A Just View of the British Stage
Encyclopedia
A Just View of the British Stage or Three Heads are Better than One is a 1724 engraving by English artist William Hogarth
. It is a satirical view of the management of British plays and mocks the subjects as degenerate. It forms part of an attack on the tastes of the theatre which Hogarth mounted in earnest between 1723 with Masquerades and Operas and 1727 with Masquerade Ticket (and which would continue to some extent in later works including Charmers of the Age in 1740-41).
— by the three impresarios of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
: Colley Cibber
, the actor Barton Booth
, and Robert Wilks
, in November 1724, spurred Hogarth into immediate action. The play was so poor that it closed after only seven performances, but for Hogarth it was evidence that while they claimed to be for high art, the Drury Lane producers were actually trying to out-compete John Rich
at Lincoln's Inn Fields. Rich was at the forefront of the resurgence of the pantomime in England and his productions aimed at spectacle rather than art.
Print
The picture was issued at sixpence, announced as Just Published in the Daily Post on December 10, 1724. Hogarth advertised it as:
An early work by Hogarth it shows some of the popular print conventions he would later drop, such as speech banners and labelling of the principal characters, and has parallels to the anonymous British Stage published the same year.
In the print, Hogarth takes the production of popularist plays to an extreme by suggesting that the three impresarios are planning a spectacle which combines Dr Faustus
with Harlequin Sheppard. To make it more ridiculous Hogarth adds "comical humours" from Ben Johnson's Ghost
and the exploits of "Scaramouch" Jack Hall, who here is depicted as escaping Newgate
by lowering himself down the privy. Whether Jack Hall actually escaped this way is unknown; there are few surviving records of Hall aside from the sensationalist Memoirs of the Right Villainous John Hall, and the account of Hall in The Newgate Calendar
does not mention any escape. It is possible that Hogarth adds this as another absurdist element, to deride the fashion for glamorizing the exploits of criminals. The caption mocks the players further suggesting that in the conclusion to the play the three men will perform the "Hay Dance" while suspended from ropes attached to mules, and concludes: "The Bricks, Rubbish &c will be real, but the Excrements upon Jack Hall will be made of Chew'd Gingerbread to prevent Offense". The concluding "Vivat Rex" (Long Live the King) suggest Hogarth's satirical thrust extends past the theatre managers to what he perceived as the source of the fashion for popularist theatre, the king himself.
Throughout the scene Hogarth litters the trappings of the pantomime and objects representative of the arts obscured or defaced by the detritus of the production. There is a dragon ready to be swung in from the wings, a dog appearing from a kennel, and various farcical props scattered on the stage. Ben Johnson's Ghost wearing laurels, promised in the commentary below, rises from a trapdoor urinating on the broken statue of a Roman soldier (the soldier's detached leg may be a reference to a scene in Dr. Faustus). The statues on either side of the picture probably refer to the death of Tragedy and Comedy, their faces obscured by the titles of the entertainments under rehearsal. On the model privy pages from Shakespeare's Macbeth
, Julius Caesar
, Hamlet
and Congreve's
The Way of Ye World
hang as toilet paper. Above the scene is the title, which places the action at a Newgate created by the scene-painter Devoto, at Drury Lane; the motto VIVITUR INGENGIO ("we live by the spirit") hung above the stage there for many years.
The three principles endure the brunt of Hogarth's satire. Wilks (to the left of the picture) declares "Poor R—ch, Faith I pitty him" as he sits dangling a puppet of Mr. Punch
, a none-too subtle suggestion that he exceeds Rich in his desire to pander to the lowest denominator. Cibber looks heavenward to the painted Muse
s and entreats "Assist, ye Sacred Nine", while Booth dangles the puppet of Jack Hall and says "Ha, This will do G—d D—me". The ropes above the impresarios mirror the puppets they dangle below, and suggest that the managers will go to any lengths to entertain, even stringing themselves up in a fashion similar to the unhappy fiddler who dangles in the wings (The Music for ye What Entertainment which hangs close by, probably refers to John Gay
's The What D'ye Call It, another satire on the theatrical fashions).
William Hogarth
William Hogarth was an English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic and editorial cartoonist who has been credited with pioneering western sequential art. His work ranged from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like series of pictures called "modern moral subjects"...
. It is a satirical view of the management of British plays and mocks the subjects as degenerate. It forms part of an attack on the tastes of the theatre which Hogarth mounted in earnest between 1723 with Masquerades and Operas and 1727 with Masquerade Ticket (and which would continue to some extent in later works including Charmers of the Age in 1740-41).
Background
The staging of Harlequin Sheppard — a play by John Thurmond based around the exploits of the famed criminal and escape-artist Jack SheppardJack Sheppard
Jack Sheppard was a notorious English robber, burglar and thief of early 18th-century London. Born into a poor family, he was apprenticed as a carpenter but took to theft and burglary in 1723, with little more than a year of his training to complete...
— by the three impresarios of the 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,...
: Colley Cibber
Colley Cibber
Colley Cibber was an English actor-manager, playwright and Poet Laureate. His colourful memoir Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber describes his life in a personal, anecdotal and even rambling style...
, the actor Barton Booth
Barton Booth
Barton Booth was one of the most famous dramatic actors of the first part of the 18th century.Booth was from Lancashire and was educated at Westminster School, where his success in the Latin play Andria gave him an inclination for the stage...
