Warwickshire Company of Comedians
Encyclopedia
The Warwickshire Company of Comedians, also known as Mr Ward's Company of Comedians and after 1767 as Mr Kemble's Company of Comedians, was a theatre company established by John Ward
in Birmingham
, England
in the 1740s, touring throughout the West Midlands
region and surrounding counties over subsequent decades. Unusual in the 18th century as a provincial company producing performances to London
tastes and standards, it is particularly notable as the origin of the Kemble family
theatrical dynasty, which was to dominate the English stage in the late-18th and early 19th centuries. Sarah Siddons
and John Philip Kemble
in particular, who were Ward's grandchildren and whose careers began in the company, were the leading actress and actor of their time, and are still considered among the greatest performers in English theatrical history.
at Birmingham's Moor Street Theatre
, which opened in 1740 and which Ward is recorded as managing in the early 1740s. Although the precise date of its foundation is unknown, the company was definitely in existence by 1744, when they are recorded as visiting Stratford-upon-Avon
. Their burgeoning reputation was apparent by the time of their next visit in May 1746, when a surviving letter from a local schoolmaster described them as "a Company of Strolling-Players ... much ye best Set I have seen out of London, & in which opinion I am far from being singular". The company returned to Stratford again later that year, when their performance of Othello
on 9 September – raising money to restore the memorial bust of Shakespeare
in Holy Trinity Church – was the earliest recorded performance of a play by Shakespeare in the playwright's home town.
Over the following decades the company toured widely, performing in town halls, barns, schoolhouses and guildhalls throughout the English Midlands
and Wales
. Their reputation was such that they were able to play long seasons at each venue – 23 weeks at Ludlow
in 1758 and seventeen weeks at Brecon
in 1764 – and their repertoire was wide: as well as Shakespeare
it included works by Congreve
, Dryden
, Rowe, Lee
, Steele
and Vanbrugh
, and extended to pantomime
, music
and dance
. Their performances also had a kean sense of spectacle: in Hereford
in 1753 they presented Romeo and Juliet
with the "Grand Funeral Procession and Solemn Dirge set to Music by Signor Pasqualli", and at Gloucester
in 1747 they performed Henry VIII
"with the whole ceremony of the coronation of Queen Anne Bullen and the military ceremony of the Champion (on horse-back) in Westminster Hall. The Robes, Armour, Canopy and Bishops' and Judges' dresses and all the decorations of the play entirely new".
The major turning point in the company's existence took place in 1751 when Richard Yates' company from London's Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
opened the purpose-built King Street Theatre in Birmingham to compete with the smaller venue in Moor Street. Ward's reaction to this invasion of his long-held territory was ill-tempered – the contemporary actor Charles Lee Lewes
records him describing the newcomers as "drawling, face-making puppies" and promising to "work the dogs a penn'orth for daring to cross my circuit" – and Ward responded by advertising in the London newspapers for "capital performers" to join him in Birmingham. This was pivotal moment in theatrical history, as it was this advertisement that brought Roger Kemble
to Birmingham to join the company, and the following June in Cirencester
Kemble married the Wards' daughter Sarah. Of the couple's twelve children each that survived into adulthood went onto the stage, all except one married performers, and all were to start their careers performing with the Warwickshire Company of Comedians: this marked the origin of the Kemble family
, who were to dominate the English stage over the following decades.
Several sources relate the Wards' anger at their daughter's elopement: she was not yet 16 and although a "main prop" of her father's in the "comic province", they felt that "an actor's existence was the last into which they wished her to drift". The Kembles were readmitted into the company, however, with Ward justifying his "sullen forgiveness" in the light of his low opinion of his new son-in-law's talents, telling his daughter "I forbade you to marry an actor. You have not disobeyed me since the man you have married neither is nor ever can be an actor". Although the Kembles left the company and toured independently between 1761 and 1763, the Wards retired to Leominster
in 1766 and Roger Kemble took over its management on 24 May of that year. By the time the company appeared at Worcester
in 1767 they were described as "Mr Kemble's Company of Comedians", with the cast featuring the Kembles' 14-year-old daughter Sarah – the future Sarah Siddons
– their 12-year-old son John Philip Kemble
.
Kemble retired in 1781 and the company's stock and goodwill was split between two of the company's members: John Boles Watson, who formed the "Cheltenham Company of Comedians" and established it as the resident company at his newly-built Cheltenham Playhouse, and Henry Masterman.
