John Maddison Morton
Encyclopedia
John Maddison Morton was an English playwright who specialized in one-act farce
s. His most famous farce was Box and Cox
(1847). He also wrote comic dramas, pantomimes and other theatrical pieces.
. His father, Thomas Morton, was also a well-known dramatist.
Morton's first farce, My First Fit of the Gout, was produced in London in 1835. He was the author of several other one-act farces, including My Husband's Ghost (1836), Chaos Is Come Again (1838), A Thumping Legacy (1843), Lend Me Five Shillings (1846), The Irish Tiger (1846), Done on Both Sides (1847), Who's My Husband? (1847), Going to the Derby (1848), Slasher and Crasher! (1848), Your Life's in Danger (1848), Where There's a Will There's a Way (1849), A Most Unwarrantable Intrusion (1849) My Precious Betsy (1850), Sent to the Tower (1850), Grimshaw, Bagshaw, and Bradshaw (1851), The Woman I Adore! (1852), A Capital Match! (1852), Waiting for an Omnibus in the Lowther Arcade on a Rainy Day (1854), A Game of Romps (1855), How Stout You're Getting! (1855), The Rights and Wrongs of Women (1856), The Little Savage (1858), Wooing One's Wife (1861), Drawing Rooms, Second Floor, and Attics (1864), My Wife's Bonnet (1865) and A Day's Fishing (1869).
Morton lived in Chertsey
for many years. It was there that he wrote Box and Cox
(1847), which The New York Times
in 1891 called "the best farce of the nineteenth century". Box and Cox, was wildly successful, earning him about £7000, and was translated into many European languages. A musical version, Cox and Box
(1867), was created by F. C. Burnand and Arthur Sullivan
, but Morton received no royalties from it.
Morton wrote several comic dramas in two acts, including Old Honesty (1848), All That Glitters Is Not Gold (1851), From Village to Court (1854), The Muleteer of Toledo, or King, Queen and Knave (1855), Our Wife, or The Rose of Amiens (1856), A Husband to Order (1859), She Would and He Wouldn't (1862), Woodcock's Little Game (1864) and Little Mother (1870). Our Wife was made into an 1883 operetta
by John Philip Sousa
called Désirée
.
Many of Morton's pieces enjoyed great success and contributed to building up the reputations of leading comic actors such as John Buckstone (who was Box in the first representation of Box and Cox), Henry Compton
and the Keeleys
. In 1873 Marion Terry
made her first West End appearances in his plays, A Game of Romps and All That Glitters Is Not Gold at the Olympic Theatre
.
In Morton's last decades, the popularity of Victorian burlesque greatly diminished the market for farces. He fell on hard times and in 1881 became a Charterhouse pensioner
. His last new play to be produced in his lifetime, at Toole's Theatre in 1885, was a three-act farcical comedy called Going It, which kept the house in a continual roar of laughter. It was well said of Morton that "The unlucky thing about him was that though he could write as well at 80 as at 30, he was left stranded high and dry by the receding wave of fashion." He died at the Charterhouse on 19 December 1891 and was buried on the 23rd at Kensal Green Cemetery
.
wrote that a "re-discovery is long overdue". In 1967 the National Theatre
performed Morton's A Most Unwarrantable Intrusion as part of a triple bill including a play by John Lennon
.
As a bicentenary celebration of Morton's birth, in June 2011 the Orange Tree Theatre
, presented a triple bill of three of Morton's one act farces, Slasher and Crasher!, A Most Unwarrantable Intrusion and Grimshaw, Bagshaw and Bradshaw, directed by Henry Bell. Critic Michael Billington
, writing in The Guardian
commented that the production "proves the prolific Morton is unjustly neglected", praising Bell's productions.
Farce
In theatre, a farce is a comedy which aims at entertaining the audience by means of unlikely, extravagant, and improbable situations, disguise and mistaken identity, verbal humour of varying degrees of sophistication, which may include word play, and a fast-paced plot whose speed usually increases,...
s. His most famous farce was Box and Cox
Box and Cox
Box and Cox is a one act farce by John Maddison Morton. It is based on a French one-act vaudeville, Frisette, which had been produced in Paris in 1846....
(1847). He also wrote comic dramas, pantomimes and other theatrical pieces.
Biography
Morton was born in PangbournePangbourne
Pangbourne is a large village and civil parish on the River Thames in the English county of Berkshire. Pangbourne is the home of the independent school, Pangbourne College.-Location:...
. His father, Thomas Morton, was also a well-known dramatist.
Morton lived in Chertsey
Chertsey
Chertsey is a town in Surrey, England, on the River Thames and its tributary rivers such as the River Bourne. It can be accessed by road from junction 11 of the M25 London orbital motorway. It shares borders with Staines, Laleham, Shepperton, Addlestone, Woking, Thorpe and Egham...
for many years. It was there that he wrote Box and Cox
Box and Cox
Box and Cox is a one act farce by John Maddison Morton. It is based on a French one-act vaudeville, Frisette, which had been produced in Paris in 1846....
