19th-century theatre
The 19th century was the age of a truly popular theatre. New theatres opened to satisfy a demand for entertainment from the workers who flooded into the major cities as the Industrial Revolution took hold.
Early Victorian drama
Hand coloured and tinselled print of Mr Elton as Sir Kenneth of Scotland disguised as the Nubian Slave, paper, paint, ink, foil and fabric, published by J L Marks, London, England, about 1830. Museum no. E.112-1969
In the early years of the 19th century, restrictions of the Licensing Act allowed plays to be shown at only two theatres in London, at Drury Lane and Covent Garden. Their programme was predominantly Shakespearean although some contemporary writers like Sheridan, who managed Drury Lane until 1809, were also popular.
To escape the restrictions of the royal patents, non-patent theatres interspersed dramatic scenes with musical interludes. Melodrama and burlesque, with their short scenes and musical accompaniment, were popular at this time. Indeed, melodrama was so popular that it was also produced in the patent theatres.
The huge growth in demand for theatrical entertainment in the early 19th century made the patent theatres' system unworkable. Theatres had sprung up across London and the boundaries between what was allowed in the patent theatres (legitimate drama) and what was presented in other theatres (illegitimate theatre) had become blurred.
In the 1830s J R Planché, a writer of burlesques and later famous as a Pantomime writer, created a sketch starring the characters of Mother Drama, and her two sons, Legitimate Drama and Illegitimate Drama. This burlesqued the Licensing Act and coined the terms legitimate and illegitimate drama. In 1843 the Licensing Act was dropped enabling other theatres to present plays.
Print of Miss Stanley as Ulin
Print of Miss Stanley as Ulin, The Demon of Fire (Print No 32), hand-coloured etching by Piercy Roberts, published by O Hodgson, London, England, early 19th century
Bound manuscript with alterations in Sheridan's hand
This is an early manuscript of Richard Brinsley Sheridan's famous comedy The School for Scandal, written in 1777 alongside the playbill announcing its first performance. Sheridan's first success had been The Rivals, produced in 1775, and its popularity made him determined to be a playwright rather than a barrister as his father had hoped. Sheridan, and the only other great playwright of his generation, Oliver Goldsmith, rebelled against the sentimental comedies that were being churned out at this date, with crisper, socially critical plays inspired by the Restoration dramatists such as Vanbrugh and Congreve. This manuscript is written out by a professional scribe (commonly employed in the days before typewriters or word processors) with amendments in Sheridan's own hand. He never produced a definitive version of the play and continued editing it for years after its first performance. A publisher who wrote begging Sheridan to send him the manuscript received the reply: 'The fact is … I have been nineteen years endeavouring to satisfy my own taste in this play, and have not yet succeeded'.
Figurine of John Liston as Paul Pry
Figurine of John Liston as Paul Pry, polychromed glazed porcelain, Robert Bloor & Company, Derby, England, about 1830. Museum no. S.2062-1986
Playbill showing Master Betty's first London appearance
The late 18th and early 19th century saw a vogue for child stars. In the provinces, children as young as three or four (usually the offspring of company members) appeared on the stage. The great actor Edmund Kean began his career aged nine, billed as The Infant Carey in 1798. The most famous 'infant phenomenon' was William Henry West, known as Master Betty or The Young Roscius and The Wonderful Boy. West was born in Ireland and made his stage debut in 1803 aged 11. A successful tour of Ireland and Scotland followed, and by the time he came to London in 1804 he was already famous. This poster advertises his first season at Covent Garden, and there was such a fierce crush for tickets that the troops had to be called out to keep order.
Etching of Sheridan Knowles as William Tell
This is one of a set of 19 tinsel pictures of stage and theatre scenes. Tinsel prints were created from etched portraits of theatrical stars in popular roles they played on the London stage. They were hand-painted in watercolour and decorated with scraps of material and tinsel. They were popular during the first half of the 19th century and were considered an adult rather than a child's hobby. By the 1830s it was possible to buy the tinsel, leather and feather ornaments to go with each image.
Newspaper cutting showing stage effects
These illustrations from the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News of October 1854 give us, as the caption says, 'a glance behind the curtain' to see some of the early backstage trickery used to create special effects. Most of these are based on simple pulley systems, or offstage contributions by stagehands. Image 10, for instance, shows a very simple but effective method for making a boat appear to travel across the stage, rocking on the waves. The 'waves' scenery disguises the lower part of the boat, so hiding the wheels of what is in fact a little cart. The undulating tracks it runs along make it appear to tip backwards and forwards on its journey. Later in the century, theatre technology would become even more sophisticated, with powerful hydraulic machinery installed in theatres like Drury Lane, which would make possible the great spectacles created by Bruce 'Sensation' Smith and others in the late 19th and early 20th century.
The old price riots
The most famous theatrical riots were the old price riots of 1809. After the Covent Garden theatre burnt down the management decided to raise the prices from six shillings to seven shillings for the boxes and three and six to four shillings for the pit and the third tier. The gallery price remained the same, but the new gallery was so far up and the rake so steep that the audience - crammed into so called 'pigeon holes' - could only see the legs of the performers.
After the singing of the national anthem on the first night, the audience began shouts of 'Old Prices! Old Prices!'. This continued with cat-calling throughout the performance of Macbeth and the noise was so bad that soldiers were sent up to the gallery to restore order.
This rioting continued every night week after week. The audiences carried banners and placards with slogans written on them. They brought pigs, rattles, trumpets, bells and whistles into the theatre. People wore badges with 'OP' embroidered on them and released pigeons into the auditorium. Audiences also started to dress up wearing false noses and some men wore drag. Such was the furore that eventually people came to see the riot rather than the play.
After three months of rioting the manager John Philip Kemble accepted the demands of the rioters and made a public apology from the stage.
The Kemble family
John Philip Kemble (1757-1823) as Richard III by William Shakespeare, William Hamilton RA, oil on canvas, England, after 1788. Museum no. DYCE.75
At the turn of the 19th century the Kemble family dominated the London stage. Actor John Philip Kemble was said to be the finest actor in England and his sister, Sarah Siddons, was regarded as one of the greatest ever tragedians. Their parents had been strolling players and John had earned a similar living on the road and in provincial theatres. Their younger brother Charles Kemble and his daughter Fanny were later stars of the London stage in the 1820s.
Sarah Siddons was first introduced to David Garrick when nearing the end of his career. He brought her to London in 1775, but she failed to make an immediate impression on the public.Siddons returned to London six years later, with Drury Lane under the management of playwright Richard Sheridan. She played 80 times in seven different parts in her first proper London season, inducing faintings and hysterics amongst her audiences.
John Philip Kemble made his debut on the London stage in 1783 as Hamlet. His acting style was static and declamatory, with long sweeping lines and a detached grandeur. He excelled in tragic Shakespearean roles. One critic said he was 'absolutely electrified' by the actor's transition as Romeo from gallant lover to anguished avenger, and Kemble's style became the style of London for three decades. However he was not a natural comedian or suited to romantic leads.
The first of a long line of 19th century actor-managers, Kemble took over management of Covent Garden in 1803, but his tenure was not a happy one. The theatre burnt down in 1808 and when it was rebuilt the following year Kemble raised prices to cover costs resulting in the now infamous old price riots.
Begging after the Covent Garden fire print
Sarah Siddons, the toast of London theatre for more than three decades from 1782, is shown begging for assistance in the street after her brother's theatre, Covent Garden, was burnt to the ground on 30 September 1808. The cartoon doesn't record the actual truth, but rather reflects the attitude of the press to the financial contributions received towards the repairs. The monies for rebuilding were raised by public subscription, insurance and a hefty donation from the Duke of Northumberland. It is this that the papers satirised. The cartoon is captioned 'Theatrical mendicants relieved. Have pity on all our wants and needs', implying that there were more worthy causes of charity.
Both Siddons and her brother, John Philip Kemble, though were most concerned with the loss to posterity of the library, music and costumes collected at the theatre. Sarah's own theatrical wardrobe was completely destroyed. She wrote to a friend: 'Of all the precious and curious dresses, and lace, and jewels, which I have been collecting for these thirty years, not one article has escaped'.
Engraving of John Philip Kemble as Mentevole
After the excitement caused by his Drury Lane debut in 1783, John Philip Kemble's progress was slightly hindered by theatrical etiquette. He had to wait 'in line' behind the established actors of the company, Tom King (the manager) and 'Gentleman' Smith (a favourite in comedy). He worked consistently but could not leapfrog into the major roles. However, three years later Smith decided to retire, and in the same 85-86 season Henderson, his chief rival as tragedian of the day, suddenly died at the age of only 39. From then on Kemble sometimes appeared as often as six times a week in repertoire, in roles such as Macbeth and Othello, and his reputation was secured.
This lithograph shows him in the role of Mentevole in Jephson's tragedy Julia, or The Italian Lover. Mentevole was an Italian of 'darkly designing subtlety', given to fits of 'ungovernable passion', and Kemble made a great impression in the role. Sadly he worked so hard in preparing for Julia that 'a severe indisposition was the consequence, which procrastinated its future representations'.
Portrait of Sarah Siddons
Sarah Siddons was the eldest child of the actor and theatre manager, Roger Kemble (1722-1802) and his wife, Sarah Ward (1735-1807). From the age of 12, Sarah began to appear with the Kemble's company while attending Mrs Harris's School for Young Ladies at the Thornloe House in Worcester. It was in her father' company that she met William Siddons (1744-1808). They were married in 1773.