Under Ward the company's performances were of a much higher standard than that typical of strolling players
, being more comparable to those of the major London
companies, with whom Ward and several of his company had considerable experience and with whose development they maintained a lively interest. The high regard in which the company was held was recorded by the contemporary actor Charles Lee Lewes
, whose memoirs describe the "Great Ward" and his "very great company at Birmingham: many of them are no less than Londoners". Thomas Holcroft
, who acted with the company in the 1770s, recalled that in Kemble's time too it was "more respectable than many other companies of strolling players".
The principle importance of the company, however, lies in its role in the genesis of the Kemble family
, who were generally thought to have received their beauty and talent from the Wards and whose emergence saw actors with provincial origins for the first time leading rather than following the London stage. Annotations from Ward's surviving prompt book
s show that he was familiar with early texts of Shakespeare's works and was restoring Shakespeare's original text at an earlier date and more comprehensively even than David Garrick
, and also suggest that changes to the staging of Hamlet
introduced to London as innovations by John Phillip Kemble had been practiced by Ward's company as early as 1740. While tradition has it that Sarah Siddons "learnt her trade" between her initial unsuccessful appearance at Drury Lane
in 1775 and her triumphant return in 1782, it is equally possible that it was popular taste in London that had caught up in the meantime with her style, which was more suited to the emerging romanticism
than the existing fashionable neoclassicism
.
John Ward (actor)
John Ward was an English actor and theatre manager. The founder of the Warwickshire Company of Comedians – a Birmingham-based theatre company who toured throughout the West Midlands and into Wales during the mid to late eighteenth century – he was the first of the Kemble family theatrical dynasty,...
in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in the 1740s, touring throughout the West Midlands
West Midlands (region)
The West Midlands is an official region of England, covering the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It contains the second most populous British city, Birmingham, and the larger West Midlands conurbation, which includes the city of Wolverhampton and large towns of Dudley,...
region and surrounding counties over subsequent decades. Unusual in the 18th century as a provincial company producing performances to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
tastes and standards, it is particularly notable as the origin of the Kemble family
Kemble family
Kemble is the name of a family of English actors, all distinguished actors and actresses who reigned over the British stage for decades. The most famous were Sarah Siddons and her brother John Philip Kemble , the two eldest of the twelve children of Roger Kemble , a strolling player and manager of...
theatrical dynasty, which was to dominate the English stage in the late-18th and early 19th centuries. Sarah Siddons
Sarah Siddons
Sarah Siddons was a Welsh actress, the best-known tragedienne of the 18th century. She was the elder sister of John Philip Kemble, Charles Kemble, Stephen Kemble, Ann Hatton and Elizabeth Whitlock, and the aunt of Fanny Kemble. She was most famous for her portrayal of the Shakespearean character,...
and John Philip Kemble
John Philip Kemble
John Philip Kemble was an English actor. He was born into a theatrical family as the eldest son of Roger Kemble, actor-manager of a touring troupe. His elder sister Sarah Siddons achieved fame with him on the stage of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane...
in particular, who were Ward's grandchildren and whose careers began in the company, were the leading actress and actor of their time, and are still considered among the greatest performers in English theatrical history.
History
The Warwickshire Company of Comedians was founded by John WardJohn Ward (actor)
John Ward was an English actor and theatre manager. The founder of the Warwickshire Company of Comedians – a Birmingham-based theatre company who toured throughout the West Midlands and into Wales during the mid to late eighteenth century – he was the first of the Kemble family theatrical dynasty,...
at Birmingham's Moor Street Theatre
Moor Street Theatre
The Moor Street Theatre was the first regular theatre – as distinct from earlier booths and converted barns for strolling players – to be established in Birmingham, England...
, which opened in 1740 and which Ward is recorded as managing in the early 1740s. Although the precise date of its foundation is unknown, the company was definitely in existence by 1744, when they are recorded as visiting Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of Warwick. It is the largest and most populous town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers...
. Their burgeoning reputation was apparent by the time of their next visit in May 1746, when a surviving letter from a local schoolmaster described them as "a Company of Strolling-Players ... much ye best Set I have seen out of London, & in which opinion I am far from being singular". The company returned to Stratford again later that year, when their performance of Othello
Othello
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
on 9 September – raising money to restore the memorial bust of Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
in Holy Trinity Church – was the earliest recorded performance of a play by Shakespeare in the playwright's home town.
