Wilson Barrett
Encyclopedia
Wilson Barrett was an English
manager
, actor
, and playwright
.
With his company, Barrett is credited with attracting the largest crowds of English
theatregoers ever because of his success with melodrama
, an instance being his production of The Silver King
(1882) at the Princess's Theatre
of London
.
The historical tragedy
The Sign of the Cross
(1895) was Barrett's most successful play, both in England and in the United States
.
Barrett is remembered as an actor of handsome appearance (despite his small stature) and with a powerful voice. He made his first appearance on the stage at Halifax
in 1864, and then played in the provinces alone and with his wife, Caroline Heath, in East Lynne
. They married in 1866, having two sons, Frank and Alfred, and three daughters, Ellen, Katherine and Dorothea (Dollie).
Barrett capitalized on his early success as an actor to start a career as a producer.
After managerial experience at the Grand Theatre Leeds
and elsewhere, in 1879 he took over the management of the Old Court theatre, where in the following year he introduced Madame Helena Modjeska
to London in an adaptation of Maria Stuart (by Schiller
), together with productions of Adrienne Lecouvreur, La Dame aux camélias and other plays.
In 1881 Wilson Barrett took over the recently refurbished Princess's Theatre
, where his melodramatic productions enjoyed great success (if not quite as much as before), with attendance being the highest ever for this theatre. There Barrett presented The Lights o' London
, and then The Silver King
, regarded as the most successful melodrama
of the 19th century in England. It debuted on 16 November 1882, with Barrett as Wilfred Denver. He played this part for three hundred nights without a break, and repeated its success in W. G. Wills's Claudian.
In 1885 he and Henry Arthur Jones
produced Hoodman Blind
and in 1886 co-operated with Clement Scott
in Sister Mary
. In 1886 Barrett left the Princess's Theatre, and in this same year he made a visit to America, repeated in later years.
In 1884 Barrett had appeared in Hamlet
, only to promptly return to melodrama. He was not to find much success in any Shakespearian
role, except in the role of Mercutio
in Romeo and Juliet
.
Though Barrett had occasional seasons in London he acted chiefly in the provinces, with his company being one of the most successful of the decade, receiving a £
2,000 average yearly profit just from the Grand Theatre Leeds
. His brother and his nephew were part of the company, and his grandson would join them eventually.
His productions were not immune to accident. His melodrama Romany Rye was scheduled to open at the Theatre Royal, Exeter
on 5 September 1887. In the middle of the performance, gas lighting ignited some gauze
, fire broke out backstage, and then the curtain collapsed.
According to Jacob Adler
, Wilson Barrett was the most famous actor on the London
stage of the 1880s.
, the London stage was already coming under new influences, and Wilson Barrett's vogue in melodrama had waned, leaving him in financial difficulties. From 1894 he toured the United States
, including the American
and Knickerbocker
theatres of Broadway
.
Still there in 1895, Barrett found fortune again with a production which would effectively become his most successful, the historical tragedy
The Sign of the Cross
. Barrett incarnated Marcus Superbus, an old Roman
patrician of the years of Nero
, who falls in love with a young woman and converts to Christianity for her, both sacrificing their lives in the arena
to the lion
s. The plot in some ways strongly resembles the contemporary novel Quo Vadis
, and it may have been an unofficial adaptation of it, though Barrett never acknowledged this.
Then Barrett brought the play to England, starting at Leeds
also in 1895, before going to the Lyric Theatre
of London with equal success.
The theatre was crowded with audiences largely composed of people outside the ordinary circle of playgoers, shepherded by enthusiastic local clergymen. Barrett tried to repeat this success with more plays of a religious type, though not with equal effect, and several of his later attempts were failures.
In 1898 Barrett visited Australia
.
and for a time in Aberdeen. It also performed on television, at the Edinburgh International Festival and, by invitation, in South Africa.The company was retired in 1954.
produced and directed a highly successful film version of The Sign of the Cross
, starring Fredric March
as centurion
Marcus Superbus, Claudette Colbert
as Poppea, Charles Laughton
as Nero
, and Elissa Landi
as Mercia, the Christian woman with whom Marcus falls in love.
