The Harry Watkins Diary, Volume 13 [August 19, 1856–October 22, 1860]

22 October 1860

Oct. (October) 22nd First night in London of the "Pioneers of America", cast as follows: Walter Lancy [sic Lancey] —Mr Campbell. Philip Lancy [sic Lancey] —Henry Neville. Nathan Bradbrook—T. Lyon. Guy Bradbrook—F. Villier. Major Eyres—Forrester Mountain Ash—J. Johnstone. Moses Van Swart—H. Butler. Shuldham—Clifford. Orderly—.Fredericks. Sentinel—Bush. Isabel Carleton—Miss Kate Saville. Phillis—Miss Turner. and Jocko—H. (Harry) Watkins. In compressing the drama to two acts, I retained all the telling situations The cast was a tolerable one, but the play was not produced removeas well as soexpand_less well as it might haveexpand_less beenexpand_less besides which it was preceded by the five act [sic five-act] comedy of the "Love Chase". It was after ten o'clock when "The Pioneers [sic "] began, but notwithstanding the lateness of the hour the audience remained to the end and were very enthusiastic in their applause. The press notices of the following day were extremely favorable, but the "Lyceum" being a strictly comedy Theatre was not so well adapted for melo-drama [sic melodrama] as the "Adelphi". The "Times"

5 in quite a lengthy notice, detailing the plot of the play, etc stated "Mr H. (Harry) Watkins's impersonation of Jocko is well worth seeing. It is one of the most decided and attractive specialties ever presented to a London public. The character requires a rare combination of talents for its successful portrayal, being, at times, pathetic, comic, and pantomimic. Few actors could be found capable of sustaining this unique creation. Jocko's hearty love of fighting, the cat-like agility of his movements, the animal cunning which accompanies all his feats, constitute a character of an extremely novel kind, for the delineation of which, moreover, a peculiar physical training is requisite" The following quotation is from a notice that appeared in the Saturday removeReview Leader "The nucleus of the play, towards > which all the interest gravitates, is one Jocko, a gentleman of color, whom the great Mother Nature made up in a hurry and sent into the world in a sad state of disarrangement. By that admirable compensatory process, however, which is one of her characteristics, she has made up for defects of symmetry by an unusual amount of physical and mental vigor, which enable the possessor, Jocko, to perform exploits, compared with which, Quasimodo, and all the wonderful dwarf-creations ever known are mere bagatelles. Nay, with the exception of that one of the labors of Hercules, which must have given occasion to fifty others, and which we need not allude to, as the facts are in the remembrance of every classical scholar, we doubt if that venerable hero himself

ever performed anything to be compared to the achievements of Jocko. The elements are at his command: he presses fire and water into his service, and drowns and burns his enemies by the score, besides knocking down whole battalions like nine-pins. The character affords ample scope for the display of very great histrionic powers on the part of Mr Watkins, who impersonates our deformed negro friend. We doubt if there is another actor on the British, or American stage possessing the necessary dramatic versatility to undertake this character with any degree of success, therefore Mr Watkins is not likely to ever meet with a rival". Although at the wrong house for melo-drama [sic melodrama] the "Pioneers" would have made a long run had the oppertunity [sic opportunity] beenexpand_less afforded it—We thought it would prove too sensational to please the upper crust of English society but this, to them, was one of its principal recommendations. The blasé Theatre goer [sic Theatregoer] was gratified to find a new excitement—He could laugh and applaud Jocko without stint. It was to removetheir hisexpand_less mindremoves a revelation, sui generis, and the result was a constantly increasing attendance The company were confident that the "Pioneers" would be relied upon by the Management as the drawing card, but Celeste [sic Céleste] would not have it so, and in two weeks the play was withdrawn—to the astonishment of every body [sic everybody] , and our engagement at the Lyceum terminated. Celeste [sic Céleste] then appeared in a succession of new plays, but not one of them caught the public taste, at least the public did not come to see them and her season ended disastrously. There was little sympathy for her on the part of a public that would have sustained her managerial enterprise with pleasure, had she been content

with the honors and laurels to be won by those who cater for the amusement of their patrons by seeking to gratify their tastes and desires. But Celeste [sic Céleste] sought solely her own ambitious gratification and, as must ever be the case under the same circumstances, she did so at her own expense. It was a pity that so clever and good a woman, and so excellent a stage director, being, undoubtedly one of the best in England, should have been so blind to her own interests. Where two courses are open to us from which to choose how much depends upexpand_lesson a wise selection, and how often does the choice we make not only shape our own future but determines the future of others. One week after I had accepted Celeste [sic Céleste] 's offer Dion Boucicault arrived in London with his, then, new play—"The Colleen Bawn", which had been played with great success at Laura Keene's Theatre, New York. The Adelphi turned out to be the only house in London where Boucicault could procure an opening. Had I concluded with Webster Boucicault would, probably, have been compelled to return to America. He had an important object to gain by playing his drama, as soon as possible, in London. By the law of copyright removein England a play first produced in a foreign country removewas isexpand_less denied the protection of a copyright in England, and B. (Boucicault) was fearful of being forestalled by some enterprising (?)expand_less Manager. "The Colleen Bawn" removewas is, undoubtedly, the best drama he had yet constructed, and its success in England was as pronounced as it was in the U.S. (United States) Several of the provincial managers attempted to produceremoved the drama without B. (Boucicault) 's permission

