Shakespeare at the Fair

Victorian fairs often hosted pop-up theatres, which didn't require licences, and in which Shakespeare was performed as part of a rich mix of entertainment!

While Shakespeare was mainly performed in traditional theatres, it was also staged in less conventional settings. Fairs often hosted theatres, which didn’t require licensing, and Shakespeare was performed as part of a repertoire that included melodramas, burlesques, ballets, farces, nautical pieces, war spectacles and dog dramas featuring real canines!

The author Josephine Harrop is one of the few to have researched the history of the travelling theatres. In her book Victorian Portable Theatres she documents the 19th century phenomenon from the 1800s, with their heyday during the reign of Queen Victoria to their gradual disappearance in the early decades of the twentieth century. These travelling theatre companies trundled along the highways of England with wagons stacked with everything from a portable booth theatre to scenery, props and costumes.

Shortened performances of Shakespeare were performed many times at these fairs and extracts worked as a “trailer” for the main show in the booth.

These were repeated as frequently as possible from dawn till nightfall - one critic refers to Hamlet and Othello being “barbarously murdered for the gratification of early risers at least five and twenty times before breakfast.” On the whole standards were not high – for performers and spectators. Writers such as Dickens found this form of entertainment “quaint.”

Travelling theatres did not restrict their business to fairs. Companies could arrive several days before the fair and stay on for several days afterwards. Outside of fair days and in winter seasons full length dramas were presented. Sam Wild’s company spent more time presenting original dramas to staging shorter versions and had higher “production values” than others. There were daily rehearsals, a named producer or stage manager (a role Sam took on), and attention paid to costumes and scenery.

It had ten Shakespeare plays in its repertoire but only four were regularly performed: Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello and Richard III were the favoured quartet. Although these were full-length productions, they were popular adaptations of the period with action favoured over the words, as well as singing and dancing. Also, Shakespeare took his turn alongside popular dramas of the day, as this report in Era of 6 May 1849 shows:

“On Friday Richard III, Mr Holloway’s Richard was a powerful delineation. On Monday and Tuesday was performed “My Poor Dog Tray; or, The Idiot of the Shannon” Mr Bateson as Darby Sullivan was exceedingly droll and played and sang admirably. Mr S Wild’s dog, Nelson, surpassed anything of the kind hitherto witnessed on these boards.”

Mr Thorne’s travelling theatre spent a summer season at North Shields in 1845. Shakespeare was presented regularly but there were no guest stars or special occasions, which suggests that there was a strong leading man well versed in Shakespeare.