Title |
[Broadside for Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, "Stranger"] |
Date |
1833-01-19 |
Contributor |
W. Wright Printer |
Production |
Stranger; One o'Clock! |
Character roles |
Mr. Macready (The Stranger); Mr. Duruset (Count Wintersen); Mr. Cooper (Baron Steinfort); Mr. Bartley (Solomon); Mr. Harley (Peter); Mr. Younge (Tobias); Mr. S. Russell (Francis); Miss Cadmore (Count's Son); Master & Miss Marshall (Stranger's Children); Mrs. Sloman (Mrs. Haller); Mrs. Lovell (Countess Wintersen); Mrs. Gibbs (Charlotte); Miss H. Cawse (Annette); Mrs. Chester (Claudine) |
Artistic roles |
William Charles Macready (Actor); Mrs. Sloman (Actor); Mr. Cooper (Actor) |
Genre |
Drama |
Theme |
Popular Venues |
Places |
London (United Kingdom) |
Item description |
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane Broadside for the evening of Saturday, Oct. 19, 1833. The broadside is letterpressed on rag paperstock and lists two pieces. The first piece is the play 'Stranger' starring William Charles Macready (1793-1873) and Mrs. Sloman. The after-piece is a revival of the drama 'One o'Clock!' The broadside includes the cast list for each piece and also advertises the plays the theatre will be presenting the rest of the week. |
Object narrative |
This Theatre Royal, Drury Lane broadside advertises the evening's entertainment for Saturday, Oct. 19, 1833. The bill states that Their Majesties' Servants will perform the Play of STRANGER. In the title role of The Stranger was William Charles Macready. William Charles Macready (1793-1873) was a popular actor in England at this time, having first appeared in one of his father's theatres in 1810 as Romeo. The season of 1833-1834 was a difficult one for Macready. A new manager by the name of Alfred Bunn had taken charge of Drury Lane and Covent Garden in May of 1833, and while an experienced stage-manager and journalist, he was also known as having little education, no literary culture, a shady private character. . .[and] a fine stock of ingenuous snobbishness (Archer, Macready 86). Under Bunn, a 'maximum' salary was imposed on actors, bringing all large salaries (of which Macready was being paid according to his status and the level of roles he was playing) down to 20 per week. Bunn then demanded that Macready play multiple roles with little time off between performances, leading to many bouts with illness for Macready. Between October 5th and October 30th, Archer records that Macready appeared fifteen times in as many as eleven different roles, of which The Stranger was one on October 19th. Appearing with Macready was a Mrs. Sloman, a tragic actress who had evidently been making quite a splash in Norwich theatres. Bunn brought her to London, and Macready was not impressed, saying in his diary after their performance that evening: My first suspicion of Mrs. Sloman is fully confirmed; she has neither imagination, feeling nor grace of course, cannot have expression (Toynbee Vol. 1 71) and after a performance of Macbeth later in the month: Acted Macbeth passably, held in check by Mrs. Sloman, who I think derived her fire from what would have quenched many others (Toynbee Vol. 1 75). Mrs. Sloman was also let down by London critics; it seems the big fish in the little pond should have stayed where she was. Also on this broadside is the cast list for the after-piece 'One o'Clock' and a listing of upcoming performances for the week, including 'Zelica,' 'King Henry VIII,' 'King Henry IV, pt. 1,' 'Werner,' 'Macbeth,' and 'Prince Lee Boo.' |
Type |
Text |
Original format |
Playbills/broadsides |
Original publisher |
[Place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified] |
Language |
en |
Contributing institution |
Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, UNCG University Libraries |
Source collection |
MSS255 Robert C. Hansen Performing Arts Collection |
Series/grouping |
1.1.2.2: Programs -- Theatre Programs -- International Theatre Programs -- UK |
Box |
50 |
Finding aid link |
http://library.uncg.edu/info/depts/scua/collections/manuscripts/ead/mss255.xml |
Preferred citation |
[Identification of item], Robert C. Hansen Performing Arts Collection, 1753-2006 (MSS255), Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives and Manuscripts, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC, USA. |
Rights statement |
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/ |
Additional rights information |
NO COPYRIGHT - UNITED STATES. This item has been determined to be free of copyright restrictions in the United States. The user is responsible for determing actual copyright status for any reuse of the material. |
Object ID |
MSS255.B50.006 |
Digital publisher |
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University Libraries, PO Box 26170, Greensboro NC 27402-6170, 336.334.5304 |
OCLC number |
872280829 |