Henry Irving 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’.
Click on the ‘discover more’ button underneath the images of Ellen Terry.
Introduction
The Old Price Riots
