Hull's emerging theatre scene adores Shakespeare

Play-going was popular in Hull – from fishermen to wealthy merchant families who flocked back to the port after the summer.

Hull was part of a circuit that included York, Wakefield and Pontefract. It had gained a Theatre Royal back in 1769 – one of the first cities in England to do so outside of London.

Hannah Manktelow, University of Nottingham doctoral student

Until that time, strict government regulations controlled the numbers of official theatre venues. These controls began in 1737 with the Licensing Act which was introduced by the then Prime Minister Robert Walpole, after his government became the subject of numerous satires on the London stage.

It meant that all new plays must be submitted to the Lord Chamberlain for ‘examination’ (censorship) and that theatre could only be staged in theatres which held an official patent. London’s Covent Garden and Drury Lane theatres were the only venues which could legally stage Shakespeare’s plays.

In practice local magistrates turned a blind eye to the rules and allowed performances by travelling acting companies to continue.

But as provincial towns and cities like Hull grew bigger, so did the demand for permanent playhouses outside of London to be established. A select few, such as Hull, were issued patents by act of Parliament. It was a sign of great prestige, and the Theatres Royal – as they became known – attracted top London stars when they went on tour.

The theatre featured on this playbill, the Old Humber Street theatre, opened its doors on 1 May 1810 (but not with a Shakespeare performance). It was described in a tourist guide as one of the best buildings of the kind out of London.

Here the actor Mr Jefferson has organised his “benefit” night – this means that the actor can keep the money raised at the door, once the wages and overheads for the company are paid off.

He can also choose the play and the role he plays… so here’s the dilemma: Should an ambitious, lesser-known actor like Mr Jefferson cast himself in a leading role and risk low returns at the box office? Or should he give the lead to a star performer, who would attract the crowds and bolster the takings?

It was an interesting judgement call. Mr Jefferson made his decision. Tonight he is Hecate, one of the witches in this “melodramatic” adaptation of Macbeth, and a more established and better known actor, “Mr S Butler” plays the lead, Macbeth.

We don’t know if the gamble paid off but every effort has been made to attract spectators.

The benefit has the approval of the Mayor – who may be in the audience – and viewers are carefully taken through the plot of the drama, to whet their appetite and familiarise them with what unfolds on stage (though as one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays at this time they would probably be familiar with the plot).

The scenes are described with suitable melodramatic fervour, and the author is at pains to reassure us that the evil are punished, and the virtuous are rewarded.

Although the theatre was to enjoy many an entertainment in the following years, sadly it was destroyed by fire in 1859.

An alderman called John Symonds remembered standing shivering outside its doors when he was a young boy, eager to cadge a ticket from someone leaving the performance early. When he talked to the press about the ruin of his pet place of amusement, he turned to Shakespeare to sum up his sense of loss:

“The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherits, shall dissolve,
And like the baseless fabric of a vision,
Leave not a wrack behind.”
(The Tempest, Act IV Sc 1)

(Source for quotes – Alderman Edited and reprinted in Kingstoniana, 1889 – reprinted in Evolution of the Drama in Hull and District by Thomas Sheppard, A Brown and Sons Ltd, 1927)

This performance was staged at the Freemasons Lodge, at Mytongate in Hull, at the behest of the Mayor.

On the bill, rather than one play, there’s a selection of scenes from Shakespeare’s “most admired and popular works”.

This gave actors a chance to display their versatility – Macbeth (murder), Hamlet (madness), The Merchant of Venice (venality), and Richard the III (the wooing scene, so a bit of love interest plus the pathos of the Princes).

Spectators would recognise and enjoy the familiar scenes, a bit like a modern day audience would be enthralled by the trailers in a cinema.

“Admirers of our Immortal Bard will have an opportunity of witnessing the very quintessence of our Inimitable author's celebrated productions” – says the theatre manager, selling his big night.

Shakespeare, enveloped by lectures, songs, sketches and dancing, fulfils the evening’s intellectual aspirations. (There is even a reference to a scene featuring a view of the new town of Goole!)

The performers are Mr and Mrs Carr, visiting actors who have performed in the region, at the York and Hull theatres. With them is their daughter, the “Infant Prodigy” or “Female Roscius” – a title which actors often appropriated as it refers to a Roman actor of renown, so conferred gravitas on the performer.

This way of presenting Shakespeare proves the esteem – almost veneration – in which the national bard is held.