Hearing of her talent, David Garrick (1717-1779) engaged Sarah in his company at Drury Lane in 1775, where she appeared as Portia in The Merchant of Venice on 29 December 1775. Her London debut, however, was not successful and she spent the next six years touring the theatres in England, working in York, Liverpool and Manchester in 1776-77 and Bath in 1778. Her successful return to the London stage in 1782 made her a cult figure whilst she was still in her 20s. She was a highly charismatic performer and was able to convey specific types of suffering to her audiences in the many tragic roles that she played. She continued to act for the first two decades of the 19th century. Her funeral, which took place on 15 June 1831, drew over 5,000 mourners. Sarah Siddons was a mythical figure before her death, with countless visual representations being made of her as well as reviews, eulogies, letters and diary accounts.
This portrait is one of two known painted by Beach, the other being 'Sarah Siddons and John Philip Kemble in 'Macbeth', Act 2, Scene ii' (1786, London Garrick Club). Both works show the artist's interest in the theatre. In comparison to the Garrick portrait, this representation is of a more intimate nature. The face emerges from a brown neutral background, allowing the artist to focus on the actresses' earnest expression. The hairstyle is not as highly dressed as in the Garrick portrait, however, both show the same expression of anguish. This could suggest that it was an oil sketch made at the same time as Beach painted 'Sarah Siddons and John Philip Kemble in 'Macbeth', Act 2, Scene ii'.
Colour print of Fanny Kemble
Fanny, the daughter of Charles Kemble, was hugely popular, rescuing her family and the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden at a time when it was struggling. In 1832 she went to America and was as great a success there as she had been at home. Despite her popularity, she was a reluctant performer, and only worked in the theatre when poverty made it essential. Portia however, she described as 'my favouritist of all Shakespeare's women'. In America, Fanny Kemble met and married Pierce Butler who owned a plantation in Georgia. Once she became aware of the conditions of slaves on the plantation, she left him and returned to Europe. She lived by acting and writing and published a number of anti-slavery works. Once Butler had been granted a divorce, she returned to America where she supported herself by giving Shakespearean readings.
Charles Kemble's gloves
Charles Kemble was the manager of Covent Garden from 1817, taking over from his older brother, John Philip Kemble. Interest in achieving historically accurate staging had grown under David Garrick and John Philip Kemble. An important milestone in this process was King John of 1823, produced by Charles Kemble and designed by J R Planché which influenced the future elaborate 'historical' productions of Charles Kean and Henry Irving.
From the fine condition of these gloves, it would seem that they were carried rather than worn by Charles Kemble in Othello. They are very elaborate in the tradition of Elizabethan gloves, which were often gorgeously embroidered and intended as decorative gifts rather than practical clothing. On each is embroidered a winged lion, the symbol of St Mark, the patron saint of Venice where the action of Othello opens.
Sarah Siddons' gloves
These gloves are said to have been worn by the great actress, Sarah Siddons (1755-1831). It is impossible to prove whether this is true. These gloves were in the possession of the same family for over 100 years, which brings them within a generation of Siddons herself. It is not possible to say whether they were worn on stage or in private. Even with photographic evidence, it can be difficult to prove that a costume or accessory was worn by a particular performer in a specific performance. In Siddons’ day, engravings never recorded costumes in photographic detail and productions were not ‘designed’ as today, but were put together from a theatre’s wardrobe or the actor’s own costume collection.
Print of Sarah Siddons as Isabella with her son
Sarah Siddons was the most famous tragedienne of the 18th century. This is one of her most celebrated roles, the title part in Thomas Southerne's tragedy Isabella or The Fatal Marriage. The heroine, believing herself widowed, marries again, purely for the welfare of her child (who was played by her real son, Henry Siddons). The day after the marriage, she discovers that her first husband is still alive, and driven distracted, she kills herself. Audiences of the time adored such emotional works, and Isabella was known to make grown men cry and women to have fits of hysterics.
Figurine of John Philip Kemble as Hamlet
Figurine of John Philip Kemble as Hamlet at the Drury Lane Theatre, London in 1783, probably made by Thomas Parr, polychromed glazed earthenware, Burslem, Staffordshire, England, about 1852, Eddison Collection. Museum no. S.1022-1996
Sarah Siddons' boots
These boots are said to have been worn by the great actress, Sarah Siddons (1755-1831). It is impossible to prove whether this is true. These were in the possession of the same family for over 100 years, which brings them within a generation of Siddons herself. It is not possible to say whether they were worn on stage or in private. Even with photographic evidence, it can be difficult to prove that a costume or accessory was worn by a particular performer in a specific performance. In Siddons’ day, engravings never recorded costumes in photographic detail and productions were not ‘designed’ as today, but were put together from a theatre’s wardrobe or the actor’s own costume collection.
Edmund Kean
The popular actor Edmund Kean replaced Kemble as the darling of the London stage after making his Drury Lane debut as Shylock in The Merchant of Venice in 1814. The critic William Hazlitt wrote of this performance:
'For voice, eye, action and expression no actor has come out for many years at all equal to him. The applause from the first scene to the last was general loud and uninterrupted.'
Kean was one of the few actors who could fill the vast Drury Lane theatre to its capacity of 3,000. His natural passion and fiery spirit suited a melodramatic style of acting but he made his name playing in Shakespeare, particularly as Macbeth, Iago and Richard III.
He was said to be at his best in death scenes and scenes that required intensity of feeling or violent transitions from one mood to another. Another famed role was as Sir Giles Overreach in A New Way to Pay Old Debts.
Kean's private life was full of scandal and heavy drinking. He was the father of actor-manager Charles Kean and died shortly after they had appeared together on stage as Othello (Edmund) and Iago (Charles) in 1833.
Melodrama
Advertising card for The Streets of London, Princess Theatre, coloured ink on paper, published by Concanen, Lee & Siebe, London, 1864. Museum no. S.2520-1986
Melodrama became popular from the 1780s to 1790s and lasted until the early 20th century. The first drama in Britain to be labelled a melodrama was Thomas Holcroft's A Tale of Mystery in 1802.
Melodrama consisted of short scenes interspersed with musical accompaniment and was characterized by simple morality, good and evil characters and overblown acting style. Characters in melodrama were stereotypical - there was always a villain, a wronged maiden and a hero. The emotions of the actors were played out in the music and accompanied by dramatic tableaux. Because of these musical interludes melodrama was not considered a 'play' and thus evaded the monopoly of the patent theatres stipulated in the Licensing Act.
Early melodrama
Early melodrama aimed to appeal to a working class audience. Indeed the heroes and heroines were nearly always from the working class and the baddies were aristocrats or the local squire. Melodrama often had romantic settings; ruined castles and wild mountains, reflecting the Romantic movement's obsession with the wilds of nature and exotic travel.
In the 1820s and 30s there was a craze for domestic melodrama and for real life horror stories. 'Maria Martin or Murder in the Red Barn' was based on a true story of the murder of a young girl. Popular novels were also turned into melodramas. 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' tells the story of the slave Uncle Tom, and the cruelties and harshness of his life. It was the first famous abolitionist work of fiction, and became a stage play in 1852. After its American success, the play opened at London's Adelphi Theatre.
Later melodrama
Melodrama became synonymous with spectacle and remained popular until the early 20th century. Charles Kean's The Corsican Brothers was a hit with Queen Victoria in 1856. William Terriss presented successful melodramas at the Adelphi Theatre between 1885 and 1887 including Seymour Hicks's One of the Best which George Bernard Shaw declared was One of the Worst. Terriss himself came to a melodramatic end - he was assassinated at the stage door of his theatre in 1897.
Melodramas at Drury Lane were truly spectacular productions, designed to show off the new technology of the theatre. The Whip and Ben Hur were designed by Bruce 'Sensation' Smith and stage effects included train crashes, boats sinking and chariot races.
Poster for Arrah-Na-Pogue at the Princess Theatre
Arrah-Na-Pogue or The Wicklow Wedding first played at Dublin in the autumn of 1864. Dion Boucicault wrote himself the part of Shaun the Post, whose lively wit made him a London favourite at the Princess's Theatre when the play transferred there in March 1865. His wife Agnes Robertson played Arrah Meelish, known as Arrah of the Kiss from her method of passing a letter with escape plans to her foster brother Beamish in prison. Arrah is engaged to Shaun, but Beamish - now escaped - robs Feeney, a government inspector, and gives the papers he steals to Arrah. To save her, Shaun confesses to the crime. While escaping from his prison in Dublin Castle, he fights Feeney and flings him to his death. It was this 'sensation scene', with the ivy-clad tower scenery sliding down to represent Shaun's climb to the top, which was used for the posters.
Photograph of Maud Jeffries as Mercia
The four-act historical tragedy, The Sign of the Cross first toured in the United States and was then brought to England, first in Leeds and then at the Lyric Theatre in London. The play is about Marcus Superbus, an old Roman patrician under Nero, who falls in love with a young woman, Mercia, and converts to Christianity for her. Eventually they both sacrifice their lives for love in the arena to the lions.
Photography was a novel and exciting development in Victorian days. Most actors and actresses had studio photographs taken in everyday dress or theatrical costume for 'cartes de visite' and later 'cabinet cards'. Both were albumen prints made from glass negatives, attached to stiff card backing printed with the photographer's name.