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...
manager
Actor-manager
An actor-manager is a leading actor who sets up their own permanent theatrical company and manages the company's business and financial arrangements, sometimes taking over the management of a theatre, to perform plays of their own choice and in which they will usually star...
, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, and playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
.
With his company, Barrett is credited with attracting the largest crowds of English
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...
theatregoers ever because of his success with melodrama
Melodrama
The term melodrama refers to a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. It may also refer to the genre which includes such works, or to language, behavior, or events which resemble them...
, an instance being his production of The Silver King
The Silver King (play)
The Silver King is an 1882 melodramatic play, by Henry Arthur Jones and Henry Herman....
(1882) at the Princess's Theatre
Princess's Theatre, London
The Princess's Theatre or Princess Theatre was a theatre in Oxford Street, London. The building opened in 1828 as the "Queen's Bazaar" and housed a diorama by Clarkson Stanfield and David Roberts. It was converted into a theatre and opened in 1836 as the Princess's Theatre, named for then Princess...
of 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...
.
The historical tragedy
Tragedy
Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of...
The Sign of the Cross
The Sign of the Cross (play)
The Sign of the Cross is a late-1895 four-act historical tragedy, by Wilson Barrett. It is generally conceded that the plot resembles the novel Quo Vadis of those same years, as an unofficial adaptation of it, yet Barrett never acknowledged this...
(1895) was Barrett's most successful play, both in England and in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
1880s
Wilson Barrett was born into a farming family as William Henry Barrett, in Essex.Barrett is remembered as an actor of handsome appearance (despite his small stature) and with a powerful voice. He made his first appearance on the stage at Halifax
Halifax, West Yorkshire
Halifax is a minster town, within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. It has an urban area population of 82,056 in the 2001 Census. It is well-known as a centre of England's woollen manufacture from the 15th century onward, originally dealing through the Halifax Piece...
in 1864, and then played in the provinces alone and with his wife, Caroline Heath, in East Lynne
East Lynne
East Lynne is an English sensation novel of 1861 by Ellen Wood. East Lynne was a Victorian bestseller. It is remembered chiefly for its elaborate and implausible plot, centering on infidelity and double identities...
. They married in 1866, having two sons, Frank and Alfred, and three daughters, Ellen, Katherine and Dorothea (Dollie).
Barrett capitalized on his early success as an actor to start a career as a producer.
After managerial experience at the Grand Theatre Leeds
Grand Theatre Leeds
The Grand Theatre is a theatre and Opera house in the centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was designed by James Robinson Watson, chief assistant in the office of Leeds-based architect George Corson, and opened on 18 November 1878...
and elsewhere, in 1879 he took over the management of the Old Court theatre, where in the following year he introduced Madame Helena Modjeska
Helena Modjeska
Helena Modjeska Helena Modjeska Helena Modjeska (October 12, 1840 – April 8, 1909, whose actual Polish surname was Modrzejewska , was a renowned actress who specialized in Shakespearean and tragic roles.Modjeska was the mother of Polish-American bridge engineer Ralph Modjeski....
to London in an adaptation of Maria Stuart (by Schiller
Friedrich Schiller
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and playwright. During the last seventeen years of his life , Schiller struck up a productive, if complicated, friendship with already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe...
), together with productions of Adrienne Lecouvreur, La Dame aux camélias and other plays.
In 1881 Wilson Barrett took over the recently refurbished Princess's Theatre
Princess's Theatre, London
The Princess's Theatre or Princess Theatre was a theatre in Oxford Street, London. The building opened in 1828 as the "Queen's Bazaar" and housed a diorama by Clarkson Stanfield and David Roberts. It was converted into a theatre and opened in 1836 as the Princess's Theatre, named for then Princess...