(1847), which The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
in 1891 called "the best farce of the nineteenth century". Box and Cox, was wildly successful, earning him about £7000, and was translated into many European languages. A musical version, Cox and Box
Cox and Box
Cox and Box; or, The Long-Lost Brothers, is a one-act comic opera with a libretto by F. C. Burnand and music by Arthur Sullivan, based on the 1847 farce Box and Cox by John Maddison Morton. It was Sullivan's first successful comic opera. The story concerns a landlord who lets a room to two...
(1867), was created by F. C. Burnand and Arthur Sullivan
Arthur Sullivan
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO was an English composer of Irish and Italian ancestry. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including such enduring works as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado...
, but Morton received no royalties from it.
Morton wrote several comic dramas in two acts, including Old Honesty (1848), All That Glitters Is Not Gold (1851), From Village to Court (1854), The Muleteer of Toledo, or King, Queen and Knave (1855), Our Wife, or The Rose of Amiens (1856), A Husband to Order (1859), She Would and He Wouldn't (1862), Woodcock's Little Game (1864) and Little Mother (1870). Our Wife was made into an 1883 operetta
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
by John Philip Sousa
John Philip Sousa
John Philip Sousa was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era, known particularly for American military and patriotic marches. Because of his mastery of march composition, he is known as "The March King" or the "American March King" due to his British counterpart Kenneth J....
called Désirée
Désirée
Désirée is a operetta in two acts with music by John Phillip Sousa and libretto by Edward M. Taber. The libretto was later revised and updated by Jerrold Fisher and William Martin.-Performance history:...
.
Many of Morton's pieces enjoyed great success and contributed to building up the reputations of leading comic actors such as John Buckstone (who was Box in the first representation of Box and Cox), Henry Compton
Henry Compton
-Early life:Compton was born the sixth and youngest son of the 2nd Earl of Northampton, educated at The Queen's College, Oxford, and then travelled in Europe. After the restoration of Charles II he became cornet in a regiment of horse, but soon quit the army for the church...
and the Keeleys
Mary Anne Keeley
Mary Anne Keeley, née Goward was an English actress and actor-manager.She was born at Ipswich, her father being a brazier and tinman. After some experience in the provinces, she first appeared on the stage in London on July 2, 1825, in the opera Rosina...
. In 1873 Marion Terry
Marion Terry
Marion Bessie Terry was an English actress. In a career spanning half a century, she played leading roles in more than 125 plays. Always in the shadow of her more famous sister Ellen, Terry nevertheless achieved considerable success in the plays of W. S...
made her first West End appearances in his plays, A Game of Romps and All That Glitters Is Not Gold at the Olympic Theatre
Olympic Theatre
The 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...
.
In Morton's last decades, the popularity of Victorian burlesque greatly diminished the market for farces. He fell on hard times and in 1881 became a Charterhouse pensioner
London Charterhouse
The London Charterhouse is a historic complex of buildings in Smithfield, London dating back to the 14th century. It occupies land to the north of Charterhouse Square. The Charterhouse began as a Carthusian priory, founded in 1371 and dissolved in 1537...
. His last new play to be produced in his lifetime, at Toole's Theatre in 1885, was a three-act farcical comedy called Going It, which kept the house in a continual roar of laughter. It was well said of Morton that "The unlucky thing about him was that though he could write as well at 80 as at 30, he was left stranded high and dry by the receding wave of fashion." He died at the Charterhouse on 19 December 1891 and was buried on the 23rd at Kensal Green Cemetery
Kensal Green Cemetery
Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in Kensal Green, in the west of London, England. It was immortalised in the lines of G. K. Chesterton's poem The Rolling English Road from his book The Flying Inn: "For there is good news yet to hear and fine things to be seen; Before we go to Paradise by way of...
.
Modern revivals
Despite his prolific play writing career, Morton has not been performed regularly since his death. In 1967 Kenneth TynanKenneth Tynan
Kenneth Peacock Tynan was an influential and often controversial English theatre critic and writer.-Early life:...
wrote that a "re-discovery is long overdue". In 1967 the National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
performed Morton's A Most Unwarrantable Intrusion as part of a triple bill including a play by John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
.
As a bicentenary celebration of Morton's birth, in June 2011 the Orange Tree Theatre
Orange Tree Theatre
The Orange Tree Theatre is a 172-seat theatre at 1 Clarence Street, Richmond in south west London, built specifically as a theatre in the round....
, presented a triple bill of three of Morton's one act farces, Slasher and Crasher!, A Most Unwarrantable Intrusion and Grimshaw, Bagshaw and Bradshaw, directed by Henry Bell. Critic Michael Billington
Michael Billington
Michael Billington may refer to:* Michael Billington , British film and television actor* Michael Billington , drama critic of The Guardian* Michael Billington , author and activist in the LaRouche movement...
, writing in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
commented that the production "proves the prolific Morton is unjustly neglected", praising Bell's productions.