David Garrick (play)
Encyclopedia
David Garrick is a comic play written in 1864 by Thomas William Robertson
about the famous 18th century actor and theatre manager, David Garrick
.
The play premiered at the Prince of Wales Theater in Birmingham
, where it was successful enough to be moved to the Haymarket Theatre
in London, on 30 April 1864. It was a major success for the actor Edward Askew Sothern
, who played the title role, but came later to be associated with the actor Charles Wyndham. The play was designed as a star vehicle, since the principal actor has to portray David Garrick
himself as an actor giving a performance. A scene from the play was painted by Edward Matthew Ward
, a friend of Sothern's.
The play was Robertson's first major commercial success and was frequently revived throughout the Victorian era
and beyond. Several silent films were made based on David Garrick, including versions in 1913
(starring Seymour Hicks
and Ellaline Terriss
), 1914 and 1916. A 1923 book, Public Speaking Today, recommends it for performance by high school students alongside The Importance of Being Earnest
and The Rivals
. In 1922, the play was adapted as a comic opera by Reginald Somerville and played at the Queen's Theatre.
; but the new play was rejected by every theater manager Robertson took it to. He sat on it for many years, then eventually showed it to Sothern, who took interest in the project. Reportedly, as Sothern read the play aloud to his manager John Buckstone --
After some revisions at Sothern's request, Robertson was able to sell the play for a sum of £10.
Robertson's story of Garrick has very little to do with fact: among other things, it ends with Garrick presumably married to a woman named Ada Ingot—Garrick's real wife was Eva Marie Veigel
. Robertson was quoted as saying, in response to critics of this historical inaccuracy, "The real, actual Mr. David Garrick was not married until the year 1749. Whatever adventures may have occurred to him before that time are a legitimate theme for speculation." He then suggests that Ada and Garrick could have been prevented from marrying by death, breakup or other external factors, and thus his story would not be contradictory to history.
The story is, according to the title page of most printed versions, "Adapted from the French of 'Sullivan,' which was founded on a German Dramatization of a pretended Incident in Garrick's Life." Sullivan
was a French comic play of 1852 by Anne-Honoré-Joseph Duveyrier de Mélésville
, which Adams' Dictionary of Drama claims to have been based on J. Bouchardy's 1836 play Garrick Médecin
. The confusion with the "German dramatization" appears to be thus -- Garrick Médecin was adapted into another French play entitled Le Docteur Robin, which became widely known through a German translation. A misunderstanding caused the belief that Sullivan was actually based on Doktor Robin rather than the two being based on a mutual source, as evidenced in one Oct. 1895 New York Times Article. Another German play, Garrick in Bristol, added to the confusion.
.
A young woman, Ada, has developed a crush on the actor David Garrick so strong that she refuses to accept a marriage arranged by her father, Mr. Ingot. Ingot contrives to meet with Garrick and initially tries to persuade him to leave the country or give up acting, but when Garrick learns the reason, he assures Ingot that he will be able to cure Ada of her attraction and asks Ingot to arrange a meeting. Garrick is sympathetic to Ada's plight because he himself has fallen in love with a girl he doesn't know, but he promises her father that he will not make any romantic moves towards Ada.
Garrick is invited to a dinner party at Ingot's house, where he is stunned and horrified to realize that Ada is the very girl he had been admiring from afar, but because of his promise, he goes through with his plan. He spends the evening tormenting the other guests and pretending to be a drunk and a gambler. When he leaves, Ada is crushed, but she agrees to go through with the marriage her father intends for her. Her fiancé Richard Chivy arrives, actually as drunk as Garrick was just pretending to be, and he tells the Ingots about how he just met David Garrick at his club and listened to him tell a story of how he had spent an evening pretending to be a scoundrel so as to cure a girl of her attraction to him. Chivy does not recognize that the story is about Ada and her father, though they both recognize themselves, and Ada is cheered by the news. Chivy then mentions how someone at the club insulted the girl and father of Garrick's story, and that Garrick is now scheduled to fight a duel with the man.
The next day, Ada goes to Garrick's home, both to escape her impending marriage and to try to stop the duel set for later in the day. Chivy has followed her, and she hides from him. Garrick learns that Ada is hiding in the room, but he plays dumb and offers to help Chivy look for her, until the two men leave together for the duel. Not long after they leave, Ingot arrives and finds Ada. He says he will disown her because of how she has misbehaved. Ada is so upset by the news that she faints. Ingot tries to tell her he didn't mean it, but when he sees she has fainted unconscious he goes to get help. Ada then awakens, the last thing she heard being that she was disowned. Garrick eventually comes into the room, having won the duel, and tries to comfort Ada. He convinces her that her father loves her and that she should listen to him. Ingot overhears this and decides that David Garrick is a better man than Chivy, who by now has left in pursuit of Garrick's housemaid, and so he agrees to allow Ada to marry him.
before destroying a window fixture with his exit:
ADA. If you do not leave, the servants shall turn you out.