'Cartes de visite', the size of formal visiting cards, were patented in 1854 and produced in their millions during the 1860s when it became fashionable to collect them. Their subjects included scenic views, tourist attractions and works of art as well as portraits. They were superseded in the late 1870s by the larger and sturdier 'cabinet cards' whose popularity waned in turn during the 1890s in favour of postcards and studio portraits.
This photograph comes from a large collection of 'cartes de visite' and 'cabinet cards' removed from their backings and mounted in albums by Guy Tristram Little (d. 1952) who bequeathed them to the V&A. A collector of greetings cars, games and photographs, Guy Little was a partner in the legal firm Messrs Milles Jennings White & Foster and the solicitor and executor of Mrs Gabrielle Enthoven, whose theatrical collection formed the basis of the Theatre Collections at the V&A.
Poster for Bound to Succeed
Benjamin Oliver took the name George Conquest and with his son George (born in 1837) ran the Grecian Saloon, built in the grounds of the Eagle Tavern, from 1851 to 1879. Bound to Succeed or A Leaf from the Captain's Log Book was the first piece played in the rebuilt and refurbished theatre in 1877 when the Grecian was advertised as 'one of the largest and most beautiful theatres in London, and capable of holding nearly 5,000 persons'. According to the programmes it was 'an entirely New and Original Drama of London and Tasmanian Life' with scenes set in Van Diemen's Land, Tasmania, and Tasmania Dock on the River Thames. It was co-written by George Conquest Senior and starred him as Christopher Wobbles, 'a neglected genius', and his son George as 'a nervous gentleman'. This poster dates from a later production, after the Conquests transferred to the Surrey Theatre in 1881, having sold the Grecian for 21,000 (more than 1 million today) to an aspiring impresario who soon parted with it, at a loss, to the Salvation Army.
Johnny Clarke in The Corsican Brothers
Photography was a novel and exciting development in Victorian days. Most actors and actresses had studio photographs taken in everyday dress or theatrical costume for 'cartes de visite' and later 'cabinet cards'. Both were albumen prints made from glass negatives, attached to stiff card backing printed with the photographer's name.
'Cartes de visite', the size of formal visiting cards, were patented in 1854 and produced in their millions during the 1860s when it became fashionable to collect them. Their subjects included scenic views, tourist attractions and works of art as well as portraits. They were superseded in the late 1870s by the larger and sturdier 'cabinet cards' whose popularity waned in turn during the 1890s in favour of postcards and studio portraits.
This photograph comes from a large collection of 'cartes de visite' and 'cabinet cards' removed from their backings and mounted in albums by Guy Tristram Little (d. 1952) who bequeathed them to the V&A. A collector of greetings cars, games and photographs, Guy Little was a partner in the legal firm Messrs Milles Jennings White & Foster and the solicitor and executor of Mrs Gabrielle Enthoven, whose theatrical collection formed the basis of the Theatre Collections at the V&A.
Artwork for the poster The Union Jack
The Union Jack, a melodrama written by Henry Petitt and Sydney Grundy, and starring William Terriss. A portrait of Terriss is featured on the poster, drawn from life shortly before his assassination on 3 August 1893.
Bruce Smith worked on The Union Jack at the Adelphi Theatre in 1888, before he moved to Drury Lane and got his nickname, 'Sensation' Smith. In this show he was already creating sets and effects with spectacular impact, including the Gun Deck of HMS Wellesley, Aldershot Camp, and Ethel's Boudoir. The Illustrated London News couldn't quite see how the title applied to the play, but admitted that it was 'both patriotic and nautical and the combination is attractive from the bill poster's point of view'. The eye-catching poster you see here proves the point. The reviewer also tried to summarise the plot, starting with the sailor hero, played by William Terriss: 'Jack Medway is arrested, tried by court martial, jumps overboard from his ship, is hunted by marines, accused of murder his sweetheart Ethel Arden is persecuted, locked up, wanders in the snow her sister Ivy is abducted', and so on ... The audience response to events was predictable - 'it was a treat to hear the hissing of the villains as they perpetrated audacity after audacity and came up smiling to be hissed again'.
Postcard showing a scene from Bad Girl of the Family
The Bad Girl of the Family by Frederick Melville (1877-1938) was produced at the Elephant and Castle Theatre in 1909, followed by a Christmas season at the Aldwych. The hopelessly convoluted plot was typical of Melville's style but provided plenty of opportunities for hissing at the villain (Harry) and nick-of-time rescues for the heroine (Gladys). Bess Moore, the 'bad girl' (played in this postcard by Violet Englefield), has been seduced by Harry Gordon (Mr H Lane Bayliff), her employer's son. She goes to Lord Erskine's with a dress for his daughter, Gladys (Maud Linden). Being on the brink of financial ruin, Lord Erskine is forcing Gladys to marry Harry, although she loves a sailor, Dick Marsh. By means of a heavy veil, Bess takes Gladys' place at the altar, to Harry's fury. On the night Dick arrives home, there is a murder of which he is found guilty but in the nick of time escapes from Dartmoor and rescues his abducted Gladys from Harry's devilish clutches. It is, of course, Harry who is guilty of the murder and he is finally arrested.
Photograph of Act III of The Whip
This scene was the work of Bruce 'Sensation' Smith. From the bustling stables of scene one to the eerie recreation of Madame Tussaud's Chamber of Horrors - location of one of the crucial, if slightly improbable, plot developments - Smith's attention to detail was meticulous. However, in the final scene of the act, the designer responsible for so many remarkable spectacles surpassed himself. The Whip, the horse tipped to win the 2000 Guineas, was loaded into his horsebox at the station and the following scene then unfolded in continuous action. The train sets off. The villain of the piece is seen clambering along the running board and uncoupling the horsebox, which is left stationary. There is the thundering sound of an approaching express train as the trainer tries desperately to free his horse. The Whip is rescued in the nick of time as the following train rushes from the tunnel to shatter the horsebox to smithereens and career over on its side, gushing steam ... all in full view of the audience.
Printed music sheet for Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin was an anti-slavery novel written by the American author Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1851. The book tells the story of the slave Uncle Tom, and the cruelties and harshness of his life. It was the first famous abolitionist work of fiction and became a stage play in 1852. The book stirred up great public feeling in the United States. Some even credited it with helping to start the American Civil War. Indeed, when Abraham Lincoln met Mrs Stowe in 1852, he said to her 'So you're the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war'. The book was dramatised in 1852 and played simultaneously at theatres across America. This music sheet cover is from the dramatisation of the novel. After its American success, the play opened at London's Adelphi Theatre in 1852.
Sarah Bernhardt photograph
Photography was a novel and exciting development in Victorian days. Most actors and actresses had studio photographs taken in everyday dress or theatrical costume for 'cartes de visite' and later 'cabinet cards'. Both were albumen prints made from glass negatives, attached to stiff card backing printed with the photographer's name.
'Cartes de visite', the size of formal visiting cards, were patented in 1854 and produced in their millions during the 1860s when it became fashionable to collect them. Their subjects included scenic views, tourist attractions and works of art as well as portraits. They were superseded in the late 1870s by the larger and sturdier 'cabinet cards' whose popularity waned in turn during the 1890s in favour of postcards and studio portraits.
This photograph comes from a large collection of 'cartes de visite' and 'cabinet cards' removed from their backings and mounted in albums by Guy Tristram Little (d. 1952) who bequeathed them to the V&A. A collector of greetings cars, games and photographs, Guy Little was a partner in the legal firm Messrs Milles Jennings White & Foster and the solicitor and executor of Mrs Gabrielle Enthoven, whose theatrical collection formed the basis of the Theatre Collections at the V&A.
Pictorial drama
Portrait of Charles Kean as Richard II and John Ryder as Bolingbroke in Richard II by William Shakespeare, hand coloured photograph, Princess's Theatre, London, 1857, Guy Little Collection. Museum no. S.139:831-2007
From the middle of the 19th century the theatre began to take on a new respectability and draw in more middle class audiences. They were enthralled by the historical accuracy and attention to detail that was becomingly increasingly influential in stage design. Pictorial drama placed great emphasis on the use of properties, and carefully studied costume detail and reflected a fashionable interest in archaeology and history. The inevitable long and complex scene changes meant that the plays, especially those by Shakespeare had to be cut. This use of historical detail gave the theatre a sense of learned respectability.
One of the main exponents of pictorial drama was Charles Kean (son of Edmund Kean). Charles Kean made painstaking research into historic dress and settings for his productions at the Princess's Theatre in Oxford Street during the 1850s. Kean was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and his passion for historical accuracy was lavished on the sets and costumes for his productions (which were then explained in detail on his lengthy playbills). He spared no efforts to ensure the absolute accuracy and historical correctness in the design of Shakespeare's plays and he employed the best designers of the day.
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were ardent theatregoers and great admirers of Mr Kean. Queen Victoria saw The Corsican Brothers four times and Ken organised private theatricals at Windsor Castle. The Theatre Museum holds a letter written by Queen Victoria to Kean's widow lamenting his death.
Portrait of Charles Kean as Hamlet
Photography was a novel and exciting development in Victorian days. Most actors and actresses had studio photographs taken in everyday dress or theatrical costume for 'cartes de visite' and later 'cabinet cards'. Both were albumen prints made from glass negatives, attached to stiff card backing printed with the photographer's name.
