Mr Holmes keeps the fires burning bright for Hamlet

Play-goers of Newbury and Speenhamland are assured of a warm welcome at Mr Beverley’s benefit performance of Shakespeare’s masterpiece Hamlet.

Newbury is roughly half way between London and Bath and was a stopping point on the journey which, in the 18th century, could take about two days.

Wealthy travellers en route to the thermal spa would stop-over, and soon Newbury (and Speenhamland in particular) was filled with coaching inns. Some of these were huge: it is thought that one inn, the George & Pelican, had stabling for 300 horses.

Newbury Market Place (c) Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection

These well-heeled visitors sought entertainment and a theatre was built so they could enjoy a host of performances. It is more than likely that these included Shakespeare’s plays.

Although this playbill is from a later period, it shows the thirst for good drama (and particularly for the bard) has not been quenched.

It is not clear exactly where this theatre was located, nor if it’s the same place that entertained those weary coach-travellers. But we do know where the lessee of the theatre, Mr Holmes resides: at 82 Broadway, Speenhamland.

On that particular evening, November 29th 1843, spectators are invited to a special “benefit” performance of Hamlet chosen by the actor Mr Beverley. Once the overheads and wages are paid, he can enjoy the takings at the door.

He can also choose his role, and in this case he’s gone for the lead, banking on his name to attract a large audience into the theatre to boost the profits. So it is more than likely he is a well-known performer.

With the choice of Hamlet the playbill suggests that the spectators are in for a treat. The author waxes lyrical about Hamlet and bows to his educated readers by including lines from another of Shakespeare’s plays in his eulogy:

This is what he says:

There is nothing in the whole circle of the Drama, ancient or modern, that can in any way be compared to Hamlet; it stands alone in a class of itself, its colossal greatness mocks all efforts at comparison: it would be no less easy to take the height of the Andes with a pair of compasses. No praise can truly speak its merits,

"Age cannot wither it, nor custom stale its infinite variety."

The quote “Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety” is taken from Antony and Cleopatra.

The scenery and details of the scenes are listed, with a mention of the ghost scene and a nod to the Victorian love for the supernatural. Once in the theatre, audiences are reassured that they will be warmed by good fires, necessary to keep the chill of the November evening at bay.