, where his melodramatic productions enjoyed great success (if not quite as much as before), with attendance being the highest ever for this theatre. There Barrett presented The Lights o' London
The Lights o' London
The Lights o' London is a melodramatic play, by George R. Sims, first produced in London on 10 September 1881 at the Princess's Theatre, produced by and starring Wilson Barrett. The play was a hit, running for 226 nights, and was frequently revived thereafter...
, and then The Silver King
The Silver King (play)
The Silver King is an 1882 melodramatic play, by Henry Arthur Jones and Henry Herman....
, regarded as the most successful melodrama
Melodrama
The term melodrama refers to a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. It may also refer to the genre which includes such works, or to language, behavior, or events which resemble them...
of the 19th century in England. It debuted on 16 November 1882, with Barrett as Wilfred Denver. He played this part for three hundred nights without a break, and repeated its success in W. G. Wills's Claudian.
In 1885 he and Henry Arthur Jones
Henry Arthur Jones
Henry Arthur Jones was an English dramatist.-Biography:Jones was born at Granborough, Buckinghamshire to Silvanus Jones, a farmer. He began to earn his living early, his spare time being given to literary pursuits...
produced Hoodman Blind
Hoodman Blind (play)
Hoodman Blind is a melodrama of 1885, by Wilson Barrett and Henry Arthur Jones.-Plot:A confused man blames some misdeeds on his wife, although her alike sister has committed such transgressions....
and in 1886 co-operated with Clement Scott
Clement Scott
Clement Scott was an influential English theatre critic for the Daily Telegraph, and a playwright and travel writer, in the final decades of the 19th century...
in Sister Mary
Sister Mary
Sister Mary is a 2011 American comedy musical film directed and written by Scott Grenke. It stars Ant, James Vallo, Bruce Vilanch, Judy Tenuta, Sean Paul Lockhart and Shawn Quinlan.-Cast:* Ant as Agent Peccant* James Vallo as Mark Rima...
. In 1886 Barrett left the Princess's Theatre, and in this same year he made a visit to America, repeated in later years.
In 1884 Barrett had appeared in 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...
, only to promptly return to melodrama. He was not to find much success in any Shakespearian
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"...
role, except in the role of Mercutio
Mercutio
Mercutio a fictional character in William Shakespeare's 1597 tragedy, Romeo and Juliet. He is a close friend of Romeo, and Romeo's cousin Benvolio, and also a blood relative to Prince Escalus and Count Paris. As such, being neither a Montague nor a Capulet, Mercutio is one of the few in Verona...
in 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...
.
Though Barrett had occasional seasons in London he acted chiefly in the provinces, with his company being one of the most successful of the decade, receiving a £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
2,000 average yearly profit just from the Grand Theatre Leeds
Grand Theatre Leeds
The Grand Theatre is a theatre and Opera house in the centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was designed by James Robinson Watson, chief assistant in the office of Leeds-based architect George Corson, and opened on 18 November 1878...
. His brother and his nephew were part of the company, and his grandson would join them eventually.
His productions were not immune to accident. His melodrama Romany Rye was scheduled to open at the Theatre Royal, Exeter
Theatre Royal, Exeter
The Theatre Royal, Exeter was the name of several theatres situated in the city centre of Exeter, Devon, England in the United Kingdom.-Early theatres and fires:...
on 5 September 1887. In the middle of the performance, gas lighting ignited some gauze
Gauze
Gauze is a thin, translucent fabric with a loose open weave.-Uses and types:Gauze was originally made of silk and was used for clothing. It is now used for many different things, including gauze sponges for medical purposes. When used as a medical dressing, gauze is generally made of cotton...
, fire broke out backstage, and then the curtain collapsed.
According to Jacob Adler
Jacob Pavlovich Adler
Jacob Pavlovich Adler , born Yankev P. Adler, was a Jewish actor and star of Yiddish theater, first in Odessa, and later in London and New York City....
, Wilson Barrett was the most famous actor on the 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...
stage of the 1880s.
1890s: The Sign of the Cross
By the 1890s1890s
The 1890s were sometimes referred to as the "Mauve Decade" - because William Henry Perkin's aniline dye allowed the widespread use of that colour in fashion - and also as the "Gay Nineties", under the then-current usage of the word "gay" which referred simply to merriment and frivolity, with no...
