Primers to the Past: Colonial Fredericksburg and Theatrical Entertainment

Project Coordinator: Tom Clark, Stafford High School

Introduction

The Acting Companies

The Performance Spaces

The Audience and Plays

Theatre in Fredericksburg

Bibliography

Click on all images for larger view.

Acting in Colonial America seems to have been an eclectic mix of amateur performances (by students, soldiers and ordinary citizens), professional for profit companies and a mix of amateur actors co-mingling with the professional. Likewise, performances of plays run the gamut from being presented with the official stamp of authority to running the risk of a fine if performed in certain states.

Records indicate that such was the stigma attached to acting for money that a number of "gentlemen" appear in playbills of the time as "acting for their own diversion." But the art of acting could also be a sophisticated affair. The faculty of The College of William and Mary saw the opportunity to teach Latin and Greek through performance of the classics, which eventually led to frequent performances by the students. Women were also allowed to perform and were every bit as professional and hard working as the men.

Part of the reason the profession went from being derided to being seen as a legitimate vocation during the span of the colonial era was due to David Garrick. As an actor in England, he was responsible for infusing his characterizations with a more naturalistic, believable portrayal. Being respected and accepted by British society helped to lend legitimacy to the fledgling colonial stage and itinerant acting companies which frequently presented the adaptations of Shakespeare that he penned. He was also an author and poet in his own right, and his "after-pieces"-farces which were performed after the main play-were the most frequently staged on colonial stages.⁴ Garrick also did the theatrical profession a huge service by cleaning up the playhouses. He refused to admit onlookers backstage and discontinued the practice of allowing audience members to sit onstage during performances. The more rowdy elements he had ejected altogether.

A lot of mystery surrounds the touring companies. Vague diary entries, letters and complaints that appeared in printed material reveal all too often that unidentified companies performed unidentified plays. Often a company would perform in a certain city or state only to mysteriously re-appear months or years later in a location hundreds of miles away. And while coaches were used to carry the players from town to town, "the most popular mode of travel was by water."⁵

Touring companies were frequently a family affair with the nucleus comprised of relatives acting or managing as in the Hallam, Kean, and Douglas companies.

The rate of actor turnover was very high because of the difficulty of the profession. Actors would be on the road for long stretches of time, going from one temporary dwelling to another with low and uncertain wages. Additionally, companies were always in the position to have to solicit permission to perform at locations and then transform a space into a theatre or raise subscriptions to build one.

Many actors would decide to stay in a locality or return to England, putting companies in the position to frequently find new performers. Evidence suggests that some amateur actors were recruited to perform a part just for the duration of the stay. Some of these amateur performances turned into auditions with the player actually joining the company on the road. Another notable practice of the time was for an actor to quit one company, join another or even to start a company of their own. Until 1774, and the beginning of the Revolution forced the professional theatrical groups in the colonies to stop, the largest and best known companies were:

Murray/Kean Company
The Company of Comedians and later The Annapolis Company
August 1749-Decebmer 1752

Lewis Hallam's Company
The London Company of Comedians
1752-1755

David Douglass's Company - The American Company 1756-1774

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Footnotes:
4. Johnson and Burling. Pg. 67
5. Hornblow. Pg. 24

See bibliography for titles.

David Garrick as painted by Thomas Gainsborough. Courtesy of The Folger Library