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University Microfilms 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 A Xerox Education Company 73-2000 GEORGES, Jr., Corwin Augustin, 1945- AUGUSTIN DALY'S SHAKESPEAREAN PRODUCTIONS. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1972 Theater University Microfilms, A XEROX Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan AUGUSTIN DALY'S SHAKESPEAREAN PRODUCTIONS DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Corwin Augustin Georges, J r., A.B., M.A. ****** The Ohio State University 1972 Approved By Adviser Department of Theatre PLEASE NOTE: Some pages may have indistinct print. FiImed as received. University Microfilms, A Xerox Education Company FOREWORD Between 1869 and 1899, Augustin Daly played a most significant role in American theatre. As one of America's fir s t non-actor managers, Daly successfully managed a number of theatres in New York, as well as Daly's Theatre, London. During his early theatrical career, Daly served as press agent for several stars of the mid-nineteenth century, fille d the position of drama c ritic for several New York newspapers, and wrote and adapted plays. As the manager of one of America's foremost stock companies of the late nineteenth century, Daly was acutely aware of the tastes of his society. This awareness was transformed into a rigid, dictatorial control of not only every aspect of production, but also of the conduct of his company. From 1869 until his death in 1899, Augustin Daly was obsessed by his theatres and their success, in order to achieve the success and recognition which he desired, he attempted to establish an e lite audience which would time and again v is it his theatre because they could rely upon the quality of production found there. In order to accomplish this goal, he fanatically controlled every aspect of production, care­ fu lly developed his stock company, and chose for production scripts which were suited to his company's talents and to the tastes of the audience which he hoped to cultivate. II Throughout the twenty-nine seasons of his career, Daly was continually searching for new scripts. Because of the constant need for new dramatic vehicles for his company, Daly became not only quite fam iliar with dramatic literature of various periods and nationalities, but also quite adept at adapting scripts to suit the demands of his company and the nineteenth-century tastes of his audience. Throughout his career, Daly, guided by these primary considerations of company and audience, turned to Shakespeare's plays and utilized them in achieving the success and recognition which he sought. Daly's Shakespearean productions were praised effusively in America and Europe and the ensemble of his company was said to sur­ pass that of the Com£die Franqaise. During the period in which Henry Irving's Lyceum productions of Shakespeare were the accepted standard for English Shakespearean production, audiences and critics found Daly's American productions of comparable quality. Pictorial realism in American Shakespearean production reached its zenith under the direction of Augustin Daly. However, Daly's major concern was not merely pictorial realism but a concern for the total effect of the production. Therefore, his rigid control of pro­ duction aspects encompassed not only scenic elements, but also the use of music, the adaptation of scripts, realistic and special effects in lighting, and the acting style of his company. Under Daly's command, a ll production elements were assigned subservient importance to the total production. The managerial career of Augustin Daly is the subject of Marion Michalak's unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, "The Management of iii Augustin Daly's Stock Company, 1869." Indiana University, 1961, which discusses Daly's managerial practices and the development of his stock company. Other critical studies related to Daly's work include Jean ValJean Cutler’s unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, "Realism in Augustin Daly's Productions of Contemporary Plays," University of Illin o is , 1962, which discusses elements of scenic and textual realism in contemporary plays, w ritten, adapted, and produced by Dalyjand Marvi Felheim's The Theatre of Augustin Daly which basically approaches Daly's career through detailed textual studies of Daly's productions. The most comprehensive account of Daly's career is found in Joseph Francis Daly's The Life of Augustin Daly. Because none of these studies consider Daly's Shakespearean productions In detail as a significant facet of Daly's career, this study has been designed to cover this one significant aspect of Daly's career. Daly's Shakespearean productions are doubly significant i f approached not only from their position in the Daly's company's repertoire, but also i f placed into the context of the nineteenth century. Placed within the framework of nineteenth-century American theatre, these productions cover the growth and culmination of pic­ torial realism in Shakespearean production, reveal the emergence of the modern American director, follow the development of one of America' foremost stock companies, and span the theatrical career of one of the most important figures of nineteenth-century American theatre, Augustin Daly. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to explore, assess, and illuminate Augustin Daly's techniques of Shakespearean production, thereby contributing to the body of information concerning the nineteenth-century American theatre. The structure and scope of this study have been dictated by the availability of related materials. The wealth of available materials provides the opportunity to gain an overview of Daly's Shakespearean productions and to trace progressions and patterns in them. In order to examine in depth this one particular aspect of Daly's career, it has been beneficial to concentrate upon one particu­ lar Shakespearean production. Primarily because of the abundance of correspondence, promptbooks, photographs, playbills, reviews, e tc ., this study has assumed a dual approach to the Shakespearean produc­ tions of Augustin Daly. The study is organized as follows: Chapter I— Nineteenth- Century American Theatre and Augustin Daly; Chapter I I — Daly and Shakespeare; Chapter I I I —Augustin Daly's Production of The Taming of the Shrew; and Chapter IV—Conclusions. It should be noted that unless in a quotation the standard spelling for Katherine is used within this study. Similarly the name of Petruchio is treated, except in reference to Daly's production for which Daly spelled the name, Petrucio. The choice of The Taming of the Shrew for detailed study was based upon the large number of promptbooks, part books, and related materials available and upon the critical recognition of this produc­ tion as Daly's most significant Shakespearean production. Chapter IV- Conclusions, w ill consider the adherence of The Taming of the Shrew to those patterns and progressions revealed within the overview of Daly's Shakespearean production in Chapter I I . The method of preparing this study has been essentially historical investigation and the synthesis of evidence gathered from primary and secondary sources. The methodology of Chapters I II and IV which work with Daly's The Taming of the Shrew promptbooks and part books has been primarily analytical. Primary sources used in this study include various promptbooks, part books, p layb ills, and pro­ grammes from Daly's Shakespearean productions, Daly's account books and box office receipts, Daly's correspondence, scene and costume designs and photographs, and reviews. Secondary sources include the previously mentioned critical studies and a variety of related works concerning nineteenth-century theatre. I am grateful to the staffs of the Folger Shakespeare Library, New York Public Library, Theatre Collection, and the Harvard Theatre Collection for their assistance. I am especially grateful to John C. Morrow, Roy H. Bowen, Konrad Zobel, and Robert D. Boyer. This study was made possible by their advice, assistance, and encouragement as well as by a Research Travel Grant awarded by the Department of Theatre of The Ohio State University.