Puslapio vaizdai
PDF
„ePub“
[graphic][subsumed][merged small]

URING the evening of Monday, the 19th of October, 1741, occurred a revolution in theatrical history. The day following rumours were rife concerning an event unprecedented and unexpected. Men of parts, players of fair repute, critics designated ingenious, fops professing love for the drama, playwrights deserving well of the town, discussed the affair as they met in coffee houses, strolled under the Piazza in Covent Garden, or took the air in St. James's Park. One described in the playbills of Goodman's Fields theatre as a gentleman who never appear'd on any stage," had at that house represented Richard III., and acted in a manner that electrifying his audience filled them with delight. Those who had witnessed his performance were sought and questioned by those who had not. Ignorant of his name, gossip made eager inquiry relative to his personality; and soon it became known that this last interpreter of "crooked backed Richard" was young Davy Garrick, the wine merchant of Durham Yard.

66

Thereon it was well remembered he had freely consorted with players at the ordinaries and taverns; was the friend of James Macklin, a garrulous talker and an earnest actor; the companion of Giffard, manager of Goodman's Fields play-house; and a frequenter of the pit of Drury Lane and Covent Garden theatres. It was debated whether he merely acted for diversion,-for his father having been a recruiting officer it was considered doubtful if Davy meant to turn player. It was certain however his performance was a prodigious success, and his reception, according to the Daily Post, was the most extraordinary and great that ever was known upon such an occasion.

Now as the same journal added, ". we hear he obliges the town this evening with the same performance," the gossips great and small, pretty fellows and wits, scribblers, poets, and critics potent in judgment, resolved to witness his playing. Nor were they disappointed. Garrick became the subject of common discourse, his acting was nightly beheld by vast audiences, the death of Richard "was accompanied with the loudest gratulations of applause." Success was assured him. Showily painted, panel-blazoned coaches of women of fashion and men of fame nightly blocked the way from Temple Bar to Whitechapel, where the theatre was situated; the glare and glitter of St. James's Square was drawn to Goodman's Fields, where "the most elegant company" from the polite end of the town hustled and swore round oaths like common humanity in striving for admission. A dozen dukes of a night might be seen in the house; the ladies were almost in love with Richard, and anxious to secure stage boxes that "they might see his looks in the scene with the Lady Anne." The Daily Post of November the 27th states that several hundred persons were obliged to return for want of room, the house being full soon after five o'clock.

Meanwhile highest commendations had been showered on Garrick. Mr. Glover, the admired author of Leonidas, declared he had not witnessed such acting for ten years; Mr. Pitt, who as David wrote to his brother Peter "is reckon'd ye Greatest Orator in the House of Commons, said I was ye best actor ye English stage had produced." Lord Orrery, a man of taste, feared he would be spoilt, for he would have no competitor; the Duke of Argyll considered him superior to Betterton; Alexander Pope, "our little poetical hero dressed in black," whose appearance caused David a

[graphic]

palpitation of his heart and a "tumultuous not disagreeable emotion" in his mind, believed he never had his equal as an actor and never would have a rival. Mrs. Bracegirdle, who had played in the last century, and Mrs. Porter, long since retired, came to witness and admire his performance, whilst even he whose sacrilegious hand had altered and added to Shakespeare's worksColley Cibber, antiquated, dignified, cynical, full of reminiscences of past players, mindful of his own merits, scornful of new talent seeking favour of the town, jealous of reputations gained in characters he had personated-admitted "I' faith, the lad is clever." Moreover men of the highest fashion desired his company; he supped with Mr. Lyttelton, Prince Fred's favourite, dined with my Lords Halifax and Sandwich, "two very ingenious noblemen," met the highest civility and complaisance from Lord Chesterfield; " in short," he writes, "I believe nobody as an actor was ever more caressed."

During his first season at Drury Lane his performances had the advantage of the support of such admirable actresses as Mrs. Pritchard, Kitty Clive, and Peg Woffington. Mrs. Pritchard had slowly and laboriously climbed to the high position she at that time maintained.

