Sadler's Wells Theatre Archive

The World and Sir Cliff come to the Wells - visiting company performances

In last week's blog - A Grimey Affair - mention was  made about how, following the departure of its two resident companies during the 1960s, Sadler’s Wells became a venue for international and UK based companies wanting to launch their careers. In fact, the archive's largest series relates to these visiting performers and is, therefore, worthy of a dedicated blog post.

Over the past 18-months it's been quite a herculean task to separate, sort and catalogue these visiting companies production files. This particular job is almost completed and so far over 300 files featuring productions performed at Sadler's Wells,  and covering four decades (late-1950s to the 1980s), have been catalogued and indexed. 

Many companies and their productions have become part of theatre history at Sadler's Wells, whereas others were local or amateur affairs but not without merit. Productions files include shows by Marcel Marceau, the Finnish National Opera, the Iraqi National Dance Company, Moscow Arts Theatre and the National Dance Theatre of Jamaica, as well as performances by Lindsay Kemp and the London Contemporary Dance Theatre. The files are of potential interest to those studying or possessing an interest in theatre management and its history.

A wide range of material reveals a complex 'behind-the-scenes' process from initial contact between theatre and company to post-performance analysis. Information includes correspondence, seating numbers, press releases and cuttings, publicity, and performer and company agreements. These all combine to produce a fascinating insight into what the audience doesn't see with regard to administrative preparation for a performance. Also held are files relating to productions that ended up as 'nearlies' - those that didn't quite reach the stage.

My personal favourites amongst the visiting production files are the national folk music and dance companies from the Far-East performing at the Wells during this period, in many cases bringing their country's culture to these shores for the very first time and often amidst a backdrop of political tension at home. 

Below is just a few examples of items from the production files:

1. Letter of thanks from the Mayor of Islington to Sadler's Wells following a premiere (1969)
2. Flyer for Kalakshetra [Indian Dance Theatre]. The production was cancelled at the last moment (1971)
3. Press cutting anticipating the performance of  Kalakshetra [Indian Dance Theatre] (1971)
4. Announcement that following cancellation of Kalakshetra, Cliff Richard is to make his stage debut at Sadler's Wells in Graham Greene's The Potting Shed. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tradition of pantomime

As this is the season of pantomimes it seems appropriate to write about pantomime at Sadler’s Wells. However, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries pantomimes were not confined to Christmas and January, as they are today, but were performed all year round. 

Pantomime at Sadler’s Wells originated in performances known as the 'Harlequinade', which came to Britain from Italy. Harlequinade’s consisted of 4 characters, Harlequin, a comedian and the romantic male lead; Columbine, a beautiful girl who is in love with Harlequin; Pantaloon, the greedy old father of Columbine, who tries to keep the young lovers separate, and Clown, Pantaloon’s servant who endeavours to keep Harlequin and Columbine apart through practical jokes. 

The basic plot of the Harlequinade would see Harlequin and Columbine elope together with Pantaloon and Clown pursuing the young couple in a comic chase scene - this plot remained unchanged for 150 years. The action however would begin with an ordinary dramatisation of literature followed by a spectacular transformation, where the characters in the play were transformed into the characters of the Harlequinade and then the pantomime would begin. Joseph Grimaldi excelled in the role of clown making it famous and introducing the phrase "Here we go again" at the start of the transformation scene. 

The Sadler's Wells collection features numerous playbills advertising pantomime performances, many of them had double titles to advertise both parts of the evening’s performance. One of my favourites is Cock a Doodle Doo, or, Harlequin the Fairy of the Fiddlestick and Lost Shoe. The playbills also contain references to the magnificent transformation scene. The earliest pantomime script held in the collection is Sister Witches (18th Century), an image of which is below: 

The archive also holds Harlequin and Cinderella, or, the Little Fairy and the Large Glass Slipper, which contains detailed lighting cues and stage designs, creating an impression of splendour in this Sadler’s Wells pantomime: "Oh no it doesn't...oh yes it does..." Sorry, we couldn't resist!

 

The Dibdin family

Song writing in British theatres from the late 18^th to early 19^th centuries was dominated by one family, the Didbin’s. This family consisted of father Charles (1745-1814) and sons Charles Junior (1768-1833) and Thomas (1771-1841). All the Dibdin’s had songs written by them performed at Sadler’s Wells and were popular with audiences.

