Theatre Royal, Adelphi Seasonal Digest for 1829-1830 Ed. Alfrida Lee

Theatre Royal, Adelphi Seasonal Digest for 1829-1830
Ed. Alfrida Lee

There were some changes among the performers. Thomas Potter Cooke, a great favorite with the Adelphi audience had gone to the Surrey Theatre. John Reeve and Mrs. Edward Fitzwilliam, both popular at the Adelphi, were once more in the company. Charles Mathews appeared less often, until he gave his Comic Annual after the regular season had ended. He wrote to C. T. Harding, "It was my determination at the end of last season, not again to act regularly at the Adelphi; for this reason, Mr. Reeve was engaged."

The highlight of the season was The Elephant of Siam and the Fire Fiend. The chief performer was an elephant of considerable size for which "an entirely new stage had been constructed." Certainly, some reinforcement was necessary. The idea of engaging the elephant was apparently an inspiration of Frederick Yates. It is reported in The Memoirs of Charles Mathews,

Mr. Yates, having gained his partner's slow leave, engaged the celebrated acting elephant (Mademoiselle d'Gelk) for the ensuing opening; fortunately as it turned out, for the success of that part of the season, when another female actress of great popularity made a strong opposition to the minors--Mademoiselle d'Gelk and Miss Fanny Kemble shared the town between them--each the greatest in her line.

The elephant, whose salary was reported in the Theatrical Journal to be twenty pounds a night, was not brought in to perform irrelevant exercises; each action was an integral part of the plot. The critic of the News made particular mention of the "docility and sagacity" of the elephant. The piece as a whole appeared to be entertaining and spectacular. Yates gave a prologue, which was "not the least amusing part of the evening's entertainment" (Times 4 December 1829). As well as the elephant, human performers were praised. A general comment was "it is perhaps one of the most magnificent things of the kind in scenery, dresses and decorations, which has been produced for some time on any stage."

The News was struck by the enterprise of the managers in giving a pantomime at the end of December in addition to the elephant. "With the great attraction of the elephant at this house it is almost an act of supererogation to have produced a pantomime--the spirited managers, however, deemed it a duty to treat their holiday friends with their accustomed fare, and they have catered for them most successfully." Novelty was again apparent in this, which seemed to have been a good production and was well received. A dwarf, Senor Santiago de los Santos, was the outstanding attraction in the piece. "He had scarcely anything to do in the piece but he danced prettily enough; and when the clown produced him as the kernel of the Barcelona nut, the audience was convulsed with laughter."

The elephant took part in an entertainment on 30 January. The rest of the evening was made up by a display of magic by Habit of Moscow and optical illusions by H. Childe, a former slide-painter who had invented "dissolving views" (Altick, The Shows of London, p. 218). The elephant trainer was Huguet. This was the first year the Adelphi was not dark on Martyr's Day.

Some adverse criticism, however, came from the News in February 1830. Supper's Over was a poor affair. "The actors seemed to consider the piece beneath their notice, by not having learned their parts." As John Reeve was the chief character, this is perhaps evidence of his inability to remember his lines. As the popularity of The Elephant of Siam never declined, the critic found much to commend. "We are much pleased to find that this theatre overflows nightly; it would be hard, indeed, if the exertions of its liberal proprietors were not crowned with the success they so richly merit."

This good opinion did not prevent the News being scathing about The Heart of London in February. It was "the very lowest and most blackguard affair we ever witnessed." The Lord Chamberlain's office was blamed for allowing the production; nevertheless, the News had no doubt it would be a success. It was played until the end of the season.

The elephant appeared in the Lenten entertainment, performing "Olympic exercises," in addition to being "the great performer" in The Elephant of Siam, which was given every evening except Wednesday and Friday each week.

Mlle. D'Gelk was heard of again. During the summer, a coroner's inquest was held on Baptiste Bernard, one of its handlers. Apparently, Bernard had stabbed the beast with a pitchfork some two years previously in a drunken rage. The elephant had not forgotten and gained its revenge. The verdict was the deceased "died from wounds and bruises received from the elephant. Decedent five shillings."

During Passion Week, there was a lecture by C. H. Adams, illusions, laughing gas administered by Childe, and harmonica solos by Tait.