In the drear beginning of her career she had played at Bartholomew Fair, where "she was greatly caressed and admired for singing in some farce or droll." Presently she was engaged at the little Haymarket theatre, where she gained repute in a comedy called The Mother-in-Law, stolen from the Malade Imaginaire. Her graceful figure, expressive face, clear delivery, and easy action at once marked her an actress of no ordinary merit, and in the course of time she was intrusted with such parts as Rosalind and Queen Katherine, Lady Townley and Lady Betty Modish. Her tragedy and comedy were alike excellent, her genius being universal. Therefore she played Elvira to Garrick's Clodio in Love Makes a Man, the Queen to his Richard III. and Belvidera to his Pierre in Venice Preserved.

Kitty Clive, the daughter of an Irish soldier, who had fought for James Stuart, but subsequently lived in peace under George Guelph, inherited the humour and vivacity of her race. At first she had merely sung between the acts, after the fashion of the day, but eventually her sprightly wit and sparkling comedy promoted her to become one of the most popular actresses of her time. As a singer in ballad operas, as a player in merry farces, she was unequalled. Her acting indeed had little art, but much

nature. Her demure manner and shy glances as a country girl, her easy freedom and frolicsome ways as a hoyden, her foolish airs and mock graces as a vulgar woman desirous of becoming a lady of fashion, never failed to create genuine mirth. Her entrance in a scene was watched with high expectation, her exit greeted with noisy applause. In figure and face, in gait and manner, was she surely fitted for farce and comedy. As Phillida in Love in a Riddle, as Honoria in Love Makes a Man, as Valeria in The Rover, she was perhaps at her best. But not content with the high approval she commanded as a comedian, Kitty longed to distinguish herself as a tragedian. Therefore she essayed Shakespearian characters, and would not be persuaded she was unlike the heroines the greatest dramatist depicted. This weakness, not uncommon to actors of all ages, sometimes involved her in angry disputes with her manager; for alas, it was her highest ambition to play heroine to Garrick's hero, and by reason of her sharp tongue and violent temper she sometimes gained her desire. Therefore it happened when he first played Hamlet at Drury Lane, Kitty represented the distraught Ophelia. On such occasions she exerted all her skill and energy in striving to excel Garrick, or divide the applause with him; a consummation she considerably hindered by her habit of looking round the house in search of her fashionable friends, to whom she curtseyed, nodded, or smiled, according to her degree of intimacy with them, the while Garrick poured out his soul in ardent love or laid bare his wild despair.

Indeed, when he became manager, he had much to endure from her frequent caprices and stormy tempers, and it was only by much tact and great forbearance he was able to rule so unreasonable yet so serviceable a member of his company. Her Portia never failed to gain applause because of her mimicry of a famous lawyer in the trial scene. Her Katherine in The Taming of the Shrew, altered and played as Katherine and Petruchio, was scarcely less amusing to those cognizant of matters behind the scenes. Between Kitty and Woodward, who played the part of the tyrant bridegroom, no love, but much discord existed, the latter finding full vent between them in the comedy; for when they quarrelled at supper he stuck a fork into poor Kitty's finger, and in pushing her off the stage was so much carried away by his part that he actually flung her down. His reception when the curtain fell cannot have been enviable.

Charming Peg Woffington suffered much

from her rival's tantrums. Tall, graceful, and commanding in figure, dark-eyed, dimplecheeked, and bright-faced, a winner of laughter and a mover to tears, she in most ways contrasted with sharp-tongued, plain-featured Kitty Clive. And this the latter, womanlike, resented. Not only did Peg Woffington act such dashing parts as Sir Harry Wildair in The Constant Couple, and Silvia in The Recruiting Officer, but she likewise played Cordelia, Ophelia, and Lady Anne to Garrick's Lear, Hamlet, and Richard III. Moreover her Mrs. Ford in The Merry Wives of Windsor, and her Rosalind in As You Like It, in which her excellent acting and lustrous beauty shone with equal brilliancy, were admirable. Indeed she was toasted by gallants, lauded by critics, and sung by ballad mongers. Therefore Kitty was wroth with Peg, the more so because in their squabbles, which were most frequent and vastly diverting to all but themselves, she was usually worsted. For whilst Mistress Clive grew furious and reckless in her words, Mistress Woffington became cool and sarcastic in her replies, so that her rival was almost driven to madness and outrage whilst she remained calm and disdainful.

