Cup and saucer drama

In 1879 Squire Bancroft and his wife Marie Wilton took over the Haymarket Theatre and instigated a new form of drama known as 'drawing-room comedy' or 'cup and saucer drama'. They had previously managed the Prince of Wales Theatre and Marie Wilton (her maiden name) was a well respected actress.

  • Scene from The Vicarage

    Scene from The Vicarage at the Princes of Wales Theatre sepia photograph Window & Grove London, England 1877 Guy Little Collection Museum no. S.142:130-2007 © Victoria & Albert Museum, London

    This photograph is of the 1877 production of The Vicarage, described by Squire Bancroft as 'a fireside story'. Marie Wilton played Mrs Haygarth, the Vicar's wife, Arthur Cecil (right) was the Reverend Noel Haygarth and William Hunter Kendal played George Clarke, the old friend who disturbs for a while the peace of the rural vicarage by persuading the Vicar that his life there is too dull and narrow and that it is his duty to travel.

  • Squire Bancroft and Marie Wilton

    Squire Bancroft and Marie Wilton sepia photograph photograph by Alfred Ellis London, England 1897 Guy Little Collection Museum no. S.142:208-2007 © Victoria & Albert Museum, London

    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 They were superseded in the late 1870s by the larger and sturdier 'cabinet cards' whose popularity waned in turn during the 1890s in favour of postcards and studio portraits.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.

  • Marie Wilton in Good for Nothing

    Marie Wilton in Good for Nothing Prince of Wales Theatre, London 1879 Guy Little Collection Museum no. S.142:165-2007 © Victoria & Albert Museum, London

    Marie Bancroft is seen here as the 'unruly girl' Nan, who leads her two 'well meaning but erratic guardians' a merry dance in Good for Nothing. This had been a favourite part since her earliest days on stage, before her marriage, when she was known as Marie Wilton. In 1879 she played Nan in a mixed bill alongside WS Gilbert's Sweethearts, in which she played Jenny Northcott. As her husband, Squire Bancroft (he dropped his last two names, White Butterfield, when he went on the stage) recalled: 'The audience could scarcely believe their eyes when they saw the delicate-minded and silvery-toned Miss Northcott turned into [Nan] the dirty-faced, touzle-headed little reprobate, whose knowledge of the Cockney vernacular was so absolute and complete'. As one paper reported, Good for Nothing was 'associated with the familiar process of playing the audience in, or out, as the case may be'.

  • Squire Bancroft and Johnny Clarke in Ours

    Squire Bancroft and Johnny Clarke in 'Ours' at the Prince of Wales Theatre sepia photograph, Window & Bridge London, England 15 September 1866 Guy Little Collection Museum no. S.142:67-2007 © Victoria & Albert Museum, London

    Squire Bancroft is playing the part of Angus McAlister and Johnny Clarke is playing Hugh Chalcott in a production of Ours by Tom Robertson at the Prince of Wales Theatre, London.

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