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An Analysis of Curtain Acting Editions and Promptbooks of Plays by Dion Boucicault

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An Analysis of Curtain Acting Editions and Promptbooks of Plays by Dion Boucicault AN ANALYSIS OF CURTAIN ACTING EDITIONS AND PROMPTBOOKS OF PLAYS BY DION BOUCICAULT DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Gladys May Rohrig, B.A., A.M. ***** The Ohio State University 1956 Approved by: Department of Spe PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS For more than thirty yaara In tha nlnataanth century, Dion Boucicault dominated tha English and Anarlean thaatraa. His first play, London Aaauranca. was a daoidad succaas in 1841• Hia last aucceaaful play, Tha Shauahraun. was given in 1874, yat ha continuad to writa and hia plays wara pro- ducad until ha diad in 1890. Faw paopla today know who ha ia. Faw paopla today know much about nineteenth-century English drana bacauaa, in tha opinion of many critics, "It ia ao bad, nobody can stand reading it.” It ia a period which histories of tha theatre treat rather sketchily. How­ ever, people want to tha theatres in England and tha United States in those days, and Dion Boucicault made several for­ tunes writing, directing, and acting in those theatres. If tha plays wara so bad, why did paopla go to sea them? What wara tha plays like anyway? What was tha accepted theatre practice in those days? If Dion Boucicault was a successful theatre man for so long, his plays, no doubt, wara raprasantatlva of tha bast tha theatre at that time had to offer. What, than, would a careful study of his plays tall about tha staging, directing, acting, and play writing methods of his part of tha nineteenth century? This dissertation records the result of such a study. ii iii Findings wsrs tabulatsd only on rsprasantatiTa acting edi­ tions and promptbooks published and prepared during Bouci- cault's lifetime. Scripts in the libraries at the Ohio State University and Indiana State Teachers College and microfilmed reprints of Boucicault acting editions and promptbooks in the Theatre Collection at Ohio State University made the study possible. This paper will not concern itself with the work of other playwrights of the period or with biographical details about Boucicault. Townsend Walsh published a biography, The Career of Dion Boucicault. in 191$. The three dissertations I have read about Dion Boucicault were largely biographical in nature, and each, in its own way, has treated the plays Boucicault wrote, with their dates, theatres, and some criticism. It was not the purpose of those writers to analyze the Boucicault scripts to record what they reveal regarding theatre practice common at the time of their pub­ lication. This I shall attempt to do. The dissertation will begin with a brief review of nineteenth-century theatre practice as general reference books relate it, but the M i n part of the work will present a picture of the theatre practice that the Boucicault scripts reveal concerning the staging, directing, acting, and writ­ ing of plays in that part of the nineteenth century in whioh Dion Boucicault was most active, in the theatres of England and the United States. iY The following persons have helped greatly in the pre- r- paration of this dissertation, Dr. John H. McDowell, Dr. Charles J. McGaw, Dr. Janes R. Bash, Lois M. Jessup. Gladys Rohrig June, 1956 TABLa Of CONTENTS CHAPTER Pa GL I. Thi,AThii, PRACTICL IN ENGLAND AND TH* UNITED STATES DURING DION BOUCICAULT1 S PROFESSIONAL YuAitS (1840-1890), ACCORDING TO GsN-RAL B O O K S .................. 1 otaging Practices ........................... 1 Acting and Directing Practices ............. 11 Boucicault*s Ideas of Acting ana Directing • 14 II, THE BOUCICAULT SCRIPTS REVEAL BIiL-T^ANTH- CijNTUtlY STAGING PRACTICE . ............. 21 Definitions.................................. 21 Routine staging .............................. 22 Unusual Staging ............................. 29 III. STAGING PiJICTICl S Ub^D IN ARRAh-NA-POGUL ... 49 The Story of Arrah-Na-P o g u e ................. 49 An Acting edition of Arrah-Na-Pogue ........ 51 A Promptbook for Arrah-Na-Pogue ............. 52 Criticism of Arrah-Na-Pogue ........ .... 56 Discussion of Reprint 1 ..................... 58 Discussion of Reprint 2 ..................... 60 Discussion of Reprint 3 ..................... 62 Discussion of Reprint 4 ..................... 64 Discussion of Reprint 5 ..................... 66 Discussion of Reprint 6 ..................... 68 v vi CHAPYLR PAGB Discussion of Reprint 7 ...................... 70 Discussion of Reprint 8 ...................... 72 Discussion of Reprint 9 ...................... 74 IV. THL BOUCICAULT PLAY u OOKS 01VR INFORMATION CONCiiRNIUG OTHLK STAGING P u A CTI CLS .... 77 Stage Properties ....................... 77 Stage Lighting ......................... 81 Music in Boucicault Ts P l a y s ............. 87 Costumes in uoucicault1s Plays ............. 91 ilake-up Suggestions in Boucicault Scripts . • 97 Miscellaneous Information.................. 100 V. TIL. BOUCICAULT o Cr i PTo GIVa AH IDr A OF NTNr Tr r NTH-Ch WTURY DIRECTING MCTHODS AND ACTING THCHHI^Uuo ........................... 