GARRICK. And serve him right, too. (releases SMITH, and goes up C., a little. To INGOT, aside). Get me out of this, I can't bear it longer. (aloud) Put out old Coco. I am going. Good-bye, mother of seventy children.
MRS. SMITH. Oh!
GARRICK. Good-bye, Cold Muffins.
SMITH. Cold Muffins!
GARRICK. Farewell! (pathetically.) Farewell, and treasure deep that which I love the most yet leave behind. Farewell!
SMITH (follows GARRICK up C.) Jones, kick him out.
GARRICK (turns fiercely and SMITH runs down L. C., front). Kick!
"You common cry of curs, whose breath I hate
As reek o' the rotten fens, whose loves I prize
As the dead carcasses of unburied men
That do corrupt my air, I banish you;
And here remain with your uncertainty!
Let every feeble rumor shake your hearts,
Your enemies, with nodding of their plumes! (points to ARAMINTA'S shaking head and fan),
Fan you into despair!
Despising, for you, the City, thus I turn my back:
There is a world elsewhere." (snaps his fingers end lifts his foot as if in a contemptuous kick. Up to R. U. E., tears down curtain of R. U. E., so that it enwraps him like a mantle, and rushes off R.U.E)
While the plots are virtually identical, the tone of the novelization is much more sentimental and somber. Whereas in the play, the wedding between Ada and Chivy is called off after Chivy openly races off in pursuit of Garrick's housemaid and carelessly leaves out embarrassing love letters sent between himself and other women, the novel shows the wedding cancelled when it is revealed that Chivy (called Raubreyne in the book) has an illegitimate child with a woman he has falsely promised to marry; and even then, Ada is only permitted to marry Garrick after "dying of love" leaves her otherwise incurably bedridden for several months. The element of the duel is also removed from the novel. In the introduction to the 2009 reprint, it is speculated that the "less farcical tone" may have more closely resembled Robertson's early drafts of the play, before Sothern's contributions.
While much of the humor was removed in the novelization, a great deal of exposition was added, and the story actually begins on the day Garrick and Ada first set eyes on each other.
Many of the character's names were altered from the play. Simon Ingot becomes Alderman Trawley, Richard Chivy becomes Robert Raubreyne, "Sawney" Smith becomes "Sammy" Smith, and Ada Ingot becomes Ada Trawley.
Thomas William Robertson
Thomas William Robertson , usually known professionally as T. W. Robertson, was an Anglo-Irish dramatist and innovative stage director best known for a series of realistic or naturalistic plays produced in London in the 1860s that broke new ground and inspired playwrights such as W.S...
about the famous 18th century actor and theatre manager, 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...
.
The play premiered at the Prince of Wales Theater 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...
, where it was successful enough to be moved to the Haymarket Theatre
Haymarket Theatre
The Theatre Royal Haymarket is a West End theatre in the Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use...
in London, on 30 April 1864. It was a major success for the actor Edward Askew Sothern
Edward Askew Sothern
Edward Askew Sothern was an English actor known for his comic roles in Britain and America, particularly Lord Dundreary in Our American Cousin.- Early years :...
, who played the title role, but came later to be associated with the actor Charles Wyndham. The play was designed as a star vehicle, since the principal actor has to portray 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...
himself as an actor giving a performance. A scene from the play was painted by Edward Matthew Ward
Edward Matthew Ward
Edward Matthew Ward was an English Victorian narrative painter best known for his murals in the Palace of Westminster depicting episodes in British history from the English Civil War to the Glorious Revolution.-Early career:...
, a friend of Sothern's.
The play was Robertson's first major commercial success and was frequently revived throughout the Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
and beyond. Several silent films were made based on David Garrick, including versions in 1913
David Garrick (1913 film)
David Garrick is a 1913 black-and-white silent film based on the life of British actor David Garrick. The film starred Seymour Hicks and Ellaline Terriss and was based on the 1864 play David Garrick by T. W. Robertson, adapted by Max Pemberton...
(starring Seymour Hicks
Seymour Hicks
Sir Arthur Seymour Hicks , better known as Seymour Hicks, was a British actor, music hall performer, playwright, screenwriter, theatre manager and producer. He married the actress Ellaline Terriss in 1893...
and Ellaline Terriss
Ellaline Terriss
Ellaline Terriss, born Ellaline Lewin , was a popular English actress and singer, best known for her performances in Edwardian musical comedies...
), 1914 and 1916. A 1923 book, Public Speaking Today, recommends it for performance by high school students alongside The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at St. James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae in order to escape burdensome social obligations...
and The Rivals
The Rivals
The Rivals, a play by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, is a comedy of manners in five acts. It was first performed on 17 January 1775.- Production :...
