Clare Museum | Músaem an Chláir

Background

The nature and importance of the Georgina Frost collection has already been documented in this blog.  The collection contains mostly postcards, photographs, books and cigarette cards dating to the late Victorian (1880-1901) and the Edwardian-era (1901-10).  We still come across other items of interest during the cataloguing process.  One of them is a programme of theatrical productions in London on a ‘week ending 5^th June’ in an unknown year.  The document appears to have been issued by Selfridge’s, the department store in London. It was found among some loose photographs inside an old photograph album.

Some research of the theatres online, and the productions mentioned in the programme, eventually helped us to date the programme, allowing us to understand a little more of the context in which it was produced.  Here is what we discovered.

List of theatres:

• Adelphi: Closed. The Adelphi was listed as closed that week

 

• Aldwych: This theatre opened in 1905, but no information on the play ‘The White Hawk’ could be found. The theatre was located in Aldwych in the City of Westminster in London’s city centre. Now we know that the document does not date to before 1905.

 

• Apollo: Located in Shaftesbury Avenue, in the City of Wesminster in London, it opened in 1901. ‘The Follies’ appear to have been an acting troop that had been in residence at the Apollo since December 1908, following a tour of Britain and Ireland, but remained there until 1912, so this listing only narrows the date of the document to that period.

 

• Comedy: The Comedy Theatre is now known as the Harold Pinter Theatre and it opened in 1881 in Panton Street in the City of Westminster, London. ‘Penelope’ by Somerset Maugham was showing.  Maugham was the most popular playwright of the Edwardian era.  His play dates to 1909 and it ran for 246 performances.  So now we have a date from 1909 to 1912 for the programme.

 

• Court: Now known as the Royal Court Theatre, it was built in 1870. It was closed during this week ending 5^th June, which does not help us.

 

• Criterion: Opened in 1874 at Jermyn Street, Picadilly in London, the Criterion was showing the hit play ‘Mr Preedy and the Countess’ by R C Carton. According to Wikipedia, the play was in the Criterion in 1909.  This is the second indication that the programme dates to 1909.

 

• Daly’s: Opened just off Leicester Square, London in 1893, it was demolished in 1937. The listing in the programme tells us that it was showing ‘The Merry Widow’ by the Austro-Hungarian playwright Franz Lehár.  This play ran at Daly’s Theatre from June 1907 to July 1909. There is now a pattern emerging that indicates that the programme dates to the ‘week ending 5^th June’ 1909.

 

• Duke of York’s: J M Barrie was the playwright behind ‘What Every Woman Knows’, and is best known for writing ‘Peter Pan’. His play opened in the Duke of York’s Theatre in September 1908 and ran for 384 performances.  The theatre opened in 1892 in St Martin’s Lane, City of Westminster, London.  This also suggests a 1909 date for the progamme.

 

• Gaiety: ‘Our Miss Gibbs’ is listed in the programme, and it opened in the Gaiety in January 1909 for 636 performances. Opened in 1864, the Gaiety closed in 1939 and was demolished in 1956.  The play would have been running in June 1909.

 

• Garrick: This theatre was presenting ‘The Woman in the Case’, an American play that premiered in New York in 1905. The theatre was located in Charing Cross Road in London. Research has not indicated a date for the production of this play in the Garrick theatre.

 

• Haymarket: This theatre was closed. It was built in 1821 and is located in the Haymarket district of London.

 

• His Majesty’s: ‘The School for Scandal’ is a play written by the Irish playwright, Richard Brinsley Sheridan. This theatre was also located in the Haymarket, in the City of Westminster, London.  However, we can find no date for the production of this Sheridan play at this theatre.

 

• Hick’s: Known today as the Gielgud Theatre, it was opened as Hick’s Theatre in 1906. The play being performed in the programme was ‘Eunice’, but research has not revealed the year it was performed at this theatre.

 

• Kingsway: Opened in 1882 as the Novelty Theatre, it was renamed the Kingsway Theatre from 1907-1941, when it was closed. It was badly damaged during the Second World War and was demolished in 1959.  In the programme, the play ‘The Earth’ was being performed there, but no date can be found for the production.

 

• Lyceum: ‘The Prisoner of the Bastille, based on the book ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ by Charles Dickens.  The Lyceum Theatre was based off The Strand in London and opened in 1834.  No other information on this play at the Lyceum could be found.

 

• Lyric: The Lyric was closed during this week and is located on Shaftesbury Avenue, London. It opened in 1888.

 

• New: The New Theatre presented ‘Henry of Navarre’, a play that was premiered at this theatre in 1909. It was written by William Devereux.  Once again, 1909 seems to be the likely date for the programme because of this listing.

 

• New Royalty: This theatre was located in Soho in London and existed from 1840 until 1938. ‘What the Public Wants’ was on the programme for the week ending 5^th June, and it was at the theatre from 27^th May 1909. In other words, it would have only just opened to the public.

 

• Playhouse: Located near Trafalgar Square in London, the Playhouse was built in 1882. ‘A Mercy Devil’ is the play that was scheduled in the programme, but no other information could be found.

 

• ‘Prince of Wales’: ‘The King of Cadonia’ by Frederick Lonsdale is an English musical in two acts which was first performed in September 1908. It ran for 333 performances at this theatre. The Prince of Wales theatre dates from 1884.  Thanks to research online, we can say that the production of this play and the number of performances is indicative of a June 1909 date for the document.

 

• Queen’s: The Queen’s Theatre, now known as Sondheim Theatre, is located at Shaftesbury Avenue in London. It opened in 1907.  ‘A Persian Princess’ is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts that was listed in the theatre that week.  Critically, research indicated that it premiered on 27^th April 1909 but closed on 3^rd July 1909 due to poor reviews.

 

• Shaftesbury: Located in Shaftesbury Avenue, in central London, the theatre existed from 1888 until it closed due to bomb damage in 1941. ‘The Arcadians’, the play listed in the in the programme, is a musical comedy and it ran from 29^th April 1909 for 809 performances.

 

• St James’s: This theatre existed from 1835 to the late 1950s when it was demolished. ‘Old Heidelberg’ is a German romantic play that premiered in 1901.

 

• Terry’s: Terry’s theatre was located in the Strand, in Central London, and was closed during the week ending the 5^th It was converted into a cinema in 1910 and closed forever in 1923.

 

• Vaudeville: ‘The Chorus Lady’ is a play written by the Canadian playwright, James Forbes in 1906. The theatre opened in 1870 and is located in The Strand, London.

 

• Wyndham: ‘The Englishman’s Home’ is a play about the threat of invasion of Britain written by Guy du Maurier, a serving officer in the British Army who would be killed in 1915 during the First World War. It was first produced in January 1909 at the Wyndham theatre.

List of theatres and their plays in London’s West End in June 1909.

Conclusion

Having researched the theatres and their plays online, it is safe to date the Programme of Theatres for the week ending 5^th June to the year 1909.   The programme was issued by Selfridge’s, a department store that was brand new in 1909, having only opened in Oxford Street in London in March that year.  Interestingly, on the front of the programme is the following information:

The Theatre Box Office is on the third floor, next Post Office

It appears that this is where customers to Selfridge’s could purchase tickets for shows.  It is likely that this document was collected at this box office, and that the reason the year is not included in the date is because it was ephemeral and would have been disposed of after only one week.

Georgina Frost, or another member of the Frost family, may have collected the programme on a visit to London in June 1909.  We know from postcards in the collection that there were family members in London during the first decade of the 20^th century, with two postcards posted from Sixmilebridge to London in the summer of 1908, being the closest to June 1909.