'Cartes de visite', the size of formal visiting cards, were patented in 1854 and produced in their millions during the 1860s when it became fashionable to collect them. Their subjects included scenic views, tourist attractions and works of art as well as portraits. They were superseded in the late 1870s by the larger and sturdier 'cabinet cards' whose popularity waned in turn during the 1890s in favour of postcards and studio portraits.
This photograph comes from a large collection of 'cartes de visite' and 'cabinet cards' removed from their backings and mounted in albums by Guy Tristram Little (d. 1952) who bequeathed them to the V&A. A collector of greetings cars, games and photographs, Guy Little was a partner in the legal firm Messrs Milles Jennings White & Foster and the solicitor and executor of Mrs Gabrielle Enthoven, whose theatrical collection formed the basis of the Theatre Collections at the V&A.
Set model by William Beaumont
This set design by William Beaumont for a production called Titus Caesar at the Royal Pavilion Theatre, Whitechapel in 1839, is one of his very early works. The spectacular backdrop is complemented by two 'flats' (side pieces of scenery) which could be slid safely on and off the stage in their grooves for any changes of scenery, but it is, overall, a fairly simple, conventional design.
Beaumont also designed the sets for a production of 'Harlequin Bluebeard' at the same theatre a year later.
From 1847 to 1864 he worked at the City of London Theatre as a scenic artist and 'transformation specialist'. He produced some of his best work for the annual pantomime there, painting on transparent gauze to create reveals and transformations. When lit from in front, the design on the gauze appears solid, but a simple lighting change (bringing in some light from behind) will make the gauze transparent, revealing a scene behind it and creating a magical transformation.
Playbill for The Taming of the Shew
The playbill also shows details of other performances including Lolah or The Wreck Light, Mark Lemon's Out of Place, Josephine, The Buffo Singer, John Parry, An Illustration of London in the Olden Times and other operatics, musicians and forthcoming performances.
Stage design for the exterior of Shylock's house in Act II of Merchant of Venice
Stage design for the exterior of Shylock's house in Act II of Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, design by William Telbin, Princess's Theatre, London, 12 June 1858. Museum no. E.1693-1901
Portrait of Ellen Kean and Charles Kean
Photography was a novel and exciting development in Victorian days. Most actors and actresses had studio photographs taken in everyday dress or theatrical costume for 'cartes de visite' and later 'cabinet cards'. Both were albumen prints made from glass negatives, attached to stiff card backing printed with the photographer's name.
'Cartes de visite', the size of formal visiting cards, were patented in 1854 and produced in their millions during the 1860s when it became fashionable to collect them. Their subjects included scenic views, tourist attractions and works of art as well as portraits. They were superseded in the late 1870s by the larger and sturdier 'cabinet cards' whose popularity waned in turn during the 1890s in favour of postcards and studio portraits.
This photograph comes from a large collection of 'cartes de visite' and 'cabinet cards' removed from their backings and mounted in albums by Guy Tristram Little (d. 1952) who bequeathed them to the V&A. A collector of greetings cars, games and photographs, Guy Little was a partner in the legal firm Messrs Milles Jennings White & Foster and the solicitor and executor of Mrs Gabrielle Enthoven, whose theatrical collection formed the basis of the Theatre Collections at the V&A.
Stage design for A Midsummer Night's Dream
This design for a fairy maypole was made for Charles Kean by William Gordon. It shows a large maypole with a leaf crown and three levels of ropes held by fairies dressed in yellow.
Charles Kean employed the best set designers and scene painters, including Thomas Grieve, William Telbin, William Gordon, William Cuthbert and Frederick Lloyds.
Actor-managers
Caricature of Henry Irving
19th century theatre was dominated by actor-managers who ran the theatres and played the lead roles in productions. Henry Irving, Charles Kean and Beerbohm Tree all created productions in which they were the star. Henry Irving at the Lyceum dominated the London stage for over 25 years and was hero-worshipped by his audiences. When he died King Edward VII and the President of the United States sent their condolences.
Shakespeare was the most popular writer for these actor-managers. It became fashionable to give Shakespeare's plays detailed and historically realistic sets and costumes. The stage spectacle was often more important than the play, and texts were cut to allow time to change the massive sets and to give maximum exposure to the leading role.
Many actor-managers instigated reforms of one sort or another. William Charles Macready who managed both patent theatres in his career introduced proper rehearsals. Prior to this the main actor would rarely rehearse with the rest of the cast. Edmund Kean's famous stage direction to his supporting cast was simply 'stand upstage of me and do your worst'. Macready, who was a rival to Edmund Kean, was an excellent Macbeth, Hamlet and Lear but had a wild temper and made many enemies. He retired in 1851.
Other actor-managers included John Martin Harvey who took over from Henry Irving at the Lyceum in 1899. His acclaimed roles included Oedipus in 1912 directed by Max Reinhardt and Pelléas in Pelléas and Mélisande at the Prince of Wales Theatre with Mrs Patrick Campbell. George Alexander was actor-manager at the St James's Theatre and was responsible for finding new work by British dramatists, particularly Oscar Wilde and Arthur Pinero. Both Martin Harvey and Alexander acted with Henry Irving's company at the Lyceum.
By 1914 most of the actor-managers were growing old or had died. Irving died in 1905 and Tree in 1917.
William Charles Macready as Macbeth
William Charles Macready (1793-1873) as Macbeth in Macbeth by William Shakespeare, hand-coloured engraving, published by M & B Skelt, London, England, about 1851, Harry Beard Collection. Museum no. S.2467-2009
Photograph of John Martin-Harvey as Sydney Carton
Photography was a novel and exciting development in Victorian days. Most actors and actresses had studio photographs taken in everyday dress or theatrical costume for 'cartes de visite' and later 'cabinet cards'. Both were albumen prints made from glass negatives, attached to stiff card backing printed with the photographer's name.
'Cartes de visite', the size of formal visiting cards, were patented in 1854 and produced in their millions during the 1860s when it became fashionable to collect them. Their subjects included scenic views, tourist attractions and works of art as well as portraits. They were superseded in the late 1870s by the larger and sturdier 'cabinet cards' whose popularity waned in turn during the 1890s in favour of postcards and studio portraits.
This photograph comes from a large collection of 'cartes de visite' and 'cabinet cards' removed from their backings and mounted in albums by Guy Tristram Little (d. 1952) who bequeathed them to the V&A. A collector of greetings cars, games and photographs, Guy Little was a partner in the legal firm Messrs Milles Jennings White & Foster and the solicitor and executor of Mrs Gabrielle Enthoven, whose theatrical collection formed the basis of the Theatre Collections at the V&A.
Magazine cutting from The Sketch
These pictures published in The Sketch record scenes from the first production of Oscar Wilde's comic masterpiece The Importance of Being Earnest in 1895.
Many reviewers were unimpressed, feeling that the content of the play was too flimsy to be worthy of analysis and that, although undoubtedly funny, it lacked heart. 'It amused me, of course' admitted George Bernard Shaw (no fan of Wilde's), 'but unless comedy touches me as well as moves me, it leaves me with a sense of having wasted my evening'.
The audience at large found no fault, however. Allan Aynesworth, who can be seen in these pictures in the role of Algernon Moncrieff, later recalled 'I never remember a greater triumph. The audience rose in their seats and cheered and cheered again'.
Sadly it wasn't to last. Within a few months Wilde found himself sentenced to prison, and the society which had received him with adulation turned its back on him quickly and completely.
George Alexander
Photography was a novel and exciting development in Victorian days. Most actors and actresses had studio photographs taken in everyday dress or theatrical costume for 'cartes de visite' and later 'cabinet cards'. Both were albumen prints made from glass negatives, attached to stiff card backing printed with the photographer's name.
'Cartes de visite', the size of formal visiting cards, were patented in 1854 and produced in their millions during the 1860s when it became fashionable to collect them. Their subjects included scenic views, tourist attractions and works of art as well as portraits. They were superseded in the late 1870s by the larger and sturdier 'cabinet cards' whose popularity waned in turn during the 1890s in favour of postcards and studio portraits.
This photograph comes from a large collection of 'cartes de visite' and 'cabinet cards' removed from their backings and mounted in albums by Guy Tristram Little (d. 1952) who bequeathed them to the V&A. A collector of greetings cars, games and photographs, Guy Little was a partner in the legal firm Messrs Milles Jennings White & Foster and the solicitor and executor of Mrs Gabrielle Enthoven, whose theatrical collection formed the basis of the Theatre Collections at the V&A.
Photograph of Sarah Bernhardt and Mrs Patrick Campbell
Sarah Bernhardt invited Mrs Patrick Campbell to repeat her 1898 success as Melisande in Maeterlinck's romance Pelleas and Melisande, this time opposite Sarah herself as the male Pelleas. This photograph of them is signed by Bernhardt.
Bernhardt often took male roles during her career - she played a highly acclaimed Hamlet, amongst others - and even into her 50s and, as she was in 1904, just turned 60, she 'conveys the most dignified and noble impression of being in reality the man whom she impersonates'.
Mrs Campbell had to learn to act in French ('How dared I?' she later wondered), but the chemistry between the two made for a great success. Some, including writer and wit Max Beerbohm, half-brother to Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, were slightly scandalised by it all: 'Sarah is a woman and Mrs Campbell an English woman, and by these two facts such a performance is ruled out of the sphere of art into the sphere of sensationalism'. A Dublin critic, when the show played the provinces a year later was more scathing: 'Mrs Campbell played Melisande, Madame Bernhardt Pelleas. They are both old enough to know better'.
