“THE AMUSEMENT WORLD”: THEATRE AS SOCIAL PRACTICE IN EIGHTEEN-NINETIES TORONTO. by Jessica Gardiner A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Centre for Study of Drama University of Toronto © Copyright by Jessica Gardiner 2009 Abstract “The Amusement World.”: Theatre as Social Practice in Eighteen- Nineties Toronto. Jessica Gardiner Doctor of Philosophy 2009 Graduate Centre for Study of Drama, University of Toronto This thesis places a selection of performances that took place in Toronto’s commercial theatres during the eighteen nineties in their historical context in order to consider determinants of meaning that influenced the social practice in one Canadian city - Toronto. These performances are selected to explore a range of performance activity across the decade and include: the debut performance by Canadian violinist Nora Clench at the Academy of Music in 1889; a fund-raising amateur “entertainment” The Marriage Dramas, performed for local adolescents at the Grand Opera House in 1892; The Second Mrs. Tanqueray, an example of the touring legitimate drama, performed by veteran acting couple the Kendals in 1894; another touring performance , in this instance a popular- theatre favorite, True Irish Hearts, by Dan McCarthy at the Toronto Opera House in 1893 and a rare example of Canadian playwriting from the decade, a performance of Catherine Nina Merritt’s United Empire Loyalist history play When George the Third was King in 1897. The analysis of all performances in this dissertation considers a range of determinants of meaning that Toronto audiences may have drawn upon when viewing a given performance and argues that the following constraints not only influenced the construction of a situated identity in Toronto but also suppressed domestic professional theatre production: a) a system of patronage that stigmatized the professional commercial theatre as frivolous or decadent; b) a utilitarian bias that was at odds with the post- materialist sensibilities of newer and more innovative forms of the late nineteenth-century drama; ii c) an economic and business practice that centralized production outside of the country to assure profit; and perhaps most significantly: d) a cultural hegemony that deemed Canadian drama to be immature and thus deterred works of aesthetic expression. This thesis is further informed by an understanding that history is written under the influence of the author’s own situated set of determinants and its goal in conducting an associative reading of Toronto’s nineties theatre practice is to locate theatre and performance history as part of a struggle among social, economic, cultural and political hierarchies. iii Acknowledgments To Richard Plant, my thesis supervisor, who was there at the beginning and remained true to the end. Your wisdom, passion, and special brand of optimism have combined to shape my academic activity and my interest in Canadian theatre and drama. Thank you for “getting it” early on and facilitating the approach taken in this thesis. To the members of my committee and defense team, thank you to Stephen Johnson, Charlie Keil, Paula Sperdakos, and John Astington for your instruction and guidance. To my external appraiser Tim Fort, thank you for your energy, enthusiasm and insight and to my defense chair, Gillian Fenwick, thank you for making the day less stressful. To the faculty who taught for the Graduate Centre for Study for Drama and who helped shape my academic pursuits, thank you for your wisdom and passion for drama and theatre. In particular, thank you to Michael Sidnell who laid the foundation for the theory explored in this thesis and to Domenico Pietropaolo and Veronica Ambros who provided support in a time of need. To the staff of the Graduate Centre for Study of Drama who offered friendship and tolerated my presence far longer than required by duty. Thank you Lou Massey, Rob Moses, Jean Glasgow, Paul Stoesser and Debbie Loughlin. My thanks to the librarians and staff of the Robarts Library at the University of Toronto, the National iv Archives of Canada, the Toronto Reference Library, the City of Toronto Archives, the Archives of Ontario and the University of Chicago Library for their assistance and guidance. To the many friends and colleagues who supported me through the lengthy process of writing this thesis, thank you for your counsel and company. In particular I want to acknowledge Kathy Chung, Myra Malley, Kirsty Johnson, Heidi Tiedemann Darroch, Shannon and Jamie Ridler, Deborah Tihanyi, Michael Lapointe and the rest of the team at ECP as well as my colleagues at Woodsworth College. v For Marlowe “A good guy for all the right reasons” vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract............................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments............................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents................................................................................................................ vii 1. CHAPTER ONE - “The Amusement World”: Theatre as Social Practice in Eighteen- Nineties Toronto. 1.1 “Faust Up-To-Date”: Mephistopheles Plays Toronto............................................ 1 1.2 The Eighteen Nineties as Historical and Aesthetic Construct................................ 4 1.3 Touring Theatre: Social Practices and an Associative Historiography................ 8 1.3.1 Producing Meaning in the Eighteen-Nineties Theatre.................................. 8 1.3.2 Social Practices and an Associative Historiography..................................... 11 1.4 Methodology................................................................................................................ 16 1.4.1 Local Performance Production I: 1.4.1.1 Chapter Two: “Music and the Drama”: Receiving Nora Clench and The Marriage Dramas: Patronage, Musical Entertainments and Amateur Performance for Charity in Nineties Toronto.......................... 17 1.4.2 Legitimate Theatre Practice: 1.4.2.1 Chapter Three: “The Drama”: Re-viewing Mrs. Tanqueray: The Kendals Bring Sir Arthur Wing Pinero’s problem play, The Second Mrs. Tanqueray, to Nineties Toronto: The Legitimate Theatre and the Press................................................................................................. 19 1.4.3 Popular Theatre Practice: 1.4.3.1 Chapter Four: “At the Playhouses”: Show Business and True Irish Hearts. Theatre Management and the Popular Theatre in Eighteen-Nineties Toronto. .......................................................................... 20 1.4.4 Local Performance Production II: 1.4.4.1 Chapter Five: “From the Foyer”: A Nation in Waiting: Catherine Nina Merritt’s When George the Third was King: Amateur Theatricals and Playmaking.......................................................................... 21 1.5 Faust Outdated or Outdone?.................................................................................... 22 2. CHAPTER TWO - “Music and the Drama”: Amateur Charity Performance, Musical Entertainment and Patronage in Nineties Toronto. 2.1 “Music and the Drama.” ............................................................................................ 29 2.2 Patronage..................................................................................................................... 34 2.2.1 Official Patronage......................................................................................... 36 vii 2.2.1.1 Queen Victoria and the Theatre....................................................... 36 2.2.1.2 The Queen’s Representatives in Canada: Patronage and Cultural Dominion........................................................................................ 38 2.2.1.3 Politicians, Patronage, the Performing Arts and Change................. 42 2.2.2 Patronage from Toronto’s Social and Economic Leaders............................ 47 2.3 Toronto - the “Musical City.” ................................................................................... 48 2.3.1 Music and Industry. ...................................................................................... 49 2.3.2 Music and Education..................................................................................... 53 2.3.3 Music and the Press....................................................................................... 54 2.3.4 Theatre Patronage......................................................................................... 55 2.4 The Academy of Music.............................................................................................. 57 2.4.1 A “Conveniently Fitted” Concert Hall.......................................................... 57 2.4.2 The AOM Opening - The Nora Clench Concert............................................ 59 2.4.2.1 Nora Clench..................................................................................... 59 2.4.2.2 Ticket Sales and Box Office Practice.............................................. 61 2.4.2.3 Inside the AOM................................................................................ 62 2.4.2.4 Opening Night: November 6th 1889................................................ 64 2.4.2.5 Critical Response. ........................................................................... 67 2.4.3 The AOM 1890 - 1896.................................................................................... 69 2.5 Music finds a home