107 Directing Methods 107 Acting Techniques ........................... 118 VI. BIB SCRIPTS RHVr AL BOUCICAULT THL PLAYVA.IGHT . 133 Boucicault1s Plays Fall into Four Groups . • 133 Plays influenced by Restoration comedy . • 133 His adaptations from the F r e n c h ....... 13# Bis sensational melodrama based on topics of current interest ............. 146 His Irish plays . ....................... 155 boucicault Scripts Display an Awareness of All Phases of T h e a t r e ............. 166 vii CHAPTER PAGL VII. £>Ui'&iA*iY OF C O N C L U S I O N S ....................... 175 The p r o b l e m .................................. 175 The procedure................................ 175 The f i n d i n g s ................................ 175 The c o n c l u s i o n .......... 160 APPENDIX ............................................... 181 A Brief Sketch of Boucicault1s Life ............... 182 An Alphabetical Lis^in^ of Boucicault Plays . * * • 184 BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................... 188 AUTOBIOGRAPHY .......................................... 194 LIST OF TABLBS TAILS PAGB ±. Tabulation of Staging Data from Acting editions of Boucicault Plays ............... 105 II• Tabulation of Staging Data from Promptbooks of Boucicault Plays ............. 106 111. Tabulation of Directing and Acting Data from Acting Editions of Boucicault Plays .... 129 IV. Tabulation of Directing and Acting Data from Promptbooks of Boucicault Plays .... 131 viii LIST OF ruiPKlNTS haPnlNT PAGE 1• Arrah-Na- Pogu». Cast of Characters and Scenery Act 1 1 Scenes I-III ......................... 59 2, Arrah-Na-Pogue. Scenery, Act 1, Scene IV -- Act II, Scene I V ........ 61 3• Arrah-Na-Pogue, Scenery, Act II, Scene V — Act III, Scene III.... 63 4. Arrah-Na-Pogue. Explanation of Act III, Scene III Scene Change, Step f i r s t ........ 6$ 5* Arrah-Na-Pogue. Explanation of Act III, Scene III Scene Change, Step S e c o n d ........ 67 6. Arrah-Na-Pogue. Explanation of Act III, Scene 111 Scene Changes, Step T h i r d ........ 69 7. Arrah-Na-Pogue. View of the Stage after the Act III, scene III Changes Are Over. C o s t u m e s .................................... 71 3. Arrah-Na-Pogue. Costumes ..................... 73 9. Arrah-Na-Pogue. Properties and Explanation of Stage Directions ............. 75 10. Dion Boucicault as Shaun the Poqt and Sadie Martinot as Arrah in nArrah-Na-Poguen • 76 11. Harry J« Montague as Captain Molvneux and ix it&PKINT PAGE Ada Dyas as Claire Ffolliott in "The Shaufehraun11 ................... 120 12. A Villain Berates Father Dolan ............... 123 13* Dion Boucicault as Conn in The Shaughraun . 125 CHAPTER I THEATRE PRACTICE IN ENGLAND AND THE UNITED STATES DURING DION BOUCICAULT*S PROFESSIONAL TEARS (1*40-1*90), ACCORDING TO GENERAL REFERENCE BOOKS For many years Dion Boucicault was conspicuous among contemporary dramatists in both England and the United States* The New York Times for October 5» 1*5*» listed eight plays billed for that evening* Four of them were Boucicault*s. On page 13 of a promptbook prepared for his play The Colleen Bawn. part of an unsigned letter to the editor of Era is quoted in which the writer says twenty-one of Boucicault*s plays were given in fifteen of England's principal cities "last week.1*1 ^Dlon Boucicault, The Colleen Bawn (Columbus: 0*S*U* Theatre Collection, microfilm P 13)* Boucicault wrote for contemporary audiences in the theatres of his own time* To understand the staging, direc­ tions, and business he wrote into his plays, some knowledge of nineteenth-century theatre practice is necessary* STAGING PRACTICES In considering the staging of English and American nineteenth-century plays, one must keep in mind the fact that there were a series of floors, called messanines, under the stags* Tha stags floor itsslf had rows of apsrturss or slits callsd cuts or grooves. Whan thsy wars not in usa, thasa opanings could ba covered with sliders. Tha slidars wara drawn off stags to tha right and to tha laft whan tha opan grooves wara needed. Tha opanings psrmittsd flats or ground rows to ba sant up at tha propar tins* Thasa flats or flat wings wara attachad to undar stags machines call ad trolleys. Thara wara at lsast two banks of wings in aach sat of grooves, and tha trollays to which thay wara attachad wara all eonnsctsd and wara controlled by man oparating windlaasas in tha mezzanines. Thus, tha two banks of wings could ba intsrchangad instantaneously. Tha opan spacas batwaan tha aats of cuts or grooves wara called bridges, and wara movable platforms three feat wide that could ba raised or lowered. Down front on aach side of tha stage was a corner trap. In tha canter just behind tha corner traps was a grave trap, six feat by three feat, called Hamlet's trap. To opan a trap, a lavar was released allowing tha floor of tha trap to drop. It could than ba drawn undar tha stage floor, and tha ghost or object naadad was brought up on tha stage. Counterweights and ropes controllad tha traps, bridges, and trolley-guided scenery, allowing them to rise and fall as desired.
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