British Theatre in the Great War: A Revaluation

368 Pages·2003·20.718 MB·English

by  Gordon Williams

British Theatre in
the Great War:
A Revaluation
Gordon Williams
continuum
British Theatre in
the Great War
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British Theatre in
the Great War
A Revaluation
Gordon Williams
continuum
LONDON • NEW YORK
Continuum
The Tower Building, 11 York Road, London, SE1 7NX
15 East 26th Street, New York, NY 10010
First published 2003
© Gordon Williams 2003
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 0-8264-5635-9 (hardback)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Williams, Gordon, 1935-
British theatre in the Great War: a revaluation / Gordon Williams.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8264-5635-9
1. Theater—Great Britain—History—20th century. 2. Performing arts—Great
Britain—History—20th century. 3. World War, 1914-1918—Theater and the war.
I. Title.
PN2595.W515 2003
792'.0941'09041—dc21
2003055330
Typeset by BookEns Ltd, Royston, Herts.
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Contents
Prefatory note vii
1 Introduction 1
2 Musical comedy and musical anarchy 18
3 Pantomime and tradition 72
4 Variety on the halls 92
5 War and the legitimate theatre 147
6 A classic theatre? 215
7 Fashionable audiences and the opera 269
8 Conclusion 337
Select Bibliography 340
Index 343
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Prefatory note
Names have been rendered throughout as they existed at the start of the war.
Thus Hermann, rather than Herman, Klein; Edward Knoblauch, rather than
Knoblock (except in the Select Bibliography); and the hyphenating of Martin
Harvey, which coincided with his post-war knighthood, is ignored.
Journal articles in Era, Stage, and the like, when signed, are cited with just
the surnames of the following writers: E. A. Baughan, Henry Belcham, Sydney
W. Carroll, Herbert Farjeon, West F. deWend Fenton, James Glover, Arnold
Golsworthy ('Jingle'), J. T. Grein, John Francis Hope, Mabel Koopman, Samuel
Langford, S. R. Littlewood ('Agravaine'), H. Bernard Marks ('Tristram'), H. W.
Massingham, H. Chance Newton ('Carados'), Fred Russell, Walter Terry
('Pilgrim').
London is omitted from details of books published there, and where theatre
names have no place appended they are in central London. The abbreviations
'p.p.' and 'n.d.' are used in bibliographical sources that are privately published
and have no date, respectively, whilst references with dates in square brackets
mean that they were originally undated but the dates have been verified.
'Met' and 'Rep' are used for the Metropolitan Opera and repertory theatres
habitually referred to in that shorthand form; BNOC, WNOC (respectively
British and Welsh National Opera Company); DORA (Defence of the Realm
Act). Some abbreviations are obvious: WW2 (World War Two); MP (Member
of Parliament). Others are military commonplaces: Lt (Lieutenant), DCM
(Distinguished Conduct Medal), DSO (Distinguished Service Order), MC, VC
(Military/Victoria Cross), RAMC (Royal Army Medical Corps), RFC (Royal
Flying Corps), VAD (Voluntary Aid Detachment personnel), POW (prisoner of
war). There are professional organizations and publications: AMU (Amalga-
mated Musicians' Union), NOA (National Orchestras' Association), VAF
(Variety Artistes' Federation); SYB ('Stage' Year Book).
The reference LC, followed by numbers, alludes to playscripts submitted to
the Lord Chamberlain, and now housed in the British Library Department of
viii Prefatory note
Manuscripts. Although an extensive sampling has been taken of these scripts,
my interest in them is primarily for what they reveal of theatrical conditions
and practice. Quite as revealing of these things are contemporary reviews,
which have been drawn upon heavily. The critics' response, of course, is not
identical with public response, and an interventionist role is frequently
adopted. The critic's position between theatrical product and its public is as
much dialectical as mediatory.
In memory of 67514
Dm G. W., RFA,
who had little enough time for theatre-going in 1914—18