. In 1922, the play was adapted as a comic opera by Reginald Somerville and played at the Queen's Theatre.
History
The play was evidently written in 1856, after Robertson saw a French theater troupe performing SullivanSullivan (play)
Sullivan was a three-act comedy by Anne-Honoré-Joseph Duveyrier de Mélésville, based on the play Garrick Médecin. It was first played at Paris, in the Théâtre-Français, November 11, 1852. The original cast was:...
; but the new play was rejected by every theater manager Robertson took it to. He sat on it for many years, then eventually showed it to Sothern, who took interest in the project. Reportedly, as Sothern read the play aloud to his manager John Buckstone --
[Sothern] frequently interrupted himself with such remarks as "Capital" "First-rate!" "Strong situation!" and "I like that!" But when he came to the party scene, in which David acts like a madman, Sothern became so excited that he began to smash the glasses and upset the furniture. "I think that will do, Bucky?" he said to his manager. "Yes, it will do," replied Buckstone, "and I rather like that fellow Chevy." (sic)
After some revisions at Sothern's request, Robertson was able to sell the play for a sum of £10.
Robertson's story of Garrick has very little to do with fact: among other things, it ends with Garrick presumably married to a woman named Ada Ingot—Garrick's real wife was Eva Marie Veigel
Eva Marie Veigel
Eva Marie Veigel was a dancer and the wife of actor David Garrick....
. Robertson was quoted as saying, in response to critics of this historical inaccuracy, "The real, actual Mr. David Garrick was not married until the year 1749. Whatever adventures may have occurred to him before that time are a legitimate theme for speculation." He then suggests that Ada and Garrick could have been prevented from marrying by death, breakup or other external factors, and thus his story would not be contradictory to history.
The story is, according to the title page of most printed versions, "Adapted from the French of 'Sullivan,' which was founded on a German Dramatization of a pretended Incident in Garrick's Life." Sullivan
Sullivan (play)
Sullivan was a three-act comedy by Anne-Honoré-Joseph Duveyrier de Mélésville, based on the play Garrick Médecin. It was first played at Paris, in the Théâtre-Français, November 11, 1852. The original cast was:...
was a French comic play of 1852 by Anne-Honoré-Joseph Duveyrier de Mélésville
Anne-Honoré-Joseph Duveyrier de Mélésville
Baron Anne-Honoré-Joseph Duveyrier de Mélésville , pen-name Mélésville, was a French dramatist.-Life:...
, which Adams' Dictionary of Drama claims to have been based on J. Bouchardy's 1836 play Garrick Médecin
Garrick Médecin
Garrick Médecin is an 1836 comedy written by J. Bouchardy, printed in the newspaper Le Monde Dramatique. It was the basis for several other plays including Sullivan and Le Docteur Robin which were respectively adapted into the English plays David Garrick and Doctor Davy .The plot concerns a...
. The confusion with the "German dramatization" appears to be thus -- Garrick Médecin was adapted into another French play entitled Le Docteur Robin, which became widely known through a German translation. A misunderstanding caused the belief that Sullivan was actually based on Doktor Robin rather than the two being based on a mutual source, as evidenced in one Oct. 1895 New York Times Article. Another German play, Garrick in Bristol, added to the confusion.
Characters
- David Garrick, A famous actor
- Mr. Simon Ingot, A wealthy businessman, father to Ada
- Squire Richard Chivy, Ada's distant cousin and her fiancé
- Mr. Alexander Smith, A friend of Ingot
- Mr. Brown, A friend of Ingot, father of Araminta
- Mr. Jones, Friend of Ingot and paramour of Araminta
- Thomas, Ingot’s butler
- George, Garrick’s valet
- Ada Ingot, Betrothed unwillingly to Chivy, in love with Garrick from afar
- Mrs. Smith, wife of Mr. Smith
- Miss Araminta Brown, Daughter of Mr. Brown, beloved of Mr. Jones
- Two Servants, Ingot’s employees
Plot summary
The action takes place in 1740s LondonLondon
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...
.
A young woman, Ada, has developed a crush on the actor David Garrick so strong that she refuses to accept a marriage arranged by her father, Mr. Ingot. Ingot contrives to meet with Garrick and initially tries to persuade him to leave the country or give up acting, but when Garrick learns the reason, he assures Ingot that he will be able to cure Ada of her attraction and asks Ingot to arrange a meeting. Garrick is sympathetic to Ada's plight because he himself has fallen in love with a girl he doesn't know, but he promises her father that he will not make any romantic moves towards Ada.