Over the following decades the company toured widely, performing in town halls, barns, schoolhouses and guildhalls throughout the English Midlands
English Midlands
The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...
and Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. Their reputation was such that they were able to play long seasons at each venue – 23 weeks at Ludlow
Ludlow
Ludlow is a market town in Shropshire, England close to the Welsh border and in the Welsh Marches. It lies within a bend of the River Teme, on its eastern bank, forming an area of and centred on a small hill. Atop this hill is the site of Ludlow Castle and the market place...
in 1758 and seventeen weeks at Brecon
Brecon
Brecon is a long-established market town and community in southern Powys, Mid Wales, with a population of 7,901. It was the county town of the historic county of Brecknockshire; although its role as such was eclipsed with the formation of Powys, it remains an important local centre...
in 1764 – and their repertoire was wide: as well as Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
it included works by Congreve
William Congreve
William Congreve was an English playwright and poet.-Early life:Congreve was born in Bardsey, West Yorkshire, England . His parents were William Congreve and his wife, Mary ; a sister was buried in London in 1672...
, Dryden
John Dryden
John Dryden was an influential English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who dominated the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden.Walter Scott called him "Glorious John." He was made Poet...
, Rowe, Lee
Nathaniel Lee
Nathaniel Lee was an English dramatist.He was the son of Dr Richard Lee, a Presbyterian clergyman who was rector of Hatfield and held many preferments under the Commonwealth...
, Steele
Richard Steele
Sir Richard Steele was an Irish writer and politician, remembered as co-founder, with his friend Joseph Addison, of the magazine The Spectator....
and Vanbrugh
John Vanbrugh
Sir John Vanbrugh – 26 March 1726) was an English architect and dramatist, perhaps best known as the designer of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. He wrote two argumentative and outspoken Restoration comedies, The Relapse and The Provoked Wife , which have become enduring stage favourites...
, and extended to pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
, music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
and dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
. Their performances also had a kean sense of spectacle: in Hereford
Hereford
Hereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, southwest of Worcester, and northwest of Gloucester...
in 1753 they presented Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
with the "Grand Funeral Procession and Solemn Dirge set to Music by Signor Pasqualli", and at Gloucester
Gloucester
Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....
in 1747 they performed Henry VIII
Henry VIII (play)
The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight is a history play by William Shakespeare and John Fletcher, based on the life of Henry VIII of England. An alternative title, All is True, is recorded in contemporary documents, the title Henry VIII not appearing until the play's publication...
"with the whole ceremony of the coronation of Queen Anne Bullen and the military ceremony of the Champion (on horse-back) in Westminster Hall. The Robes, Armour, Canopy and Bishops' and Judges' dresses and all the decorations of the play entirely new".
The major turning point in the company's existence took place in 1751 when Richard Yates' company from London's Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
opened the purpose-built King Street Theatre in Birmingham to compete with the smaller venue in Moor Street. Ward's reaction to this invasion of his long-held territory was ill-tempered – the contemporary actor Charles Lee Lewes
Charles Lee Lewes
-Biography:He was born the son of a hosier in London. After attending a school at Ambleside he returned to London, where he found employment as a postman. In about 1760 he went on the stage in the provinces, and some three years later began to appear in minor parts at Covent Garden Theatre...
records him describing the newcomers as "drawling, face-making puppies" and promising to "work the dogs a penn'orth for daring to cross my circuit" – and Ward responded by advertising in the London newspapers for "capital performers" to join him in Birmingham. This was pivotal moment in theatrical history, as it was this advertisement that brought Roger Kemble
Roger Kemble
Roger Kemble was an English theatre manager, strolling player and actor. In 1753, he married actress Sarah "Sally" Ward at Cirencester, Gloucester, and they had twelve children, who formed the great Kemble family of 19th-century actors and actresses.Roger Kemble was born in Hereford...
to Birmingham to join the company, and the following June in Cirencester
Cirencester
Cirencester is a market town in east Gloucestershire, England, 93 miles west northwest of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswold District. It is the home of the Royal Agricultural College, the oldest agricultural...
Kemble married the Wards' daughter Sarah. Of the couple's twelve children each that survived into adulthood went onto the stage, all except one married performers, and all were to start their careers performing with the Warwickshire Company of Comedians: this marked the origin of the Kemble family
Kemble family
Kemble is the name of a family of English actors, all distinguished actors and actresses who reigned over the British stage for decades. The most famous were Sarah Siddons and her brother John Philip Kemble , the two eldest of the twelve children of Roger Kemble , a strolling player and manager of...
, who were to dominate the English stage over the following decades.
