A Prompt Script Study of Nineteenth-Century Legitimate Stage
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This dissertation has been 61-5114 microfilmed exactly as received OBEE, Harold Brehm, 1915- A PROMPT SCRIPT STUDY OF NINETEENTH- CENTURY LEGITIMATE STAGE VERSIONS OF RIP VAN WINKLE. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1961 Speech - Theater University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan A PROMPT SCRIPT STUDY OP NINETEENTH-CENTURY LEGITIMATE STAGE VERSIONS OP RIP VAN WINKLE DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Dootor of Philosophy in the Graduate Sehool of The Ohio State University By Harold Brehm Obee, A.B*f M*A* ****** The Ohio State University 1961 Approved by Department of Speeoh TABLE OP CONTENTS Chapter Page I . THE PROBLEM................................................................................................ 1 Statement of Objectives • •••••••.••••»•• 2 Scope and Organisation ......................... 2 Resources and Methods ••••.••••••••••.. 5 I I . NINETEENTH-CENTURY BACKGROUND FOR RIP VAN WINKLE PRODUCTION............................................................. 19 The Stage 24 Stage Directions 27 Scenery •••••••••.. ............................... .•••• SO Transitions • 42 Machinery ......................... 44 Special Effects 49 L ighting •••••.................................... 64 I I I . ACTORS AND AUTHORS OP RIP VAN WINKLE ADAPTATIONS .... 66 Principal A otors ••»••••»..•« 66 Principal Authors ......................... 94 IV. IDENTIFICATION AND DEVELOPMENT OP RIP VAN WINKLE TEXTS................................................................. 110 Dramatic Type ..................... 110 Literary Origins .*.•••.•• .. 114 Dramatic Versions .......................................... 122 Plot Variations .................. ............... 169 V. PRODUCTION RECORDS OF RIP VAN WINKLE PERFORMANCE .... 212 Record of Production Changes in Promptbooks ...... 212 Brief Record of Public Performances ..••••..•• 2S9 VI. KERR AND BURKE PROMPTBOOKS FOR RIP VAN WINKLE...................... 246 O.S.U. Theatre Collection Microfilm P-614 ••••... 247 O.S.U. Theatre Collection Microfilm P-886 •••••.. 254 O.S.U. Theatre Colleetion Microfilm 1245 ....... 262 O.S.U. Theatre Collection Microfilm P-886 ....... 271 O.S.U. Theatre Collection Miorofilm P-1639 ...... 281 i i i i i Chapter Page VII. BERNARD AND HACKETT PROMPTBOOKS FOR RIP VAN NINKLE.............................................................................. 289 O.S.U. Theatre Collection Microfilm P-617 •••••• 289 O.S.U. Theatre Collection Microfilm P-616 .......... 294 O.S.U, Theatre Collection Mierofilm P-611 .......... 302 O.S.U. Theatre Collection Miorofilm P-610 ...... 315 O.S.U. Theatre Collection Microfilm P-612 .......... 316 O.S.U. Theatre Collection Microfilm P -6 1 5 ............ 318 O.S.U. Theatre Collection Miorofilm P-616 •••••* 322 V III. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS................................................................. 327 BIBLIOGRAPHY.............................................................................................................. 342 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 355 1 CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM "In giving an account of the stage a good story may sometimes be admitted on slender authority, but where matters of fact are concerned the history of the stage ought to be written with the same accuracy as the history of England," This was written by English theatre historian 1 John Genest in the early half of the nineteenth century when the demand in England for more realistio and historically accurate stage production was being gratified by John Philip Kemble and J.R, Planch/, The story of Rip Van Winkle, Washington Irving’s Hudson River Dutchman, i s in terlaced w ith legend, h istory and su p erstition , a fo lk tale which has assumed a variety of versions, a story whose origins spring from the people of many countries. There are scores of stage anecdotes woven around Rip Van Winkle’s theatrical production but these narratives are not the object of this investigation. Instead it is a study of some of the facts surrounding the legitimate stage production of this nineteenth-century comedy-drama, a play which has captivated the interests of some of America’s most popular actors and a huge number of play-going enthusiasts, ^Cited in William Winter, Life and Art of Joseph Jefferson (New Yorka Macmillan and Company, 1894), p . x . Statement of Objectives Despite the fact that nineteenth-century conventional staging has been extensively studied, surprisingly little is known about its details. Researchers have had no trouble in cataloging long scenic descriptions and stage directions supplied by printed scripts, brief descriptions included in playbills, and fragmentary reports by critical