Charles Dibdin received musical training from an early age and on moving to London he often played the organ for the congregation of St Bride’s, Fleet Street. He began performing in the Covent Garden chorus in 1760 and 1763 saw him publish his first songs. The music for ‘The Palace of Mirth’ performed at Sadler’s Wells in 1771 was composed by Dibdin and pieces by him continued to be performed at the theatre in the 19th century. Below is an illustration from our collection of Charles Dibdin (click to enlarge):

 
 His sons had an even greater involvement with Sadler’s Wells; despite the fact that their father abandoned their mother, dancer Harriet Pitt, when they were young and from then onwards neglected and ignored them. Charles Dibdin Junior made his theatrical debut in 1797 at the Royalty Theatre and he was soon writing songs and musicals. In 1800 he became manager of Sadler’s Wells and is credited as changing the fortunes of the theatre by introducing new works, some of which included his own. The Sadler’s Wells collection contains numerous song sheets credited to Charles Dibdin Junior, below is an example of one of them (click to enlarge):

 

Thomas Dibdin had his burletta ‘Rival Loyalties’ performed at Sadler’s Wells in May 1794. He and his wife were engaged as performers at the Wells for the 1794-5 season, with Thomas paid to write and perform songs. In 1802 the Dibdin brothers bought a quarter share in Sadler’s Wells and began to introduce changes to the interior of the theatre, which I shall blog about next week.

Charles Dibdin Junior’s relationship with Sadler’s Wells ended in 1821 when he sold his share in the theatre. Thomas kept his shares and was stage manager of the theatre from 1825-1828 continuing to write songs which were performed by the company. When Thomas Dibdin died in 1841 it was the end of a great song writing dynasty.

Joseph Grimaldi: The first modern clown

The undeniable star of Sadler’s Wells (and indeed London theatres) in the early nineteenth century was Joseph Grimaldi, who is credited as being the first modern clown. Grimaldi was born in December 1778 and the theatre was part of his life from an early age. His mother was a young dancer in the Drury Lane corps de ballet while his father, at 65 years old, was the theatre’s ballet master.

Grimaldi made his debut at Sadler’s Wells on Easter Monday 1781; he was just over two years old when he performed a dance with his elder sister Mary. Whilst still a child he became a regular at both Sadler’s Wells and Drury Lane theatres, sometimes performing at both on the same night.

Grimaldi was popular with audiences for his comic songs and pantomimes roles. His most famous song was ‘Hot Codlins’, which described an old lady who would become drunk on gin to keep her warm whilst selling roasted apples. Grimaldi’s performances induced the audience into fits of laughter and our collection includes a newspaper report claiming that a deaf and dumb sailor had his speech and hearing restored after watching Grimaldi perform. His farewell benefit performance at Sadler’s Wells in 1828 was packed with fans and earned him £351 (£26, 200 in modern money). Below is an illustration from the archive of Grimaldi performing his clown act (click to enlarge):

 
 

However, sadly, Grimaldi’s personal life was not full of laughter. His father used to beat him - there are even reports that he did so onstage in order to entertain audiences. At 19 Grimaldi thought he had found happiness when he married Maria Hughes, daughter of the manager of Sadler’s Wells; however, a year later she died in childbirth, as did their baby. Grimaldi did marry again and have a son but young Joe caused further tragedy by drinking himself to death at the age of 30. Grimaldi’s wife died of shock and the old clown, frail with arthritis from years of performing acrobatics on stage, became depressed. He died alone in 1837, less than 10 years after retiring from the stage.

Song and music sheets

Amongst the older material in the archive are printed song and music sheets. These approximately date from 1740 to the 1820s. These items contain the words and music to popular songs which were performed at Sadler’s Wells. The lyric sheets allowed members of the audience to sing along, whilst the sheet music enabled them to play popular songs and music at home.

Some of the song and music sheets in the collection were produced for specific productions and contain illustrations of scenes. One of my favourite examples of illustrated music is from the production ‘Phillip and His Dog, or Where is the Child?’ This was performed in 1816 during Sadler’s Wells’ time as an aquatic theatre (which will be discussed in a future blog post). This music sheet was sold for 3 shillings or £8.82 in today’s money. The cover of this music can be seen below (click to enlarge).

  

We also hold some song lyrics from ‘Philip and His Dog’; an excerpt of the lyrics for ‘The Queer Little Man’, written by Charles Dibdin Junior, can be seen below (click to enlarge).

 

The collection includes numerous other songs written by Charles Dibdin Junior, as well as several comic songs performed by the celebrated clown Joseph Grimaldi. More information and examples of early music sheets can be found here.