"Their Majesties' Servants." Annals of the English Stage (Volume 1 of 3)Doran, Dr. (John)
History
"Their Majesties' Servants." Annals of the English Stage (Volume 1 of 3)
Doran, Dr. (John)
Actors -- Great Britain; Theater -- Great Britain -- History
These halcyon days had, no doubt, their little passing clouds;
some prejudices and jealousies would arise among the leaders, as
excellence began to manifest itself from below; but these, as Cibber
remarks, with a lofty philosophy, were "frailties, which societies of
a higher consideration, while they are composed of men, will never
be entirely free from." Cibber and his fellows deserved to prosper.
Although they enjoyed a monopoly they did not abuse it; and £1500
profit to each of the three managers, in one year, the greatest sum
ever yet so realised on the English stage, showed what might be done,
without the aid of "those barbarous entertainments," of acrobats
and similar personages, for which the dignified Cibber had the most
profound and wholesome horror.
While the management was in the hands of Cibber, Wilks, and Dogget,
the good temper of the first was imperturbable. He yielded, or seemed
to yield, to the hot hastiness of Wilks, and lent himself to the
captious waywardness of Dogget. However impracticable the latter
was, Cibber always left a way open to reconciliation. In the very
bitterest of their feuds, "I never failed to give him my hat and
'_your servant_,' whenever I met him, neither of which he would ever
return for above a year after; but I still persisted in my usual
salutation, without observing whether it was civilly received or
not." Dogget would sit sullen and silent, at the same table with
Cibber, at Will's--the young gentlemen of the town loitering about
the room, to listen to the critics, or look at the actors--and Cibber
would treat the old player with deference, till the latter was
graciously pleased to be softened, and ask for a pinch from Colley's
box, in token of reconciliation.
Almost the only word approaching to complaint advanced by Cibber
refers to public criticism. The newspapers, and especially _Mist's
Journal_, he says, "took upon them very often to censure our
management, with the same freedom and severity as if we had been so
many ministers of state." This is thoroughly Cibberian in humour
and expression. For these critics, however, Colley had a supreme
contempt. Wilks and Booth, who succeeded Dogget, were more sensitive,
and would fain have made reply; but Cibber remarked that the noise
made by the critics was a sign of the ability and success of the
management. If we were insignificant, said he, and played only to
empty houses, these fellows would be silent.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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