(1838-1905) Sir Henry Irving was the stage name of John Henry Brodribb, who was born in 1838 and raised in a working-class family. He was one of the most famous British actor-managers and dominated the late Victorian Stage (along with Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree). He was born in Somerset but lived in London from the age of ten. It was seeing Samuel Phelps (also a mentor to Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson) playing Hamlet that inspired Irving to take to the stage,Read more
Charles Doran
(1877-1964) Like so many actors who played Shakespeare, Irish-born Doran made his stage debut with Frank Benson in Belfast’s Theatre Royale in 1899; he had a part in Julius Caesar. The next year, 1900, again with Benson’s company, he first appeared in London at the Lyceum as MacMorris in Henry V. He played with Benson, doing mainly Shakespeare, until he left in 1903 to perform with several different companies. In 1906, he made his first trip to the US withRead more
Matheson Lang
(1879-1948) Matheson Alexander Lang was eighteen when he first appeared on the stage in 1897. Before forming his own company, he acted with the companies of Sir Frank Benson, Lillie Langtry, and Dame Ellen Terry. In his early career he toured the United States and the West Indies; after his success in 1908 in Romeo & Juliet and Hamlet, he toured South Africa, Australia, and Asia, where his company played Shakespeare with great success. Notably, he produced and starred in Romeo & JulietRead more
As You Like It
It is not the fashion to see the lady the epilogue. (Ep.i.) In As You Like It, witty words and romance play out against the disputes of divided pairs of brothers. Orlando‘s older brother, Oliver, treats him badly and refuses him his small inheritance from their father’s estate; Oliver schemes instead to have Orlando die in a wrestling match. Meanwhile, Duke Frederick has forced his older brother, Duke Senior, into exile in the Forest of Arden. Duke Senior’s daughter, Rosalind,Read more
Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson
(1853-1937) Forever critical of his own acting prowess, Forbes-Robertson’s career, spanning almost forty years from 1874 to 1913, is impossible to summarize in so brief a space. Born in London, he was regarded as one of the preeminent Shakespearean players in the four decades of his active life on the stage. His interpretation of Hamlet is regarded as one of the best of the twentieth century. One of his younger eleven siblings was Norman Forbes-Robertson, also a noted Shakespearean, as wasRead more
Stanley Lathbury
(1873-?) Stanley Lathbury first appeared on stage in 1895 when he joined the company of Sarah Thorne at Margate; in the next two years he appeared in almost one hundred parts while still at Margate. His career in Shakespeare began in earnest in 1909 when he was engaged by Gerald Lawrence and Fay Davis who opened their Shakespeare season on April 12 at the Royal Court Theatre, London. After that season – and many other engagements, often in the cityRead more
Julius Caesar
The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones (3.2). Caesar’s assassination is just the halfway point of Julius Caesar. The first part of the play leads to his death; the second portrays the consequences. As the action begins, Rome prepares for Caesar‘s triumphal entrance. Brutus, Caesar’s friend and ally, fears that Caesar will become king, destroying the republic. Cassius and others convince Brutus to join a conspiracy to kill Caesar. On the day ofRead more
Lewis Waller
(1860-1915) Lewis Waller, born in Spain, initially studied to work in the commercial industry. He got his start in the companies of famous Dame Helena Modjeska and J. L. Toole in the 1880s. During his career, he was best known as something of a matinee-idol in the popular romantic plays of his day like The Three Musketeers and his most popular role in Monsieur Beaucaire, a dramatic adaptation of Booth Tarkington’s novel. For his portrayals, he attracted large female audiencesRead more
Gertrude Elliott
(1874-1950) Mary Gertrude Elliott (or Dermot), an American-born actress, first appeared on stage in 1894 when she was twenty. In 1899, she joined Nat Goodwin’s English company, where she met and a year later married the noted Shakespearean actor Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson. From that time on she toured with her husband as his leading lady in many of Shakespeare’s plays, notably Hamlet, The Merchant of Venice, and Bernard Shaw’s Caesar & Cleopatra. In 1908, her sister, Maxine, also a famous actress, built herRead more