CHAPTER I

The Four Theatres Royal, Drury Lane, 1663-1903-Their History, Actors, Traditions, and Literature—Also some account of the Theatres in Goodman's Fields.

OLLEY CIBBER, in his famous Apology, tells

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us that Charles II. at the Restoration granted two theatrical patents, one to Thomas Killigrew, Groom of the Chamber, and the other to Sir William Davenant, who had greatly distinguished himself in the Civil War; he thus conferred upon these two courtiers the monopoly of the London stage. The company of the first was called "The King's Servants," of the second, "The Duke of York's Servants." Davenant erected a theatre near Lincoln's Inn Fields, while Killigrew selected the site of a riding-yard in Drury Lane, that stood almost exactly upon the spot occupied by the present building. We must not, however, judge the Drury Lane of that day by its present aspect; it was still an aristocratic quarter of the town, wherein were to be found the residences of the Earls of Craven and Clare, the Marquis of Argyll, the Earl of Anglesey, and other nobles, imposing structures standing in grounds and gardens. Nell Gwynne lived here when she was attached to the theatre. It was not until the close of the century that these mansions, deserted by their noble owners, fell into disreputable hands, when streets and courts and alleys began to cover their pleasaunces; and in the time of

Queen Anne, as we may gather from Swift and Gay, the neighbourhood had become utterly disreputable.

The ground rent of the riding-yard was only £50 a year, and the cost of erecting the theatre £1,500; the dimensions of the building were 112 feet from east to west, and 59 feet from north to south. Although the patent was granted in August, 1660, the house was not ready until April 8th, 1663. But in the meantime Killigrew's company had been performing in a tennis court fitted up as a theatre in Vere Street, Clare Market, where, it is said, that on the 8th of December, 1660, the first English actress appeared in the character of Desdemona. A prologue spoken by the lady is to be found in Malone's History of the Stage. Her name is unknown. The first play acted at the new theatre was Beaumont and Fletcher's The Humourous Lieutenant. The performance was announced to commence at three, and the prices were boxes 4s., pit 2s. 6d., middle gallery 1s. 6d., upper gallery Is.1

In the travels of Balthasar de Monconys, published at Lyons in 1665, the following very interesting glimpse of the Theatre Royal, taken within two months of its opening, that is to say, on May 22nd, 1663, is given.

"L'après dinée nous fumes chez le Milord St. Alban et de là à la comedie dans la loge du Roy. Le théâtre est la plus propre et le plus bien que j'ai jamais vu, tout tapissé par le bas de bayette verte; aussi bien que toutes les loges qui en sont tapissés avec des bandes de cuir doré. Tous les bancs du parterre, où toutes les personnes de condition se mettent aussi, sont ranger en amphitheatre les uns plus hauts que les autres. Les changemens de théâtre, et les machines sont fort ingenieusement inventées et executées.'

1 It was not called the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, until the next century, being usually spoken of as "The Theatre Royal."

M. Monconys, who was governor to the Duc de Chevreux, also visited the Duke's Theatre.

"L'après diné je fus à la comedie du Duc d'York où les changemens de scène me plurent beaucoup, mais non pas la froideur des actions et du parler tant des hommes que des femmes dans les pressans mouvements de colère et de crainte.'

When the Theatre Royal opened, some of the best of Davenant's actors, probably by royal command, came from Lincoln's Inn to join Killigrew. His leading tragedians, Hart and Mohun, were men of high reputation; Hart was Shakespeare's grand-nephew, being the grandson of the poet's sister; contemporaries praised him enthusiastically, and it was said that in all the comedies and tragedies he was concerned in, he performed with that exactness and perfection that not any of his successors equalled him. Mohun, who had earned his title of Major in the civil wars, fighting on the side of the Cavaliers, was esteemed by the King, as a tragic actor, even above Hart; Lacey, a famous Falstaff, the original Bayes in The Rehearsal, mentioned in glowing terms by Pepys, was Charles's favourite actor; a picture representing him in three characters may be seen at Hampton Court. It was at Drury Lane, in 1665, that Nell Gwynne, who was a pupil of Hart's, made her first appearance as an actress in Dryden's Indian Emperor, and it was there, while speaking the epilogue to Dryden's Tyrannic Love (1669), that she first captivated the King. That very night, so the story goes, as soon as the curtain fell, he went behind the scenes and carried her off.

The company also included the two beautiful Marshall sisters, Anne and "Becky"; Mrs. Davenport, the romantic story of whose mock marriage with the Earl

of Oxford is told by De Grammont; Pepys' inamorata, Mrs.' Knipp, and many others famous in their day, but now forgotten. Colley Cibber, in his "Apology," bears witness to the social importance enjoyed by the two companies. "Ten of the King's company," he writes, "were in the royal household establishment, having each ten yards of scarlet cloth, with a proper quantity of lace, allowed them for liveries, and in their warrants from the Lord Chamberlain were styled 'Gentlemen of the Great Chamber.' Whether the like appointments were extended to the Duke's company, I am not certain; but they were both in high estimation with the public, and so much the delight and concern of the Court, that they were not only supported by royalty being frequently present at their public presentations, but by its taking cognisance of their private government, insomuch, that their particular differences, pretensions, or complaints, were generally ended by the King's or Duke's personal command or decision. Besides their being thorough masters of their art, these actors set forward with two critical advantages, which perhaps may never happen again in as many ages. The one was their immediate opening after so long an interdiction of plays during the civil war and the anarchy that had followed it.

What

eager appetites from so long a fast must those guests have had to that high and fresh variety of entertainments which Shakespeare had prepared for them. . . . The other advantage I was speaking of is that before the Restoration no actresses were seen upon the English

1 Actresses were styled "Mrs." in the playbills until late in the eighteenth century, "Miss" being a term of reproach in those days for any but very young girls.

2 Wright (Historia Histrionica) informs us that for several years after the Restoration whole sharers in the King's company got £1,000 per

annum.