Several sources relate the Wards' anger at their daughter's elopement: she was not yet 16 and although a "main prop" of her father's in the "comic province", they felt that "an actor's existence was the last into which they wished her to drift". The Kembles were readmitted into the company, however, with Ward justifying his "sullen forgiveness" in the light of his low opinion of his new son-in-law's talents, telling his daughter "I forbade you to marry an actor. You have not disobeyed me since the man you have married neither is nor ever can be an actor". Although the Kembles left the company and toured independently between 1761 and 1763, the Wards retired to Leominster
Leominster
Leominster is a market town in Herefordshire, England, located approximately north of the city of Hereford and south of Ludlow, at...
in 1766 and Roger Kemble took over its management on 24 May of that year. By the time the company appeared at Worcester
Worcester
The City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...
in 1767 they were described as "Mr Kemble's Company of Comedians", with the cast featuring the Kembles' 14-year-old daughter Sarah – the future Sarah Siddons
Sarah Siddons
Sarah Siddons was a Welsh actress, the best-known tragedienne of the 18th century. She was the elder sister of John Philip Kemble, Charles Kemble, Stephen Kemble, Ann Hatton and Elizabeth Whitlock, and the aunt of Fanny Kemble. She was most famous for her portrayal of the Shakespearean character,...
– their 12-year-old son John Philip Kemble
John Philip Kemble
John Philip Kemble was an English actor. He was born into a theatrical family as the eldest son of Roger Kemble, actor-manager of a touring troupe. His elder sister Sarah Siddons achieved fame with him on the stage of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane...
.
Kemble retired in 1781 and the company's stock and goodwill was split between two of the company's members: John Boles Watson, who formed the "Cheltenham Company of Comedians" and established it as the resident company at his newly-built Cheltenham Playhouse, and Henry Masterman.
Reputation and legacy
The growth of the reputation of the Warwickshire Company of Comedians marked the birth of Birmingham's theatrical tradition, which was well established by 1750, and further extended this influence to the surrounding counties – they "made the temporary theatre in barn, hall or inn the centre of polite provincial life and brought London tastes and diversions to the country towns".Under Ward the company's performances were of a much higher standard than that typical of strolling players
Strolling players
Strolling players were travelling theatre groups in Tudor period in England, who toured the country delievering theatrical performances. One of the most popular plays performed by these strolling players was Robin Hood....
, being more comparable to those of the major London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
companies, with whom Ward and several of his company had considerable experience and with whose development they maintained a lively interest. The high regard in which the company was held was recorded by the contemporary actor Charles Lee Lewes
Charles Lee Lewes
-Biography:He was born the son of a hosier in London. After attending a school at Ambleside he returned to London, where he found employment as a postman. In about 1760 he went on the stage in the provinces, and some three years later began to appear in minor parts at Covent Garden Theatre...
, whose memoirs describe the "Great Ward" and his "very great company at Birmingham: many of them are no less than Londoners". Thomas Holcroft
Thomas Holcroft
Thomas Holcroft was an English dramatist and miscellaneous writer.-Early life:He was born in Orange Court, Leicester Fields, London. His father had a shoemaker's shop, and kept riding horses for hire; but having fallen into difficulties was reduced to the status of hawking peddler...
, who acted with the company in the 1770s, recalled that in Kemble's time too it was "more respectable than many other companies of strolling players".
The principle importance of the company, however, lies in its role in the genesis of the Kemble family
Kemble family
Kemble is the name of a family of English actors, all distinguished actors and actresses who reigned over the British stage for decades. The most famous were Sarah Siddons and her brother John Philip Kemble , the two eldest of the twelve children of Roger Kemble , a strolling player and manager of...
, who were generally thought to have received their beauty and talent from the Wards and whose emergence saw actors with provincial origins for the first time leading rather than following the London stage. Annotations from Ward's surviving prompt book
Prompt book
The prompt book, also called promptbook, transcript, the bible or sometimes simply "the book," is the copy of a production script that contains the information necessary to create the production from the ground up...
s show that he was familiar with early texts of Shakespeare's works and was restoring Shakespeare's original text at an earlier date and more comprehensively even than David Garrick
David Garrick
David Garrick was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of theatrical practice throughout the 18th century and was a pupil and friend of Dr Samuel Johnson...
, and also suggest that changes to the staging of Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
introduced to London as innovations by John Phillip Kemble had been practiced by Ward's company as early as 1740. While tradition has it that Sarah Siddons "learnt her trade" between her initial unsuccessful appearance at Drury Lane
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
in 1775 and her triumphant return in 1782, it is equally possible that it was popular taste in London that had caught up in the meantime with her style, which was more suited to the emerging romanticism
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
than the existing fashionable neoclassicism
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...
.