Pictorial Shakespeare, 1880-1890 - eTheses Repository - University ...

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These changes in the way in which plays were commercially
exploited reflect a change in the nature of the dramatic events
the text was no longer an independent property, to be sold to
provincial managers to treat ae they wished} nor was it the
possession of one actor, who might play it anywhere with whatever
support and in whatever staging the looal impressario
could provide* It had become part of an ensemble - company,
scenery, business and text - the whole of which must be
presented together.
The degree of influence enjoyed by the author depended upon
the individual circumstances. Gilbert, the best-known example
of an author who "directed" his plays without being an actor
or manager, was able to demand strict adherance to his intentions.
In April 1885 he wrote to John Hare outlining his terms for
the performance of his plays:
The money made by these performances is not the
only matter to be considered* If the pieces are
badly produced - if "gag" is introduced - if any
coarseness or vulgarity should find its way into
the pieces, I should like to be able to feel an
end to the agreement.
Gilbert told William Archer that "the author who cannot be his
•JC
own stage-manager is certainly at a serious disadvantage" .
in this opinion he was voicing the sentiments of a number of
authors - Boucicault, Pinero, Tom Hobertson among them - who
insisted not only on the integrity of their text, but on adher-
3nce to their directions.
/hen Caste was produced, in April 1867, "Under the Superintendence
of the Author", it was hailed by The Illustrated
London News as an indication "that an English school of dramatic
writing is among the possibilities of no very remote future"»
some two or three English authors have already
arrived at theatrical direction or influence,
and manifest a power which the public is willing
to acknowledge. (13 April 1867)
The Times credited Robertson with the integration of literary
and theatrical techniques, and "an eye to picturesque effects".
'.These effects arose "less from the employment of accessories
than from the arrangement of groups that are the natural result
of the action..." (11 April 1867) When the Bancrofts retired
in 1885 The Era claimed that "the whole system of 'putting on» -