William Charles Macready as Rob Roy MacGregor
William Charles Macready was intending to go up to Oxford University in 1809 when the financial troubles of his father, the lessee of several provincial theatres, called him to share the responsibilities of theatrical management. He worked with and acted for his father for some years and then at Bath, making his London debut at Covent Garden in 1816.
For the next couple of seasons he found himself constantly cast as villains and, although his reputation for truthful and powerful impersonations grew, he found many of the melodramatically diabolical roles distasteful.
In 1818 Covent Garden acquired Isaac Pocock's musical adaptation of Walter Scott's Rob Roy Macgregor. Rob Roy provided Macready with a positive role, exhibiting pathos, humour and heroism. The sentiments of the romantic outlaw defying oppression had a powerful effect on the audience when delivered in Macready's characteristically earnest, truthful style.
Women managers
Eliza Vestris as Don Felix in The Alcaid by James Kennedy, engraving, ink on paper, published by J Cumberland, London, England, 1824, Harry Beard Collection. Museum no. S.2681-2009
The first woman actor-manager in London was Eliza Vestris who managed the Olympic Theatre in 1830. Famous for her shapely legs, she was a singer and dancer of some repute. At the Olympic she presented a programme of Burlesques (many starring herself in breeches roles) written by J R Planché (who later made his name as a writer of pantomimes). Vestris encouraged the use of historically correct costumes and of a box set complete with a real ceiling.
Other women managers in the 19th century included Madge Kendal and Sarah Lane at the Brittania Theatre, Hoxton.
One of the most influential woman managers of the 19th century was Marie Bancroft who introduced a new form of drama to the London stage - 'drawing room drama'. Bancroft later managed the Haymarket Theatre with her husband Squire Bancroft. The refurbishment of the Haymarket and programme of 'drawing room drama' attracted a very middle class audience.
South of the river Thames Emma Cons was committed to using the arts to improve the quality of life for the poor. In 1880 she took over the management of the Royal Victoria Coffee Music Hall and provided a programme of variety entertainment, concerts, educational and temperance lectures. The committee running the theatre was mainly made up of philanthropists and social reformers.
'Unless recreation of intellectual and artistic merit be brought within the reach of the mass of the people (many of whom are fully able to appreciate it) and their intelligence and love of beauty, harmony and order for its own sake are used, they will speedily reduce these new and improved dwellings to the filth and squalor of the old.' (Emma Cons)
From 1912 her niece, Lilian Baylis, took over the management of the Old Vic. Baylis was to become the most influential woman manager in the 20th century, turning the Old Vic into a quasi-national theatre.
Madge Kendal
Madge Kendal, pictured here with her husband, the actor William Kendal, did much to improve the standards in Victorian theatre and to bring it a respectability that would appeal to the middle classes. The couple imposed a high moral code both on stage and behind the scenes.
Kendal was the youngest of William Robertson's 22 children and her family had been connected with the theatre for 200 years. Her brother, Tom Robertson, was a dramatist whose work introduced the naturalistic cup-and-saucer type drama that rapidly became the fashion. The couple went into management together at the Court Theatre and the St James's Theatre.
Although a sparkling comedian on the stage, and referred to in magazines as 'dear Madge Kendal', Mrs Kendal was by all accounts a cold and judgmental character. She disapproved of people and practices that did not conform to her strict code, and she had a poor relationship with her own five children. Her acting was outstanding however, and she was made a Dame in 1926.
Eliza Vestris as Orpheus
Madame Vestris was exceptional in that she was the first actress-manager, a successful female performer who leased and ran a London theatre, the Olympic Theatre, from 1830-1849.
This picture is from a production called Olympic Devils, a burletta staged as the Christmas entertainment in 1831 and based on the classical Greek legend of Orpheus. The show was appropriately pantomimic in style; the script was full of verbal puns and slapstick humour. In the legend, Orpheus' severed head floated down a river still singing. This effect was created by Madame Vestris sticking her head through a hole in a painted model of some water, and the model being pulled across the stage. Unfortunately the contraption did not move smoothly, and the effect was apparently spoiled by shouts from offstage of 'Faster! Slower! Looser! Pull ... Damn it! You'll strangle her!'. Apart from this the production was a huge success.
Architectural drawings of Olympic Theatre
The Olympic Pavilion was first built by Philip Astley in 1806 where he staged his 'Feats of Horsemanship'. In 1831 it was taken over by the first female theatre manager in London, Eliza Vestris. Madame Vestris wanted to try out some new design ideas, so she and her business partner, Maria Foote began with a programme of four pieces including Olympic Revels. While her licence only allowed her to present extravaganzas and burlesques, Vestris took rehearsal and the quality of performance of the entire company extremely seriously. She also went to enormous expense to produce realistic, accurate sets years ahead of practitioners such as Charles Kean. She gathered a talented company around her which included the actor John Liston.
In 1839, Vestris gave her last performance at the Olympic before moving on to the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden.
Portrait of Sara Lane
From 1871 until her death in 1899, Sara Lane was the manageress of the Britannia Theatre in Hoxton in the deprived East End of London. She was adored by her staff, and known as 'the Queen of Hoxton' by the local costermen.
Lane had started her career on the stage at 17 as a singer and dancer. She married Sam Lane, the proprietor of the Britannia, and after her husband's death in 1871, took over the management. The Britannia re-staged melodramas that had been seen at Drury Lane and other West End theatres, as well as new plays and adaptations including Sara Lane's own. Its low ticket prices meant that the local East Enders could afford to come, and they filled the theatre every night. Best loved was the Britannia's Christmas pantomime which was one of the last to preserve the harlequinade.
Lane made her final appearance in the Britannia's 1898 Christmas show, aged 76, a farewell to the theatre where she had spent practically half her life. At her funeral the following year, the crowds along Hoxton Street made it almost impossible for the horse-drawn cortège to get down the street.
Marie Wilton, Lady Bancroft
Photography was a novel and exciting development in Victorian days. Most actors and actresses had studio photographs taken in everyday dress or theatrical costume for 'cartes de visite' and later 'cabinet cards'. Both were albumen prints made from glass negatives, attached to stiff card backing printed with the photographer's name.
'Cartes de visite', the size of formal visiting cards, were patented in 1854 and produced in their millions during the 1860s when it became fashionable to collect them. Their subjects included scenic views, tourist attractions and works of art as well as portraits. They were superseded in the late 1870s by the larger and sturdier 'cabinet cards' whose popularity waned in turn during the 1890s in favour of postcards and studio portraits.
This photograph comes from a large collection of 'cartes de visite' and 'cabinet cards' removed from their backings and mounted in albums by Guy Tristram Little (d. 1952) who bequeathed them to the V&A. A collector of greetings cars, games and photographs, Guy Little was a partner in the legal firm Messrs Milles Jennings White & Foster and the solicitor and executor of Mrs Gabrielle Enthoven, whose theatrical collection formed the basis of the Theatre Collections at the V&A.
Inside the Old Vic
The photograph shows the Royal visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King George V and Queen Mary) to the Old Vic in 1910. At this time the theatre's licence did not allow plays to be presented. Entertainments consisted of films, lectures, variety bills and concert performances of operas.
In 1912 Lilian Baylis obtained a dramatic licence and introduced fully staged opera and plays. Between 1920 and 1925 the drama company became the first ever to stage every Shakespeare play (except Cymbeline). By the mid 1920s, the Old Vic had become the only place where actors could learn to play Shakespeare. Until 1923 the backstage and workshops were shared between the theatrical companies and Morley College. The foyer was a working men's café and the 'Peace and Plenty' restaurant. Until the lease ran out in 1927, cooking smells and the clatter of plates permeated the auditorium.
Henry Irving
Henry Irving (1838-1905) as Mephistopheles in Faust, watercolour on paper, London, England, about 1885
Henry Irving (1838-1905) was one of the great actor-managers of Victorian theatre. His work helped increase the status of theatre amongst the middle classes and he raised the theatrical profession to new heights of acceptance.
Lyceum first nights became a must in the social, literary and artistic calendar of London. In 1895 Irving was awarded the first theatrical knighthood and by the time he died in 1905, you could refer to acting as 'a profession'. He was accorded an almost state funeral and burial in Westminster Abbey.
Irving became an overnight star as Mathias in The Bells at the Lyceum Theatre in 1871. In 1878 he took over the management of the Lyceum and for the next 25 years dominated the London stage with his leading lady Ellen Terry in a repertory of Shakespeare and romantic melodrama.
Irving's theatre was characterised by overblown emotion, high drama, spectacular settings and flamboyant acting. The Lyceum became famous for its scenic effects and Irving was meticulous about every aspect of the production, combining the various elements into a single vision: the design, the use of gaslight and limelight, the music and the acting. Irving was also quick to grasp the possibilities of new technology and use it to heighten dramatic effect. In the 1885 production of Faust in which Irving played Mephistopheles, electricity was used to create real sparks during a sword fight.
Irving had a fanatical dedication to the theatre, regarding it almost as a religion - he called the Lyceum his 'Temple of Art'. At this time links were being forged between the worlds of art and theatre. Among others, Irving commissioned the artist Edward Burne-Jones to design King Arthur.
Ellen Terry and Henry Irving were complete opposites on stage. She was all quicksilver, speed and instinct, whilst Irving was intellectual, slow and more pedantic with oddities of pronunciation and movement. But he was a mesmeric, almost hypnotic, actor. He would never perform fast enough for Terry who would whisper on stage 'Oh come on get a move on'.
