Now am I in Arden, the more fool I...

For 'Arden' read 'Stratford upon Avon.' Yes, mentally, I'm there again and have been for a couple of hours already this evening.  Monday nights have become sacred to Benson searching and this evening I decided to tackle the long over-due problem of making sense of the Stratford performances.  You'd think, given the significance of Stratford to Benson (and the significance of Benson to Stratford) that this would be relatively easy, but for several reasons a complete record of the Bensons' performances has been frustrating me.

One reason for this is the result of a book - more accurately two books - published in the early 1980s - "Theatre at Stratford-Upon-Avon: Set. a Catalogue-Index to Productions of the Shakespeare Memorial/Royal Shakespeare Theatre, 1879-1978" by Michael Mullen and Karen Morris Muriello who used early computer technology to create a digital index of the productions held by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Archives. I stumbled across a reasonably-priced second hand copy on ebay when I was beginning my research over ten years ago and it has proved invaluable, if not entirely infallible. Despite my best attempts at using it to fill in the rep, there remained several noticeable gaps, particularly around the war years of 1914 -1918.

So tonight I rolled up my (hypothetical) sleeves and used the British Library Newspaper Archive and the Stratford upon Avon Herald, which provided detailed listings for most of the Festival performances, with the notable exception of 1913, which is still proving difficult to complete.

A couple of other things have come to light this week as well. The first is a photograph of actors from Benson's Company in 1916, taken - unusually - at what was at that time the BACK of the Memorial Theatre - corresponding to the current FRONT of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. The building which is now the Costume Department is also clearly visible in the background, as are several of the Waterside cottages.

James Dale (Pistol) Leah Hanman (Boy) Rose Edouin (Hostess/Mistress Quickly) W.H. Quinton (Bardolph) and H. O. Nicholson (Nym) The photograph comes from The Sphere April 29th 1916 and is part of an article about the Tercentenary celebrations. File:Shakespeare's Tercentenary The Benson Company 1916 cropped.jpg - Wikimedia Commons



The second photograph that popped up this week comes from the V&A archives and is a picture taken by Sir Benjamin Stone, showing the theatrical company with noted local persons in 1900. Shakespeare Festival, Stratford-upon-Avon, 1900 | Stone, Benjamin (Sir) | V&A Explore The Collections (vam.ac.uk)

This is particularly interesting because this is the year Benson stayed in London, trying to revive his post -fire fortunes with a flagging Lyceum season , and instead sent a representative group headed by Oscar Asche to perform that year's birthday play, which was Pericles. The production was, by all accounts, a disastrous one, the play having been virtually rewritten by the veteran actor John Coleman. Running at 3 1/2 hours in length, Coleman had replaced the 'unsavoury' elements in the play with his own words, and at over 70 he was stretching everyone's imagination as the young Prince of Tyre. Trewin's account is largely based on Oscar Asche's book - the review in the Stratford upon Avon Herald is about as damning as is it possible to be!

In the photo, Asche can be clearly seen in the back row, to the right of the doorway - on the far left of this picture.  After a bit of digging, I've identified the two men next to him as H. Asherton Tonge and H.O. Nicholson.

And at the left edge of the photograph I spotted another interesting face...

Is that perhaps Dick the Shakespearean Dog as a puppy??! It certainly looks like him - or a predecessor.  I'm pretty sure the dog-wrangler is Garnet Holme (who is such an interesting person he probably needs a post to himself at some point!)  Again, this was taken at the back of the theatre - the current front.  A few years ago the RSC posted this photo on Facebook which gives a clear indication of where the photo was set up.

I'm now working to try and identify the rest of the company and when I get a bit further, I'll add a key to the photograph.  There are some very characterful faces here - what a fabulous photograph.  It makes me wonder if there are other group photos like this from other seasons and where they might be...

Finally, a bizarre clipping from the Stratford upon Avon Herald on 28th August 1914, a few weeks after the outbreak of war. This was on the same page as the listings for the final week of the 1914 Summer Festival, which had been somewhat more muted than anticipated as a result of the declaration of war on 4th August.

Shakespeare Summer Season, Under The Direction Of Mr. F. R. Benson. Memorial Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon, August Ist To August 20th, 1914 | Stratford-Upon-Avon Herald | Friday 28 August 1914 | British Newspaper Archive

This gave me a bit of a 'WarHorse' moment - clearly the Brigade's usual horses were heading to the Front, but it does seem a bit extreme to expect the victims of fire to provide their own horses if they want the fire extinguishing! Just one of those lovely bits of social history that brings the events of 110 years ago a little closer.