Garrick is invited to a dinner party at Ingot's house, where he is stunned and horrified to realize that Ada is the very girl he had been admiring from afar, but because of his promise, he goes through with his plan. He spends the evening tormenting the other guests and pretending to be a drunk and a gambler. When he leaves, Ada is crushed, but she agrees to go through with the marriage her father intends for her. Her fiancé Richard Chivy arrives, actually as drunk as Garrick was just pretending to be, and he tells the Ingots about how he just met David Garrick at his club and listened to him tell a story of how he had spent an evening pretending to be a scoundrel so as to cure a girl of her attraction to him. Chivy does not recognize that the story is about Ada and her father, though they both recognize themselves, and Ada is cheered by the news. Chivy then mentions how someone at the club insulted the girl and father of Garrick's story, and that Garrick is now scheduled to fight a duel with the man.
The next day, Ada goes to Garrick's home, both to escape her impending marriage and to try to stop the duel set for later in the day. Chivy has followed her, and she hides from him. Garrick learns that Ada is hiding in the room, but he plays dumb and offers to help Chivy look for her, until the two men leave together for the duel. Not long after they leave, Ingot arrives and finds Ada. He says he will disown her because of how she has misbehaved. Ada is so upset by the news that she faints. Ingot tries to tell her he didn't mean it, but when he sees she has fainted unconscious he goes to get help. Ada then awakens, the last thing she heard being that she was disowned. Garrick eventually comes into the room, having won the duel, and tries to comfort Ada. He convinces her that her father loves her and that she should listen to him. Ingot overhears this and decides that David Garrick is a better man than Chivy, who by now has left in pursuit of Garrick's housemaid, and so he agrees to allow Ada to marry him.
Notable scene
One of the play's defining moments is the point when Garrick's feigned drunkenness appears to work, and Ada forces him to leave the party. Garrick makes an exit of high comedy, improving upon past insults to the other guests and quoting from Shakespeare's CoriolanusCoriolanus (play)
Coriolanus is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1605 and 1608. The play is based on the life of the legendary Roman leader, Gaius Marcius Coriolanus.-Characters:*Caius Martius, later surnamed Coriolanus...
before destroying a window fixture with his exit:
ADA. If you do not leave, the servants shall turn you out.
GARRICK. And serve him right, too. (releases SMITH, and goes up C., a little. To INGOT, aside). Get me out of this, I can't bear it longer. (aloud) Put out old Coco. I am going. Good-bye, mother of seventy children.
MRS. SMITH. Oh!
GARRICK. Good-bye, Cold Muffins.
SMITH. Cold Muffins!
GARRICK. Farewell! (pathetically.) Farewell, and treasure deep that which I love the most yet leave behind. Farewell!
SMITH (follows GARRICK up C.) Jones, kick him out.
GARRICK (turns fiercely and SMITH runs down L. C., front). Kick!
"You common cry of curs, whose breath I hate
As reek o' the rotten fens, whose loves I prize
As the dead carcasses of unburied men
That do corrupt my air, I banish you;
And here remain with your uncertainty!
Let every feeble rumor shake your hearts,
Your enemies, with nodding of their plumes! (points to ARAMINTA'S shaking head and fan),
Fan you into despair!
Despising, for you, the City, thus I turn my back:
There is a world elsewhere." (snaps his fingers end lifts his foot as if in a contemptuous kick. Up to R. U. E., tears down curtain of R. U. E., so that it enwraps him like a mantle, and rushes off R.U.E)
Novel
According to several sources, Robertson originally fashioned the story as a novel, David Garrick: A Love Story, which was first printed in 1864 as a serial in the magazine The Young Englishwoman. However, in the 1865 printing in book form, Robertson says in his preface that it was the other way around, and his novel was adapted from his play.While the plots are virtually identical, the tone of the novelization is much more sentimental and somber. Whereas in the play, the wedding between Ada and Chivy is called off after Chivy openly races off in pursuit of Garrick's housemaid and carelessly leaves out embarrassing love letters sent between himself and other women, the novel shows the wedding cancelled when it is revealed that Chivy (called Raubreyne in the book) has an illegitimate child with a woman he has falsely promised to marry; and even then, Ada is only permitted to marry Garrick after "dying of love" leaves her otherwise incurably bedridden for several months. The element of the duel is also removed from the novel. In the introduction to the 2009 reprint, it is speculated that the "less farcical tone" may have more closely resembled Robertson's early drafts of the play, before Sothern's contributions.
While much of the humor was removed in the novelization, a great deal of exposition was added, and the story actually begins on the day Garrick and Ada first set eyes on each other.
Many of the character's names were altered from the play. Simon Ingot becomes Alderman Trawley, Richard Chivy becomes Robert Raubreyne, "Sawney" Smith becomes "Sammy" Smith, and Ada Ingot becomes Ada Trawley.