Henry Irving
Photography was a novel and exciting development in Victorian days. Most actors and actresses had studio photographs taken in everyday dress or theatrical costume for 'cartes de visite' and later 'cabinet cards'. Both were albumen prints made from glass negatives, attached to stiff card backing printed with the photographer's name.
'Cartes de visite', the size of formal visiting cards, were patented in 1854 and produced in their millions during the 1860s when it became fashionable to collect them. Their subjects included scenic views, tourist attractions and works of art as well as portraits. They were superseded in the late 1870s by the larger and sturdier 'cabinet cards' whose popularity waned in turn during the 1890s in favour of postcards and studio portraits.
This photograph comes from a large collection of 'cartes de visite' and 'cabinet cards' removed from their backings and mounted in albums by Guy Tristram Little (d. 1952) who bequeathed them to the V&A. A collector of greetings cars, games and photographs, Guy Little was a partner in the legal firm Messrs Milles Jennings White & Foster and the solicitor and executor of Mrs Gabrielle Enthoven, whose theatrical collection formed the basis of the Theatre Collections at the V&A.
Henry Irving as Mathias
Photography was a novel and exciting development in Victorian days. Most actors and actresses had studio photographs taken in everyday dress or theatrical costume for 'cartes de visite' and later 'cabinet cards'. Both were albumen prints made from glass negatives, attached to stiff card backing printed with the photographer's name.
'Cartes de visite', the size of formal visiting cards, were patented in 1854 and produced in their millions during the 1860s when it became fashionable to collect them. Their subjects included scenic views, tourist attractions and works of art as well as portraits. They were superseded in the late 1870s by the larger and sturdier 'cabinet cards' whose popularity waned in turn during the 1890s in favour of postcards and studio portraits.
This photograph comes from a large collection of 'cartes de visite' and 'cabinet cards' removed from their backings and mounted in albums by Guy Tristram Little (d. 1952) who bequeathed them to the V&A. A collector of greetings cars, games and photographs, Guy Little was a partner in the legal firm Messrs Milles Jennings White & Foster and the solicitor and executor of Mrs Gabrielle Enthoven, whose theatrical collection formed the basis of the Theatre Collections at the V&A.
Henry Irving as Macbeth print
Irving was the leading actor-manager in the late 19th century. Macbeth was one of his most admired roles, although he had not attempted it for 13 years before this production at the Lyceum in 1888 with Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth.
Irving's interpretation was innovative in that he did not show Macbeth as a virtuous character corrupted by evil influences, but as thoroughly evil from the start a 'hysterical, craven wretch' in a red moustache. Irving's productions were famous for their elaborate sets, vast armies of supernumeraries and spectacular scenic effects. For Macbeth he decided that it would be appropriate to set several of the scenes at night, dramatically lit with torches. He used this gloomy setting so extensively that when an outdoor scene was played in bright daylight, one of the audience leapt up with relief and shouted 'Good Old England!'
The production was a success with the public, and played to full houses for 150 nights.
Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth
Ellen Terry (1847-1928) as Lady Macbeth in Macbeth at the Lyceum Theatre, London, sepia photograph, photographer: Window & Grove, London, 1888, Guy Little Collection. Museum no. S.133:429-2007
Ellen Terry as Juliet
Ellen Terry (1847-1928) as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet at the Lyceum Theatre, London, sepia photograph, photographer: Window & Grove, London, 1882, Guy Little Collection. Museum no. S.133:327-2007
Photograph of Ellen Terry
Ellen Terry, the famous actress, represented the ideal aesthetic woman. She frequently flouted society with her independent lifestyle, but became a role model for the new modern woman. A leader of style in all matters, she is photographed here against a fashionable Japanese screen.
Photography was a novel and exciting development in Victorian days. Most actors and actresses had studio photographs taken in everyday dress or theatrical costume for 'cartes de visite' and later 'cabinet cards'. Both were albumen prints made from glass negatives, attached to stiff card backing printed with the photographer's name.
'Cartes de visite', the size of formal visiting cards, were patented in 1854 and produced in their millions during the 1860s when it became fashionable to collect them. Their subjects included scenic views, tourist attractions and works of art as well as portraits. They were superseded in the late 1870s by the larger and sturdier 'cabinet cards' whose popularity waned in turn during the 1890s in favour of postcards and studio portraits.
This photograph comes from a large collection of 'cartes de visite' and 'cabinet cards' removed from their backings and mounted in albums by Guy Tristram Little (d. 1952) who bequeathed them to the V&A. A collector of greetings cars, games and photographs, Guy Little was a partner in the legal firm Messrs Milles Jennings White & Foster and the solicitor and executor of Mrs Gabrielle Enthoven, whose theatrical collection formed the basis of the Theatre Collections at the V&A.
Herbert Beerbohm Tree
Herbert Beerbohm Tree (1852-1917) as Shylock in The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, by Charles A Buchel (1872-1950), oil on board, 1914, Harry Beard Collection. Museum no. S.219-1987
Herbert Beerbohm Tree took over the Haymarket Theatre from the Bancrofts in 1885 before moving to his newly built Her Majesty's Theatre in 1897. His programme at the Haymarket featured plays by Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde and Henry Arthur Jones.
Tree was an outstanding character actor. One of his great roles was Svengali the hypnotist. Tree loved makeup and he would thickly plaster his somewhat plain face and bedeck himself with crepe hair and wigs.
At Her Majesty's, Tree presented spectacular productions with detailed and realistic settings and huge crowd scenes. Real rabbits allegedly ran about the wood in A Midsummer Night's Dream; real grass grew on the stage in Twelfth Night and he presented such a realistic shipwreck in The Tempest with water washing over the deck that many in the audience felt slightly queasy.
Like other Victorian actor-managers he cut Shakespeare's text to allow for additional stage spectacle. Antony's return to Alexandria in Antony and Cleopatra became a surging crowd scene with processions of priests and military marchers, strewn flowers and clashing cymbals and dancing women. The audience sat through long intervals whilst massive sets were changed and Shakespeare's text was rearranged to prevent too many scene changes.
Tree also commissioned new plays to exploit his love of spectacle and show off the expertise of the stage technicians. In Nero Rome burned so realistically that the more nervous among the audience got ready to leave, whilst in Joseph and His Brethren the entire fauna of Palestine was represented including camels, oxen, sheep, asses, goats - none of which helped the aroma backstage. But audiences loved it.
As an actor, Tree was at his best concealed in makeup - he had one of those nondescript faces without dominating features that take makeup well and was never happier than when he was smothered in crepe hair and Leichner greasepaint. It was metamorphosis rather than active and so thrilling that as one observer wrote: 'Even when he was hopelessly miscast, Tree's acting was so clever, so inventive, so varied, so intensely interesting, that for unalloyed entertainment one would rather see him in a bad play than anyone else in a good one.'
Tree produced plays not only by Oscar Wilde but also Ibsen at a time when Ibsen's work was very unfashionable, and considered morally deranged. In 1914 Tree was the first Henry Higgins in George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion. Eliza was played by the celebrated Mrs Patrick Campbell. Tree almost abandoned the script and introduced the hint of a happy ending by throwing a bunch of flowers to Eliza between the end of the play and the fall of the curtain 'My ending makes money, you ought to be grateful' said Tree to Shaw.
Tree died in 1917.
Portrait of Herbert Beerbohm Tree
Photography was a novel and exciting development in Victorian days. Most actors and actresses had studio photographs taken in everyday dress or theatrical costume for 'cartes de visite' and later 'cabinet cards'. Both were albumen prints made from glass negatives, attached to stiff card backing printed with the photographer's name.
'Cartes de visite', the size of formal visiting cards, were patented in 1854 and produced in their millions during the 1860s when it became fashionable to collect them. Their subjects included scenic views, tourist attractions and works of art as well as portraits. They were superseded in the late 1870s by the larger and sturdier 'cabinet cards' whose popularity waned in turn during the 1890s in favour of postcards and studio portraits.
This photograph comes from a large collection of 'cartes de visite' and 'cabinet cards' removed from their backings and mounted in albums by Guy Tristram Little (d. 1952) who bequeathed them to the V&A. A collector of greetings cars, games and photographs, Guy Little was a partner in the legal firm Messrs Milles Jennings White & Foster and the solicitor and executor of Mrs Gabrielle Enthoven, whose theatrical collection formed the basis of the Theatre Collections at the V&A.
Herbert Beerbohm Tree as Antony
Herbert Beerbohm Tree (1852-1917) as Antony in Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, artist Charles A Buchel (1872-1950), oil on board, England, 1914, Harry Beard Collection. Museum no. S.216-1987
Mr & Mrs Beerbohm Tree in Hamlet
Herbert Beerbohm Tree (1852-1917) and his wife Maud (born Helen Maud Holt) (1863-1937) had been married ten years when they appeared opposite each other in Hamlet at the Haymarket in 1892. Although Tree's Hamlet was compared unfavourably with Irving's, notices were still warm. Clement Scott, reviewing the production for the London Illustrated News, thought him 'one of the most classical of all the Hamlets shown to us by a very young man' (Tree was 39 years old at the time).
