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 the 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 Cambell. 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.
Introduction
The Old Price Riots