writers evaluating special displays which particularly appealed to them. However, many of these reoorded items are chiefly concerned with the effeot to be achieved rather than with the method. Theatrical sleuthing has pieced together a general knowledge of the use of flats and backdrops but most of these studies are incomplete. There is a substantial body of primary source material which has not been investigated that may fill some of the void in our knowledge and perhaps a l t e r some commonly accepted g e n e ra liz a tio n s. This material is in the form of promptbooks annotated by nineteenth-century stage directors who recorded specific details concerning the placement of scenery, actors, properties, the cueing of special effects, and , specific directions regarding lighting* Scope and Organization This researoh is concerned primarily with the examination of fifteen promptbooks and six unannotated scripts employed by the actors Frederick Yates, James H. Hackett, Charles Burke and Joseph Jefferson III for their enactment of the play Rip Van Winkle* These hand written manuscripts and printed plays include the old version by John Kerr, the later ones adapted by Burke, Bernard and Hackett, as well as the a d ap ta tio n commonly re fe rre d to "as played by Joseph J e f fe r s o n ,” th e latter based on the dramatization of Dion Boucicault. These are all nineteenth-century sources dating from approximately 1830 until late in the century. Since this research w ill not go beyond 1899, the history of twentieth-century adaptation and production of Irving’s Rip Van Winkle story w ill remain for future investigation. Although actually a printed play, the script of Rip Van Winkle, as played by Joseph Jefferson is very similar to a promptbook, for it was printed from the manuscript used by Mr. Jefferson at the latest stage in his development of the play. The same is true of the other printed versions for either they have production dates which antecede their publication or they are dramatizations based on earlier prompt scripts by other authors. Because the authors of ”new” versions often "borrowed" freely and because some premia res are of uncertain date, it is difficult at times to identify the particular script employed and to determine the origin of variations in the story or its dramatic organization. Only brief attention will be directed to the literary differences between various versions of the play unless the differences affect the staging. It will be necessary, however, to differentiate between each major adaptation of Rip Van Winkle and to identify the unsigned prompt books studied in this research. Special attention w ill be given to the staging of the play as evidenced in the various manuscripts and printed plays utilized as promptbooks. The term "staging" will embrace stage directions, scenic units and set properties, scenic transitions, machinery, lighting and special effeots. Major events in the history of Rip Van Winkle production w ill be recorded as well as selected details which are the product of this investigation; however, a complete history is virtually impossible because the play in all its versions has been produoed a few thousand tim es throughout th e E nglish-speaking -world by a v a rie ty of a c to r s . Records are not available for every little hamlet that has thrilled to this gentle comedy-drama. The prime purpose of this research is to report on previously unexamined promptbooks and to piece together a more complete record of the play than has been presented previously. By doing this, some discrepancies in the accepted record have been discovered and new insight added to old information. The first chapter of this report describes the problem, justifies its study and enunciates the method of research. The second chapter presents a review of nineteenth-century staging as it has been recorded by twentieth-century scholars. Chapter III surveys the lives of those professional theatre people who displayed an interest in adapting, producing and acting in the play, while Chapter IV identifies the various textual versions, not only those at hand but others which no longer appear to be in existence. A history of Rip Van Winkle production, Chapter V, includes a brief record of performances and the production changes noted in the promptbooks. The remaining chapters, except for the final one which is a summary, report individually on each of the manuscripts from the standpoint of nineteenth-century staging* Thus, Chapters VI and VII are an effort to reconstruct the setting and its manipulation to the extent that the manuscripts supply identifiable information. Resources and Methods Within the last twenty-five years only four books of any signi ficance have been published which deal extensively with nineteenth- century staging in England or America. The first of these to be published was Garrett H. Leverton’s