Poster advertising The Tempest
This poster advertises Miss Viola Tree's Company performing The Tempest on 1 February 1921. The poster was originally designed for a production at His Majesty's Theatre, London in 1904. The German artist, Charles Buchel, who trained at London's Royal Academy of Arts, was passionately interested in the theatre and its stars. For 16 years he produced artwork and paintings for posters and souvenir programmes promoting plays staged at His Majesty's Theatre which the actor-manager, Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, had built in 1897.
Scene from A Midsummer Night's Dream
This is a scene from a famous production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, produced by the actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree.
Spectacular scenic effects were all the fashion during the Victorian age, to the point where the action of the play was in danger of becoming secondary to the setting. Each scene was treated as a living picture and this kind of 'pictorial' staging involved detailed costumes and huge casts on vastly elaborate sets with sophisticated special effects.
By the end of the 19th century, great store was set by how realistic everything looked and Tree's production was the epitome of this intention. Real grass covered the stage, and live rabbits scampered around to give the impression of a real forest. The actor playing Bottom became so irritated by being upstaged by a rabbit, that he caught it and made one entrance clutching it under one arm, whereupon it promptly bit him. Oberon, King of the Fairies, was played by a woman who sang his most famous speech, 'I know a bank where the wild thyme blows', and who wore a headdress fitted with electric lights.
Herbert Beerbohm Tree as Wolsey
Herbert Beerbohm Tree's Shakespearean productions carried on the traditions of Charles Kean and Henry Irving in stressing spectacle. His 1910 production of Shakespeare's Henry VIII, in which he played Cardinal Wolsey, was particularly sumptuous. There were nearly a hundred exquisitely detailed costumes designed by Percy Macquoid. The crimson coronation dress for Anne Boleyn was richly pearled and trimmed with ermine. Henry VIII was arrayed in green with gold brocade, and had a gold dagger enamelled in green. Wolsey wore the red robes of his office, but the addition of the golden pomander (which you can see in the picture) was Tree's idea. It was there to reflect the Cardinal's addiction to luxury, crucial to Tree's interpretation of the role. He cut the text heavily, focussing on the domestic plot and the conflict between Henry and his Cardinal. The reviews he received in a later New York revival were ecstatically enthusiastic: 'The character lives and breathes … a creation vital, impressive, profoundly moving and sympathetic'.
Photograph of the queue for a Beerbohm Tree production
Herbert Beerbohm Tree was lessee and manager of the Haymarket Theatre for ten years from 1887. However, he always had plans to go a step better, and on 28 April, 1897 he celebrated the opening of his own newly built theatre, Her Majesty's, just across the road from the Haymarket. Appropriately, it was the year of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.
This was the fourth theatre on the site, and cost £55,000 (about £3.5 million today) to build. Tree's wife Maud feared that the 'new theatre was a monster whose devouring jaws opened wider and wider every day'. It ended up £300 (about £20,000) over the planned budget, but was hailed even by George Bernard Shaw, no fan of Tree's, as 'quite the handsomest theatre in London'. The intricate gilded blue and scarlet of the auditorium, and the foyers and bars in mahogany and gilt can all still be seen today.
Printed booklet programme for A Midsummer Night's Dream
Herbert Beerbohm Tree's A Midsummer Night's Dream of 1900 was one of his most lavish productions. The scenery was spectacular: Theseus's palace had column after column, festooned with swags of flowers, stretching to the back of the stage, where the illusion continued into the backcloth in the Athenian woods, fronds and ferns sprouted and crawled over every inch of the stage. Opulent costumes designed by Percy Anderson completed the beautiful stage pictures created. To the cast required by Shakespeare's play, Tree added tens of extra fairies, played by children, as well as loosing real rabbits onto the stage for the woodland scenes. Tree himself took the comic role of Bottom the Weaver, while his wife Maud played the fairy queen Titania opposite Julia Neilson as Oberon. It wasn't unusual to have a female fairy king, so this wasn't one of Tree's alterations. The detailed notes in this souvenir booklet testify to the dedicated research Tree put into his productions. The illustration on the back cover is by Charles A Buchel, who painted several portraits of Tree.
Portrait of Maud Beerbohm Tree
Photography was a novel and exciting development in Victorian days. Most actors and actresses had studio photographs taken in everyday dress or theatrical costume for 'cartes de visite' and later 'cabinet cards'. Both were albumen prints made from glass negatives, attached to stiff card backing printed with the photographer's name.
'Cartes de visite', the size of formal visiting cards, were patented in 1854 and produced in their millions during the 1860s when it became fashionable to collect them. Their subjects included scenic views, tourist attractions and works of art as well as portraits. They were superseded in the late 1870s by the larger and sturdier 'cabinet cards' whose popularity waned in turn during the 1890s in favour of postcards and studio portraits.
This photograph comes from a large collection of 'cartes de visite' and 'cabinet cards' removed from their backings and mounted in albums by Guy Tristram Little (d. 1952) who bequeathed them to the V&A. A collector of greetings cars, games and photographs, Guy Little was a partner in the legal firm Messrs Milles Jennings White & Foster and the solicitor and executor of Mrs Gabrielle Enthoven, whose theatrical collection formed the basis of the Theatre Collections at the V&A.
Poster for Macbeth
Poster for Macbeth by William Shakespeare at His Majesty's Theatre, London, colour lithograph, illustration by Edmund Dulac (1882-1953), London, England, 1911
Herbert Beerbohm Tree as Macbeth
Herbert Beerbohm Tree was the pre-eminent actor-manager of the Edwardian era. His performance as Macbeth in his 1911 production at His Majesty's Theatre drew some impressive reviews both for its staging and its leading actor.
Magazine illustration of Mrs Patrick Campbell
Pygmalion is one of George Bernard Shaw's most popular plays and the source for the musical My Fair Lady.
Shaw wrote the role of Eliza Doolittle, the cockney flower girl, for the actress Mrs Patrick Campbell whom he greatly admired. In 1914 Pygmalion was put on at His Majesty's Theatre, which was run by the actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, and Tree himself played Henry Higgins opposite Mrs (Stella) Patrick Campbell. Rehearsals were difficult since Shaw and his leading actors were all opinionated and uncompromising, but when the show opened it did so to a rapturous response. No one noticed that Campbell was 30 years too old to play Eliza and there were moments when the audience laughed so much that Shaw was worried that the play would never get going again. On the first night, a number of genuine cockney flower girls gathered by the statue of Eros in Piccadilly Circus and made their way over to the theatre to queue for cheap seats in the gallery.
19th century spectacle
The Whip, mansion interior, photograph, Drury Lane, London, September 1909
The sophisticated technology and machinery of the late 19th century stage produced a succession of 'sensation' dramas in which special effects became the principal attraction. Scene painters working with expert technicians produced realistic reproductions of the natural world. Using ropes, flats, bridges, treadmills and revolves, they could produce anything from a chariot race in Ben Hur to a rail crash and the running of the Two Thousand Guineas in The Whip.
One of the greatest designers of such scenes was Bruce 'Sensation' Smith of Drury Lane, the theatre which, with the introduction of hydraulic stage machinery in 1894, became the acknowledged home of such drama. Because of their reliance upon visual spectacle, many of these dramas provided excellent material for the developing silent cinema.
The Whip at Drury Lane in 1909 told the story of a plot to kidnap a racehorse (The Whip) on a train journey to Newmarket where he is a dead cert for the Two Thousand Guineas. Such was the tension of the tunnel scene that the audience would shout advice as the deafening sound of the train came closer and closer and desperate attempts were made to free the horse from the crash.
The Whip, produced in 1909 at Drury Lane, was a tale of love and skulduggery among the aristocracy. The plot itself was slim, no more than a framework on which to hang the scenes of spectacle and special effects so beloved of audiences.
Falconhurst, seen here, is the seat of the Marquis of Beverley, grandfather to Lady Diana Sartorys. This is the great hall in a setting from Act II designed by R.McCleery. Lady Diana is devoted to sport and a keen rider of her grandfather's horses, including The Whip, favourite for the 2000 Guineas.
The plot revolves around the attempted sabotage of the horse's chances in an 'accidental' train crash. The horse obviously played a major part in the action, and The Sketch published a feature about Jessie Bateman, who played Diana, and the horse (which shamefully got no billing in the programme, although we are told the horses were 'fed on Molassine Meal'). The article also pointed out that 'it will be seen that Miss Bateman has adopted the up-to-date method of riding - that is to say, she sits astride'.
Other designs by 'Sensation' Smith included an underwater scene where the illusion of a diver descending into the sea was created by raising a boat into the flies. Behind a gauze real fish swam in tanks to create the image of an undersea world.
The Whip, mansion exterior
The Whip by Cecil Raleigh and Henry Hamilton was a tale of love and skulduggery among the aristocracy. The plot itself was extremely slim, and was essentially a framework on which to hang the scenes of spectacle and special effects so beloved of audiences. Falconhurst, seen here from the outside, in a set designed by Henry Emden, is the seat of the Marquis of Beverley, grandfather to Lady Diana Sartorys, and will become hers on his death. Captain Grenville Sartorys and Mrs D'Aquila plan to sabotage the chances of the Marquis's horse 'The Whip' by killing the hotly tipped favourite before the big race, the 2000 Guineas. They also attempt to destroy the romance between Hubert, Earl of Brancaster and Lady Diana. But in a thrilling last minute rescue, 'The Whip' is saved from a devastating train crash and goes on to win the race (usually!). Mrs D'Aquila's claim to be Hubert's wife is shown to be false, and all ends happily.