, and Robert Wilks
Robert Wilks
Robert Wilks was a British actor and theatrical manager who was one of the leading managers of Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in its heyday of the 1710s...
, in November 1724, spurred Hogarth into immediate action. The play was so poor that it closed after only seven performances, but for Hogarth it was evidence that while they claimed to be for high art, the Drury Lane producers were actually trying to out-compete John Rich
John Rich (producer)
John Rich was an important director and theatre manager in 18th century London. He opened the New Theatre at Lincoln's Inn Fields and then the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden and began putting on ever more lavish productions...
at Lincoln's Inn Fields. Rich was at the forefront of the resurgence of the pantomime in England and his productions aimed at spectacle rather than art.
An early work by Hogarth it shows some of the popular print conventions he would later drop, such as speech banners and labelling of the principal characters, and has parallels to the anonymous British Stage published the same year.
In the print, Hogarth takes the production of popularist plays to an extreme by suggesting that the three impresarios are planning a spectacle which combines Dr Faustus
The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus
The Tragicall History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, commonly referred to simply as Doctor Faustus, is a play by Christopher Marlowe, based on the Faust story, in which a man sells his soul to the devil for power and knowledge...
with Harlequin Sheppard. To make it more ridiculous Hogarth adds "comical humours" from Ben Johnson's Ghost
Benjamin Johnson
Benjamin Johnson was an English actor.He was first a scene painter, then acted in the provinces, and appeared in London in 1695 at Drury Lane after Thomas Betterton's defection...
and the exploits of "Scaramouch" Jack Hall, who here is depicted as escaping Newgate
Newgate Prison
Newgate Prison was a prison in London, at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey just inside the City of London. It was originally located at the site of a gate in the Roman London Wall. The gate/prison was rebuilt in the 12th century, and demolished in 1777...
by lowering himself down the privy. Whether Jack Hall actually escaped this way is unknown; there are few surviving records of Hall aside from the sensationalist Memoirs of the Right Villainous John Hall, and the account of Hall in The Newgate Calendar
The Newgate Calendar
The Newgate Calendar, subtitled The Malefactors' Bloody Register, was a popular work of improving literature in the 18th and 19th centuries....
does not mention any escape. It is possible that Hogarth adds this as another absurdist element, to deride the fashion for glamorizing the exploits of criminals. The caption mocks the players further suggesting that in the conclusion to the play the three men will perform the "Hay Dance" while suspended from ropes attached to mules, and concludes: "The Bricks, Rubbish &c will be real, but the Excrements upon Jack Hall will be made of Chew'd Gingerbread to prevent Offense". The concluding "Vivat Rex" (Long Live the King) suggest Hogarth's satirical thrust extends past the theatre managers to what he perceived as the source of the fashion for popularist theatre, the king himself.
Throughout the scene Hogarth litters the trappings of the pantomime and objects representative of the arts obscured or defaced by the detritus of the production. There is a dragon ready to be swung in from the wings, a dog appearing from a kennel, and various farcical props scattered on the stage. Ben Johnson's Ghost wearing laurels, promised in the commentary below, rises from a trapdoor urinating on the broken statue of a Roman soldier (the soldier's detached leg may be a reference to a scene in Dr. Faustus). The statues on either side of the picture probably refer to the death of Tragedy and Comedy, their faces obscured by the titles of the entertainments under rehearsal. On the model privy pages from Shakespeare's Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
, Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar (play)
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, also known simply as Julius Caesar, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599. It portrays the 44 BC conspiracy against...
, 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...
and Congreve's
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...
The Way of Ye World
The Way of the World
The Way of the World is a play written by British playwright William Congreve. It premiered in 1700 in the theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields in London...
hang as toilet paper. Above the scene is the title, which places the action at a Newgate created by the scene-painter Devoto, at Drury Lane; the motto VIVITUR INGENGIO ("we live by the spirit") hung above the stage there for many years.
The three principles endure the brunt of Hogarth's satire. Wilks (to the left of the picture) declares "Poor R—ch, Faith I pitty him" as he sits dangling a puppet of Mr. Punch
Punch and Judy
Punch and Judy is a traditional, popular puppet show featuring the characters of Mr. Punch and his wife, Judy. The performance consists of a sequence of short scenes, each depicting an interaction between two characters, most typically the anarchic Punch and one other character...
, a none-too subtle suggestion that he exceeds Rich in his desire to pander to the lowest denominator. Cibber looks heavenward to the painted Muse
Muse
The Muses in Greek mythology, poetry, and literature, are the goddesses who inspire the creation of literature and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge, related orally for centuries in the ancient culture, that was contained in poetic lyrics and myths...
s and entreats "Assist, ye Sacred Nine", while Booth dangles the puppet of Jack Hall and says "Ha, This will do G—d D—me". The ropes above the impresarios mirror the puppets they dangle below, and suggest that the managers will go to any lengths to entertain, even stringing themselves up in a fashion similar to the unhappy fiddler who dangles in the wings (The Music for ye What Entertainment which hangs close by, probably refers to John Gay
John Gay
John Gay was an English poet and dramatist and member of the Scriblerus Club. He is best remembered for The Beggar's Opera , set to music by Johann Christoph Pepusch...
's The What D'ye Call It, another satire on the theatrical fashions).