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National Library Bibliothèque nationale H*m of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. rue WelIington OttawaON KIAON4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Lib- of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sel1 reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la fome de microfiche/fih., de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The auîhor retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fkom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. TABLE of CONTENTS Title Page Abstract Table of Contents List of Tables List of Figures Introduction Audiences and Theatres; Authors and Plays; Actors and Acting The Private Secretary: A Curate in Conflict The Farces of A. W. Pinero: Conflict at the Court Charley's Aunt: The Consummation of Conflict The Conclusion of Conflict Bibiiography Appendix LIST OF TAI3tES 1. The Prince's Theatre: Location and Prices of Seats 2. A cornparison of the two London casts of The Private Secretarv 3. The Cast of The Magistrate, Court Theatre, March 2 1, 1885 4. The Cast of The Schooimistress, Court Theatre, March 27, 1886 5. The Cast of Dandy Dick, Court Theatre, January 27, 1887 6. The Cast of The Amazons, Court Theatre, March 7, 1893 7. The Cast of CharleyysAunt, Bury St. Edmunds Theatre, February 29, 1892 8. The Cast of Charlef s Aunt, Royalty Theatre, December 2 1, 1892 LIST OF FIGUES 1. W. S. Penley as Rev. Robert Spalding and W. J. Hill as Mr. Cattermole The Prïvate Secretarv: Act 1 2. Mrs. Stephens, Miss Vane Featherstone, Miss Maud MiIIett and Charles Hawtrey, The Prïvate Secretary, Act 2 3. W. S. Penley as Rev. Robert Spalding in The Pnvate Secretary 4. H. Beerbohm Tree as Rev. Robert Spalding in The Private Secretarv 5. Arthur Cecil in The Maistrate, Act III 6. Messrs. Victor, Kerr & Clayton in The Schoolrnistress, Act EL 7.Miss Temss & Mr. EIIiott, The Amazons, Act II. INTRODUCTION In his opening remarks to the [nternational Conference on Humour and Laughter at Cardiff, Wales, in 1976, the English cornedian Ken Dodd concluded wi-th a plea that "nobody should ever discover or disclose 'the key' to humour."' Such a discovery seems unlikely because there exists a large nmber of often contradictory theories of humour, laughter and the comic. These have emerged frorn various disciplines including philosophy, psychology, physiology and literary cnticism. Paul Lauter observes in his introduction to a collection of various writings on comedy and laughter, that the theories begin by observing that cornedies generally cause us to laugh. Having fixed on this phenornenon as a starting point, they diverge into physiology ... or into psychology .... Laughter theorists of a more literary tum... usually prefer to follow the track from laugh to cause. In the end they discover not comedy, in the course of which laughter is raised, but the "laughable" or "Iudicrous," generally identified with the ri di cul ou^.^ Sorne theorists brkfly mention that there are performance aspects present in the delivery of jokes and in the occurrence, observation, and retelling of humorous incidents. Unfortunately, the importance of the performer is often given little consideration, or completely disregarded, in the development and conclusions of their particular arguments. Generally, the theones pay Little attention to farce, or demean the genre's performance conventions, in their explanations of humour and the comic. Since the primary purpose of farce is to create laughter, this attitude and the neglect of the genre in theories of humour is problematical. Lauter comments that "artists have always recognized the need to get the audience to view their work in a particular ~a~."~The peculiar art of the farce actor is to portray the cornic so that audiences can perceive and respond to the humour. Farce actors employ their own vocal and physical artistry, control the rhythm and Pace of a performance, and exploit the moment-to-moment textual and staging situations. The actors' purpose is to present verbal and visual images that conflict with each other or with the audience's preconceived theatrical or social conventions. The images initiate a cornplex psychological process which obliges the audience to try to resolve the conflicts. At the same time, the actors manipulate the audience's ability to achieve a resolution in order to generate increasing Levels of mental energy. The decisive factor is the desire to stimulate the audience into a crescendo of response, which will culminate at the appropriate moment in a climax of uncontrotled laughter. Successful farce acting requires a complex combination of visual and verbaI techniques and an exceptional ability to react dynamically with the audience during performance. It is the skill