Cartoon of The Whip
The Whip by Cecil Raleigh and Henry Hamilton was a tale of love and skulduggery among the aristocracy. These cartoons by Norman Morrow, published in The Bystander in September 1909, the year the show opened, poke gentle fun at the melodramatic 'types' in the production.
The plot was essentially a framework on which to hang the scenes of spectacle and special effects so beloved of audiences. Characters had to be broadly portrayed by the actors so as to be easily recognisable. How much more villainous, for instance, could Cyril Keightley look as Captain Grenville Sartorys in the top left-hand picture? And Miss Nancy Price in the centre is labelled the 'Wicked Woman', rather than with her character name Mrs D'Aquila, although it's perfectly obvious from the drawing that she's no angel. Jessie Bateman and Vincent Clive, down left, have the thankless 'goodie' roles, always less fun to play, and Charles Rock as jockey Joe Kelly is easily spotted as the source of comic relief.
The Whip, weighing room and stables
The Whip, which opened at Drury Lane in 1909, was one of a succession of 'sensation' dramas in which special effects became the principal attraction. The scene in the stables at the beginning of Act III was designed by Bruce 'Sensation' Smith. He was responsible for some remarkable stage effects, famously the onstage train crash at the end of Act III of The Whip, but he could also create beautiful stage pictures, full of detail, as these bustling stables show.
Smith's other sensational spectacles included dramatic scenes in the 1913 show Sealed Orders. This featured an airship from which two villains locked in mortal combat fall to their deaths leaving their hostage, the heroine, on board. The airship is shot down and the heroine rescued from the sea.
To us, used as we are to cinema spectacle, this doesn't sound particularly remarkable, but if you consider that it was all done within the confines of a theatre, you begin to see how Smith got his nickname.
Sepia photograph of hydraulic ramps
In this picture you get a good view of the hydraulics which operated the stage machinery at Drury Lane. It was this extensive array of stage technology which made possible the extravagant spectacles and effects for which Bruce 'Sensation' Smith got his nickname.
In 1898 the theatre's manager Arthur Collins modernised the machinery backstage, installing new electric 'bridges'. Electrical operation made the movements much smoother, and paved the way for even more elaborate effects. The bridges could raise or lower any object or scenery placed on them. These ramps could be angled back and forth to simulate, for instance, the rocking of a ship. In September of that year, The Great Ruby made use of the new bridges for the first time, and Smith would go on to create sensation after sensation at Drury Lane: horse races, sinking ships, earthquakes, flooded towns, giants, balloon ascents, underwater fights and train crashes.
The Whip racecourse scene photograph
Act IV, scene 3 of The Whip was the 2000 Guineas horse race, the climax of the plot. Although the onstage rescue and train crash in Act 3 was arguably the highpoint in terms of spectacle, the culmination of the story lay in whether the horse 'The Whip', having been rescued in the nick of time, could go on to win the race. The programme tells us that this scene was designed by R McCleery, but the stage mechanics which created the race effect were the work of Bruce 'Sensation' Smith. Smith's reverse movement of McCleery's beautiful panoramic backcloth, seen here, was impeccable, gaining speed with the horses with absolute precision. As it rolled backwards, the horses appeared to accelerate forwards. Unfortunately on the first night, through no fault of Smith's, 'The Whip' somehow came to be in the wrong 'grid' for the race, and instead of winning came in a rather poor fifth. Despite this slight setback, The Whip went on to be a winner, selling out at Drury Lane, with revivals and countless tours to come.
The balloon ascent in The Great Ruby
The Great Ruby opened at Drury Lane in the autumn of 1898. The sets were by William Perkins, R Caney, and Bruce Smith and it was 'Sensation' Smith who was responsible for the sequence you see here.
A review in Punch gives an excellent description of events: 'Mrs Henry Wood, the heroine, was in a balloon over Hampstead Heath with the villain hanging on by his eyelids to the car ... Mrs Wood loosened his hold and chucked him over ... the Balloon business is not precisely a novelty but never was the situation more realistically represented. Drury Lane vibrated with enthusiasm'.
Smith carefully placed the circus tent at stage left (the right as we look) so that as the balloon ascended, the tent was lowered to exaggerate the effect. Cloud then obscured the balloon temporarily so that a smaller version could replace it, giving the effect of being higher up and further off.
Costume design for robin in Babes in the Wood
This design for 12 robins, dancers in the 1907 Drury Lane pantomime Babes in the Wood, was by the prolific designer Attilio Comelli who dreamed up many of Drury Lane's pantomime costumes. Other animals dancing in this pantomime in the forest scene included eight storks and 12 pairs of insects.
Drury Lane prided itself on producing the most visually impressive productions in the country as it had done since the days when Augustus Harris had been producer. At this date Arthur Collins was in charge at Drury Lane, and he was the co-author of this pantomime. As had become traditional in Babes in the Wood, the plot included the characters Robin Hood, Maid Marion, Little John and Will Scarlet. Not all the scenes were entirely relevant to the plot, however, such as the scene in Lollipop Land played almost entirely by children, with scenery designed by the famous Bruce 'Sensation' Smith.
The Sins of Society: On Board the SS Beachy Head
The Sins of Society, produced at Drury Lane in 1907, contained more sensational scenes created by Bruce Smith and his fellow designers at the theatre, Henry Emden and R McCleery. There was a dramatic scene at a weir in which the hero, wrongly suspected, dived into the waters to escape police pursuit.
The Tatler thought this 'a splendid example of stage realism ... never before has real water poured over a weir so realistically'. This photograph is of Smith's set for the troopship SS Beachy Head, which involved our hero in another spectacular moment as 'he alone escapes from the sinking troopship which, with ordered discipline and soldiers singing the National Anthem as they await their death, affords a superb spectacle of patriotism' (The Sketch).
The Sins of Society: Village Church
The Sins of Society, produced at Drury Lane in 1907, contained all the required elements of a successful melodrama - a spotless heroine, a vile and dastardly villain, and a put-upon hero who has to come through all his trials with flying colours. It also boasted spectacular scenes and events created by Bruce 'Sensation' Smith which thrilled and moved the audience.
There were lavish set designs including a beautiful Art Nouveau interior for one of the houses, and the racecourse at Longchamps, contributed by Henry Emden, and the rather grand Village Church which you see here, designed by R McCleery, which was the setting for the grand denouement of the plot.
The players you see, as described in The Sketch, were 'Miss Adrienne Augarde as Lady Gwendolen Ashley, the sweet but erring ingenue', led to the altar by 'Mr Lyn Harding as Noel Ferrers, the villain', and prevented from a dreadful marriage in the nick of time by the hero, Mr Julian L'Estrange as Sir Dorian March, a young Guards Officer, who cries out, 'Stop, Stop, I Forbid It'.
Cup and saucer drama
Marie Wilton introduced a new young playwright, Tom Robertson. He had devised a new kind of play which became known as 'problem play' because it dealt seriously and sensitively with issues of the day.
Robertson's work was considered so revolutionary in style and subject that no established management would touch him. 'Danger' said Mrs Bancroft 'is better than dullness' and she went on to produce a string of successful and profitable hits by Robertson, such as 'Society', 'Ours', 'Caste', 'Play' and 'School'.
Caste was about marriage across the class barrier and explored prejudices towards social climbing. People talked in normal language and dealt with 'ordinary' situations and the performers didn't 'act' but 'behaved' like their audience - they spoke, they didn't declaim. In Ours a roly poly pudding was made on stage and this caused a major furore as people were not used to seeing such realistic tasks in a stage setting. In The Vicarage the characters shocked the audience by making tea (hence the reference to 'cup and saucer dramas').
The Bancrofts were also responsible for making fashionable the 'box set' which Eliza Vestris had first used at the Olympic in the 1830s. They constructed rooms on stage which they dressed with the care of an interior decorator with sofas, curtains, chairs, carpets on their stage floors. Instead of painted flats they had real doors with real door handles and the actors wore well-made fashionable dress not the trappings of a dusty theatre wardrobe.
The drawing-room drama became much loved by the Victorian educated middle classes and the Bancrofts redesigned the theatre to suit their audience. The cheap benches near the stage, where the rowdiest elements of the audience used to sit, were replaced by comfortable padded seats, carpets were laid in the aisles and the pit was renamed the stalls.
The Bancrofts encouraged ensemble acting. Though they were the stars they employed talented actors realising that their own talents would shine better in a strong cast. They paid their actors well and took the wages to the actors rather than have them queue up like factory workers. They lavished considerable funds on their productions, risked new plays, and yet in 1885, after only 20 years in management, they retired with a fortune.
While the Bancroft's revolutionised the style of presenting social dramas, Robertson's plays ultimately affirmed the social order. It was left to writers such as George Bernard Shaw to challenge it.
British Design 1948–2012: Innovation in the Modern Age
31 March–12 August 2012
Showcasing over 300 British design objects, this exhibition celebrates the best of British post-war art and design from the 1948 ‘Austerity Games' to the summer of 2012.
More detailsShop online
Nineteenth-Century Fashion in Detail
'Stirs up the 19th century in all its sumptuousness and diversity … the garments spring from the page with a beauty and freshness that belies their age and fragility' The Daily Telegraph
Buy nowEvent - Style Cities:Vienna
Sat 23 June 2012 14:00
SEMINAR: Explore the history, culture, art and architecture of 19th and early 20th century Vienna, the city
that hosts over 200 formals balls every year. Vienna is the last great capital of the 19th century ball.
