve or on http://www.gutenberg.org/ (click on the title at the beginning of the article). It was originally written by Edward Moore and ran at the Drury Lane Theatre for ten consecutive nights with Mr Garrick in the lead role.

On this date in 1812 Charles Dickens was born. Dickens is perhaps the most prolific English writer since William Shakespeare. For more information on the celebrations of Dickens's 200th birthday please follow this link.



February the 2nd in Theatrical History

(Nell Gwynn by Peter Lely)

On the 2nd of February 1651 Nell Gwyn was born. Due to her lowly background records which go into much depth about her family and early life are few and far between although rumour and accounts from the day suggest her mother may have run a brothel. What we can be certain of is that Nell was born in the parish St-Martin-In-The-Field in London in 1651 in what is now the heart of the West End or as many call it Theatre Land. Nell began her career in Drury Lane as an orange girl selling oranges and perhaps her own sexual favours. When she turned fourteen the theatres in England began to allow women to grace the stage and Nell trained as one of the first female actors. Despite being illiterate she by all accounts was a very smart and witty woman who learnt lines quickly by recitation. Nell would take London by storm as one of the originators of the Restoration Comedy scene, her performances spread the popularity of these works. Nell moved into the fashionable set in London mixing with the aristocracy and becoming great friends with the writer Aphra Behn. In 1668 Nell began her notorious affair with King Charles the II which led to her becoming an even bigger box office attraction and having playwrights writing special parts for her. Eventually Nell became pregnant and bore the King a son Charles who would become the Earl of Burford, a title still alive today, and a predecessor of the title the Duchy of St Albans. Despite having a child and being the Kings main mistress Nell still returned to the stage in 1670 for a Dryden play. However 1671 would be the last year she trod the boards. Nell retired to become a lady of the town but her influence on the theatre reaches out across the centuries, numerous productions have been created about her with at least 4 plays and two musicals centred around her life. Nell Gwyn has also had numerous books written about her life and is still a popular figure of scandal and intrigue even 300 years after her death. Nell still has a part to play in the theatre today especially for theatres along the Strand where if you turn off into the quiet and unassuming Bull Inn Court you will find the Nell Gwynne tavern a small pub which has been described as old worldly. Some people have blamed Nell for the idea that perpetuated the stage for years that women actors were prostitutes and adulteresses but I think her legacy has been more about breaking down doors and showing that women can provide more entertainment than men and in many circumstances are better actors than men.

In 1714 on the 2nd of February 'Jane Shore' by Nicholas Rowe was first produced at Drury Lane. Jane Shore was the mistress of King Edward the IV and had been referenced in Shakespeare's Richard the III and had a play written about her in 1600 by Thomas Heywood. The play by Heywood probably heavily influenced the work of Nicholas Rowe whose version was a Tragedy and ran for nineteen nights. Rowe is probably best known for being the editor of the first modern edition of the plays of William Shakespeare.

February the 1st in Theatrical History

(John Philip Kemble and Sarah Siddons in Macbeth as painted by Thomas Beach)

On the first of February 1757 John Philip Kemble was born. The son of Roger Kemble (b 1721 d 1802) and Sarah Ward (b 1735 d 1807) he was part of the theatrical dynasty the Kemble Family. John Kemble had several siblings being one of twelve children, out of whom 5 others became actors including the most famous female actor of the age Sarah Siddons. The family has its beginnings in the famous 'Ward Company of Comedians' run by John's grandfather John Ward and the union of Roger Kemble to John Ward's daughter Sarah solidified the legacy of the Kemble family. John Philip Kemble learnt his trade touring with his grandfathers company and ended up having great success on the London scene after debuting at Drury Lane in Hamlet. In 1803 Kemble left Drury Lane and joined George Frederick Cooke at the Covent Garden company with his sister Mrs Siddons joining him soon after. Tragedy struck five years later when Covent Garden was destroyed by a fire. Both Mrs Siddons and Kemble lost their vast wardrobes to the fire and chose to build a new theatre designed by the architect Robert Smirke, his most recognisable work is the facade of the British Museum, costing one hundred and fifty thousand pounds in 1809 which is the equivalent of nine million pounds today. This of course led to increases in the price of attendance which brought about the darkest part of Kemble's career when on opening night of the new theatre at Covent Garden the audience cried out for the old prices and continued until the police and military had to be called. For two months riots and disruptions continued under his regime at Covent Garden until he finally agreed to reduce prices to the old rates. Kemble would retire in 1817 leaving his share in Covent Garden to his brother Charles but by now the shine on the Kemble family had long been overshadowed by a new star Edmund Kean.



Ulysses is produced at Her Majesty's theatre in 1902. This play is a poetry play based on the ancient Greek tale and was written by Stephen Phillips. It was produced by the theatre company of Beerbohm-Tree and is speculated to have been part of the inspiration for James Joyce's later novel of the same name.