Mathews appeared, without Yates, in his Comic Annual from the end of April until the end of June 1830. This had considerable originality and its success led on to more Comic Annuals in the future.

This completed another season with which the managers had every reason to feel pleased. On 31 May 1830, Mathews wrote to H. B. Giles, "I have done very well at the Adelphi: the boxes especially have kept up right arnest [sic] well."

Theatre Royal, Adelphi Seasonal Digest for 1830-1831
Ed. Alicia Kae Koger

The season included 26 plays that were performed a total of 189 times. Among the most popular were John Buckstone's Christmas pantomime, Grimalkin the Great which played 39 nights, his King of the Alps and the Misanthrope, which ran for 42 performances, and Edward Fitzball's The Black Vulture; or, The Wheel of Death, which opened the season and ran for 36 performances. The hit of the season, however, was The Wreck Ashore; or, A Bridegroom from the Sea, yet another Buckstone melodrama, which opened on 21 October 1830, and was repeated 80 times during the season. Critics concurred with the audiences' enthusiasm for the piece. The Athenæum pronounced it, "one of the most amusing ... and interesting [plays] ... of any that have been produced for years" (18 December 1830, p. 797). The Times proclaimed on 5 October "much skill has been displayed and much expense incurred, in getting up this spectacle. The scenery, chiefly the work of Tomkins, is well painted; and the different changes and transformations are adroitly executed." Particularly outstanding was the performance of O. Smith (Richard John Smith) whose characterization of the pirate Grampus was described by H. Barton Baker as "a wonderful piece of melodramatic acting" (History of the London Stage, p. 429).

As the 1830-31 season progressed, the Athenæum observed and commented upon Yates' and Mathews' management style. Noting that the audience was particularly displeased with a burlesque of The Pilot presented in December 1830, he wrote,

We rather wondered that the audience gave themselves so much trouble, because this is the only theatre we know of at which they are not permitted to have their opinions attended to--a new piece is generally advertised for 'Monday and every night during the week.' We know not whence the managers acquired this right, but it is well for them that they are allowed to keep it (4 December 1830, p. 765).

At the end of the season, the critic commented again on the managers' techniques. "They have discovered the sorts of entertainment which suit their audiences ... we do not mean to assert that they are always successful; but it comes to nearly the same thing--for, if they do not hit the house the first time, they keep discharging their pieces at it until they do" (2 April 1831, p. 221). He concluded, "the season has been, as usual, a profitable one. Indeed while the present managers continue in possession, we do not see how it can be otherwise."

In addition to the terrifying acting and thunderous voice of the villainous O. Smith, Adelphi audiences were treated to comic characters created by John Reeve and John Buckstone, gallant heroes played by Frederick Yates, and touching heroines performed by his wife. Watson Nicholson argues in The Struggle For a Free Stage in London that Mathews and Yates had collected a company of actors who had gained the respect and admiration of the public. He quotes a letter to the Tatler, which said, in part, "I trust you do not put the Adelphi on a level with its restricted neighbours. Can Covent Garden produce a list of comedians equal to Mathews, Yates, Reeve, Buckstone and Wilkinson?" (17 November 1830). The Times proclaimed Reeve "one of the best farceurs on the stage" (17 November 1830), and Charles Mathews' appearances in The May Queen (29 November 1830) and The King of the Alps won special praise from the critics. Mathews closed out the theatre's season with his one-man entertainment, Mathews' Comic Annual Vol. 2, written by his son, Charles J. Mathews, and Richard B. Peake. One critic wrote of the elder Mathews' performance: "We hold it to be one of Mr. Mathews' best volumes ... What is weak in it he strengthens and enriches; what is old he makes new; what is commonplace, he exalts" (Mathews, Memoirs of Charles J. Mathews, Comedian, vol. 4, p. 79).

As the Adelphi Company closed out their season, the managers presented ten appearances by the French company of Mons. Potier with a repertory of twenty-one plays. These ran during June in alternation with Mathews' Comic Annual but received little attention in the London press. Among the principal performers were Mons. Potier, Mons. Guenee, Mons. Preval, Mlle. St. Ange, and Mlle. Florval.

AK