Garrick's first season at Drury Lane realized all his playing at Goodman's Fields had promised. His acting was a brilliant revelation of those subtle powers by which human passions may be counterfeited to the semblance of reality. His impersonation of Richard III. heralded a new era in the dramatic world; his King Lear moved vast audiences to tears; his Hamlet filled all beholders with wonder and delight. His tragedy was noble, his comedy inimitable, his farce droll; and in his versatility lay his greatness. Towards the end of his first season at Drury Lane, he was, Tom Davis says, "by way of relief to his more toilsome labours in parts of exertion, induced to divert and relax himself with some low comic parts, and particularly Abel Drugger in Jonson's Alchemist. Tom Davis, who had begun life as a player, subsequently became a bookseller, then returned to the stage, which he again renounced for the counter. In the year 1752, leaving the provincial companies, with which he had sutted many an hour, he was engaged at Drury Lane. It is therefore probable he was absent from town when Garrick made his first appearance, and was unaware he had played such characters as Jack Smutter in Pamela, Sharp in The Lying Valet, and Master Johnny in The Schoolboy.

Concerning these later farces somewhat remains to be said. Garrick had written The Lying Valet, or, as stated, stolen it from the

66

Novelty, a farce by Peter Motteux, a seventeenth century writer; for alas, then as now, 'twas said nothing was new behind the curtain. The Lying Valet was first played at Goodman's Fields, and David, with the freshness of juvenility, and the egotism of an author, writes to Peter that it takes prodigiously, and is approved of by men of Genius, and thought ye most diverting Farce that ever was perform'd. In performance it's a general roar from beginning to end; and I have got as much Reputation in ye Character of Sharp as in any other character I have perform'd." His representation of Master Johnny was not less remarkable. Boaden mentions that Garrick amazed the town by repeating, after his personation of King Lear, his Master Johnny, a lad of fifteen, in The Schoolboy. His audience therefore saw him play deepest tragedy and lightest comedy in the same hour. His admirers were soon to have another proof of his great abilities as a comedian. On the 21st of March, 1743, he played Abel Drugger in The Alchemist, for Macklin's benefit. The character of the tobacco boy anxious to consult fate in the person of the Alchemist, regarding his future, affords but small scope for acting, but Garrick rendered its humour irresistible. Theophilus Cibber had in playing Drugger displayed absurd grimaces, and resorted to ridiculous antics, which though causing the galleries to laugh made the judicious grieve; but Garrick's performance was from Cibber's a thing apart. "The moment he came upon the stage," Davis says, "he discovered such awkward simplicity, and his looks so happily bespoke the ignorant, selfish, and absurd tobacco merchant, that it was a contest not easily to be decided, whether the bursts of laughter or applause were loudest. Through the whole part he strictly preserved the modesty of nature."

The same author narrates that soon after Garrick's first appearance at Drury Lane he received a mysterious visit from an elderly gentlewoman, who, having given many preliminary hints, acquainted him that a young lady of birth, beauty, and fortune, having seen him personate kings and heroes, and being charmed with his person and grace, had fallen in love with him. Her hand and portion were at her own disposal, and she was willing to bestow them on the man of her heart. Garrick assured the ambassadress he would prove such a husband as the young lady could desire, and begged he might have the honour of waiting on her. Satisfied with her mission, the duenna departed, promising she would call anon, and arrange the happy

[graphic][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small]
« AnkstesnisTęsti »