, the London stage was already coming under new influences, and Wilson Barrett's vogue in melodrama had waned, leaving him in financial difficulties. From 1894 he toured the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, including the American
American Music Hall
The American Music Hall, also known as the American Theater until 1908, was a Broadway venue, on the 42nd street. It was designed by the architect Charles C. Haight, and had a capacity of 2065....
and Knickerbocker
Knickerbocker Theatre (Broadway)
The Knickerbocker Theatre — previously known as Abbey's Theatre and Henry Abbey's Theatre — was a Broadway theatre located at 1396 Broadway in New York City. It operated from 1893 to 1930...
theatres of Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
.
Still there in 1895, Barrett found fortune again with a production which would effectively become his most successful, the historical tragedy
Tragedy
Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of...
The Sign of the Cross
The Sign of the Cross (play)
The Sign of the Cross is a late-1895 four-act historical tragedy, by Wilson Barrett. It is generally conceded that the plot resembles the novel Quo Vadis of those same years, as an unofficial adaptation of it, yet Barrett never acknowledged this...
. Barrett incarnated Marcus Superbus, an old Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
patrician of the years of Nero
Nero
Nero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....
, who falls in love with a young woman and converts to Christianity for her, both sacrificing their lives in the arena
Amphitheatre
An amphitheatre is an open-air venue used for entertainment and performances.There are two similar, but distinct, types of structure for which the word "amphitheatre" is used: Ancient Roman amphitheatres were large central performance spaces surrounded by ascending seating, and were commonly used...
to the lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
s. The plot in some ways strongly resembles the contemporary novel Quo Vadis
Quo Vadis (novel)
Quo Vadis: A Narrative of the Time of Nero, commonly known as Quo Vadis, is a historical novel written by Henryk Sienkiewicz in Polish. Quo vadis is Latin for "Where are you going?" and alludes to the apocryphal Acts of Peter, in which Peter flees Rome but on his way meets Jesus and asks him why he...
, and it may have been an unofficial adaptation of it, though Barrett never acknowledged this.
Then Barrett brought the play to England, starting at Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
also in 1895, before going to the Lyric Theatre
Lyric Theatre (London)
The Lyric Theatre is a West End theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster.Designed by architect C. J. Phipps, it was built by producer Henry Leslie with profits from the Alfred Cellier and B. C. Stephenson hit, Dorothy, which he transferred from the Prince of Wales Theatre to open...
of London with equal success.
The theatre was crowded with audiences largely composed of people outside the ordinary circle of playgoers, shepherded by enthusiastic local clergymen. Barrett tried to repeat this success with more plays of a religious type, though not with equal effect, and several of his later attempts were failures.
In 1898 Barrett visited Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Death
Wilson Barrett died at London, on 22 September 1904. Thanks largely to the success of the Sign of the Cross, he left £57,000, even after periods of relative failure, mainly during his later years managing the Old Court Theatre. His grandson, also named Wilson Barrett, became an actor director with the Brandon-Thomas Company before starting his own repertory in 1939, the Wilson Barrett Company, which based itself in Edinburgh`s Lyceum, Glasgow at the Alhambra Theatre GlasgowAlhambra Theatre Glasgow
The Alhambra Theatre Glasgow opened on 19 December 1910 at the corner of Waterloo Street and Wellington Street, Glasgow under the direction of Sir Alfred Butt and was acknowledged as one of the best equipped theatres in Britain, planned to accommodate 2,800 people.The Theatre was designed by...
and for a time in Aberdeen. It also performed on television, at the Edinburgh International Festival and, by invitation, in South Africa.The company was retired in 1954.
Theatre Management
- Grand Theatre LeedsGrand Theatre LeedsThe Grand Theatre is a theatre and Opera house in the centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was designed by James Robinson Watson, chief assistant in the office of Leeds-based architect George Corson, and opened on 18 November 1878...
