January the 28th in Theatrical History

In 1891 'The Stranger' by Wilson Barrett was revived at the New Olympic theatre. Barrett (1846-1904) was a playwright specialising in Victorian melodrama, he managed the Grand Theatre Leeds, The Old Court Theatre, The Princess's Theatre London and the aforementioned New Olympic.

The circumstances in which The Stranger was staged proved to be at the end of the melodrama craze that had swept Victorian theatre. It would be one of Barretts last successes in the UK and he would have to tour America in the years before his death until he came upon his next production. His next production would become his legacy 'The Sign of the Cross' which was a huge success on Broadway and back in the UK. It continues to be his legacy as it was eventually turned into the third part of Cecil B. DeMilles trilogy which also includes The Ten Commandments and The King of Kings under the same title Sign of the Cross. It helped lead the way in Epic film and greatly influenced many future films including Ben Hur and Spartacus.

January the 27th in Theatrical History

(portraint by Jean-Francois Gilles Colson)

On this date in 1720 Samuel Foote was born in Cornwall. Foote would become both a playwright and an actor eventually running the Haymarket Theatre. Foote was known as a great wit and in 1748 he wrote the play 'An Auction of Pictures' which was a satire based on the infamous satirist Henry Fielding, this led to a famous war of words and wit. However when Foote began a quarrell with another actor it led to a riot at the Haymarket Theatre. There are a few missing Foote plays but the latest one to have been published was Piety in Patterns which was finally published in 1973 which should show us all that there is hope for those supposed 'lost plays' that they maybe locked away in some private collection or library somewhere.

In 1845 'The Green Bushes' was produced at the Adelphi theatre by John Baldwin Buckstone. The play included two stanzas of the popular English folk song Green Bushes. Buckstone wrote over 150 plays and rose to be the lessee of the Haymarket Theatre and he is now said to be haunting that same theatre appearing in the wings watching something that he finds particularly good or amusing. Sightings of his ghost have even been reported by actors including Patrick Stewart.



January the 26th in Theatrical History

In 1833 'The Nervous Man' was first produced at Drury Lane. In Figaro in London, a weekly comic paper which ran from 1831 to 1839, there is a full review of the play. It is referred to as a 'trifling though rather an amusing production' and is listed as a farce. The review mentions the acting and has one of my favourite analysis of a performance in a long time:

 "Mrs Humby whom the reporters delight to call pretty, has a part in the Nervous Man, and as a disgusting manner peculiar to the pertest of bar-maids is all that is neccessary, she acquitted herself well; that is, she was as vulgar as her salary requires"

So far in my research I have been unable to define who wrote said play but in the National Standard, of literature, science, music, theatricals and the fine arts it has a very interesting paragraph which reads:

"The Nervous Man (yet unpublished) at Edinburgh, without obtaining the consent of, or affording the slightest advantage to, the writer; thus, the piece runs for the benefit of the manager and the player, but for the 'poor devil author' he may starve in holes and corners"

So whilst The Nervous Man was allowing the unknown author to be paid when it played at Drury Lane halfway through its run in London the producer and actor Mr Power was recalled to Scotland and just put it on in Edinburgh without giving the author his cut of the profits. A shady dealing which helped lead to the introduction of laws to protect copywright.

In 1871 Oscar Asche (1871-1936) was born. He was an Australian actor who is probably best known for writing the popular Musical 'Chu Chin Chow' based on the story of 'Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves' which was last produced in London at the Finborough Theatre in 2008.