and creativity involved in this process that defines the artistry of farce acting and the artistic ment of farce. By examining the performances of several plays in their conternporary contest I will determine those elements that characterise the process of laughter creation and show how the artistry of the farce actor is indispensable to this process. AIthough individual farces are generally written for and about the culture and society of a particular place and time, the humour of farce can cross temporal and cultural boundaries; for example, the plays of Aristophanes from classical Greece and of Plautus from early Rome are stilI funny in the twentieth century. However, cultural and social environrnents will affect the responses of audiences in different times and places and \vil1 influence aspects of performance, such as the style of acting. Writing in 1822 but refemng to eighteenth-century actor Jack Palmer, Charles Lamb noted that "a player with Jack's talents, if we had one now, woufd not dare do the part in the same mamer.-.- He must take his cue from the ~~ectators-''~ A discussion of the artistic qualities of farce acting requires an analysis of the performances of specific plays, in their historical context, in order to ascertain the techniques used by the actors to evoke laughter and to evaluate the effect on the contemporary audiences. I will examine the productions of several farces presented in London, Engiand in the late nineteenth century in order to determine and assess the effectiveness of the Iaughter-provoking elements used in the performance of farce during that period. It was during the latter half of the nineteenth century that the London theatre industry became one of the major suppliers of mass entertainment with the popuiarity of theatre extending to most social classes. At this time many established theatrical customs were changing and evolving, and several developments in twentieth-century theatre practice can be traced to innovations from the closing decades of the nineteenth century. In the next chapter i will examine some of the changes to the theatncal environment, with particuIar reference to those which had a significant influence on the acting of farce in the late-nineteenth century. In Late Victorian Farce, Jeffrey Huberman refers to the perïod 1884- 1893 as "the Golden Age of British Farce," and he devotes considerable time to a Iiterary analysis of many farces from this period.' I have chosen several of the plays that Huberman examines, and I have found his plot descriptions and character analyses helpful. However, his rnethodological approach and his terrninology are specifically based on the concept of drama as literature. While I fully support his attempt to privilege a generally marginalised genre, he pays little aîtention to those aspects of the actor's art, such as vocal inflections, facial expressions and the control of a play's rhythm and pace, that are critical to the performance of farce. In addition, his analysis does not include an examination of the farcicaI codes that wrïters conceal in their texts and that audiences rnust decipher with the active but circumspect facilitation of the actors. In the decade prior to Huberman's "Golden Age," adaptations from French plays were the main source of full-length farces for the London stage. The originak often used marital infidelity and sexual innuendo as sources for laughter. Although "deodorised" during adaptation to reduce the conflict with Victorian moral and family values, their content still caused significant adverse criticism and moral indignation. ln spite of this publicity, or, perhaps, because of it, the French farces were very popular. 1 will examine them more closely in the next chapter in order to ascertain their influence on the performance and reception of subsequent British farces. The Farces of the "Golden Age" that I will investigate contain considerable potential for moral and social controversy. They present young people in sexually ambiguous situations, socially prominent men in equivocal circumstances and characters of both sexes dressed in morally or socially inappropriate clothing. The contemporary evidence wîll demonstrate that the most popular farces combined the greatest potential for conflict with the best artistry and that, generally, the least pcpular farces failed because reduced artistic freedorn, cornmitment or ability hindered the catalytic presence of the actors. My performance analyses will focus on the productions of several plays; The Private Secretary by Charles Hawtrey, CharleyysAunt by Brandon Thomas and Arthur W. Pinero's series of five farces presented at the Court theatre. 1 will ascertain, and determine the effectiveness of, those characteristics pecul iar to the acting of farce during this period.