- Old Court theatre, 1879
- Princess's TheatrePrincess's Theatre, LondonThe Princess's Theatre or Princess Theatre was a theatre in Oxford Street, London. The building opened in 1828 as the "Queen's Bazaar" and housed a diorama by Clarkson Stanfield and David Roberts. It was converted into a theatre and opened in 1836 as the Princess's Theatre, named for then Princess...
, 1881–1886 - Olympic TheatreOlympic TheatreThe Olympic Theatre, sometimes known as the Royal Olympic Theatre, was a 19th-century London theatre, opened in 1806 and located at the junction of Drury Lane, Wych Street, and Newcastle Street. The theatre specialised in comedies throughout much of its existence...
(London), 1890-1891.
Playwright
- Sister MarySister MarySister Mary is a 2011 American comedy musical film directed and written by Scott Grenke. It stars Ant, James Vallo, Bruce Vilanch, Judy Tenuta, Sean Paul Lockhart and Shawn Quinlan.-Cast:* Ant as Agent Peccant* James Vallo as Mark Rima...
(1880s) - Hoodman BlindHoodman BlindHoodman Blind is a 1923 drama film directed by John Ford. The film is considered to be lost. It is a remake of a 1913 film of the same name directed by James Gordon.-Cast:* David Butler - Jack Yeulette* Gladys Hulette - Nancy Yeulette / Jessie Walton...
(1885), with Henry Arthur JonesHenry Arthur JonesHenry Arthur Jones was an English dramatist.-Biography:Jones was born at Granborough, Buckinghamshire to Silvanus Jones, a farmer. He began to earn his living early, his spare time being given to literary pursuits... - Ben-My-ChreeBen-my-Chree-Ships:Six ships of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company:**HMS Ben-my-Chree, seaplane carrier converted from Ben-my-Chree, sunk in 1917*TSS Ben-my-Chree *TSS Ben-my-Chree — launched 1998...
, with Sir Hall Caine - Clito, with Sydney GrundySydney GrundySydney Grundy was an English dramatist. Most of his works were adaptations of European plays, and many became successful enough to tour throughout the English-speaking world...
- The Manxman
- Romany Rye
- The Sign of the CrossThe Sign of the Cross (play)The Sign of the Cross is a late-1895 four-act historical tragedy, by Wilson Barrett. It is generally conceded that the plot resembles the novel Quo Vadis of those same years, as an unofficial adaptation of it, yet Barrett never acknowledged this...
(1895) - Lucky Durham
Later adaptations
In 1932, Cecil B. DeMilleCecil B. DeMille
Cecil Blount DeMille was an American film director and Academy Award-winning film producer in both silent and sound films. He was renowned for the flamboyance and showmanship of his movies...
produced and directed a highly successful film version of The Sign of the Cross
The Sign of the Cross (film)
The Sign of the Cross is a pre-Code epic film released by Paramount Pictures, produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille from a screenplay by Waldemar Young and Sidney Buchman, and based on the original 1895 play by Wilson Barrett....
, starring Fredric March
Fredric March
Fredric March was an American stage and film actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1932 for Dr. Jekyll and Mr...
as centurion
Centurion
A centurion was a professional officer of the Roman army .Centurion may also refer to:-Military:* Centurion tank, British battle tank* HMS Centurion, name of several ships and a shore base of the British Royal Navy...
Marcus Superbus, Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert was a French-born American-based actress of stage and film.Born in Paris, France and raised in New York City, Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the 1920s, progressing to film with the advent of talking pictures...
as Poppea, Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton was an English-American stage and film actor, screenwriter, producer and director.-Early life and career:...
as Nero
Nero
Nero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....
, and Elissa Landi
Elissa Landi
Elissa Landi was an Italian born actress who was popular in Hollywood films of the 1920s and 1930s. Rumoured to be a descendant of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, she was noted for her aristocratic bearing....
as Mercia, the Christian woman with whom Marcus falls in love.
Acting
- The Silver King (1882)
- Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello
- The Sign of the Cross (1895)
External links
- Biography, at Encyclopedia.com
- Picture collection, at the National Portrait Gallery