but by threats and injunctions he fought them off for two or three years, until he had in fact, reaped all the benefits of its first success. He certainly managed his game very shrewdly, and, although the law of copyright was not on his side, Boucicault fully deserved all the pecuniary removesuccess gains of his play. The money value of his drama is of more substantial removevalue importanceexpand_less to an Author than any literary honors he may gain. The one may gratify his pride and swell his vanity, but the other gratifies his pocket—swells his importance—keeps his stomach in good humor and, in every way, adds to his worldly comforts. Of what use is posthumous fame to the poor author who has past [sic passed] through life struggling with poverty. [sic ?] If after death the departed author's works are to be found adorning the shelves of all libraries, imparting pleasure or information, while they may be regarded as a valuable legacy to the living, yet the enjoyment is something akin to that pleasure the pirate feels in gloating over his plunder. Posterity may acknowledge the injustice of the dead writer's contemporaries, and seek to do justice to his memory by the erection of a grand monument over his poor remains, but Cui Bono,expand_less for whose good? certainly not the dead. To kings and beggars all graves are alike. No! 'tis the living should be cared for, and few deserve more from the world in which he moves than the man who gives to the stage a successful play; while among those who labor none better removedeserve meritexpand_less all the protection the law can give than the dramatist. However prolific he may be in the production of plays that yield him removehim a temporary benefit, there may be but one of all the

6 number capable of outliving the fickleness of public taste, or the caprice of a passing fashion, and that one play, were the author's rights properly protected, might be the sole means of preserving him from want in his old age. But the dramatist will never obtain justice until legislation makes the stealing of a play a misdemeanor. These play-thieves are the most contemptible, despicable, mean and cowardly of petty scoundrels. They steal because the act is not a punishable one. The same knaves would filch your purse if it could be done with removethe same equalexpand_less impunity; but make play-stealing a crime that may send the convict to prison and then writing a play will be a pleasant task. The author will feel encouraged to do his best when he reflects removewhen he reflects that he shall reap all the reward of his success. On the first night of a new play all the speculators, country managers, and actors in search ofremoveor novelty are sure, if they happen to be in town, to be present, and if the play makes a passable hit, listeners will hear in the lobbies, or adjoining saloons such questions as these: Is it original? Is it from the French? Is it a German, Italian, or Spanish translation? Is it the dramatization of a novel? Do you know what it's taken from? I would like to get hold of a copy of it? et hoc genus omne. But not one of these wretches will say: "I wonder if he (the author) would sell me a copy? I will call on him to-morrow [sic tomorrow] and see if I cannot arrange to produce it in such or such a place" Oh, no! they never think of going to the author, and if they do purchase a copy it will be a stolen one—If they pay for it at all they will prefer remunerating any person other

than the writer. There are few plays so original as not to owe their creation to something which has gone before—to some sketch, or incident, that has struck the dramatist's fancy, and from which he has elaborated his play. For my own part among the numerous plays I have written there are seven wholly original—original in the full meaning of the term. For the others I was indebted, more or less, to extraneous sources, although, in nearly every instance, I made an original use of the material removeI used I worked upon. Even in the dramatization of a story I seldom adhered to the plot of the romance, or novel. In fact this is the only way in which a good removeof orexpand_less effective play can be constructed from such material. It is very rarely that a strong acting play removebe is obtained when theexpand_less remove…slipdramatist has closely followed the story whence his play was taken. I have often found it necessary, for stage success, to not only change the relation of the characters in the novel, but to antedate the period, alter the locale, and entirely removeu…slip reverse the denouement [sic dénouement] . At first thought it appears strange that the talent required to make a successful novelist should so utterly fail in the conscremoveritiption of a play, but the genius of the dramatist and the novelist are quite distinct from each other. When I stated this to the distinguished authoress, Mrs E. D. E. N. (Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte) Southworth, she was astonished, and remarked that she thought the strong point of her writings was the dramatic instinct pervading them. After admitting this I explained to her that what might be deemed dramatic in the plot and situations of…slip a novel would not be considered at all dramatic in a play. Dialogue that might read well in a story would yet removebe proveexpand_less anything but effective if delivered on the stage. In

7 the one case it is elaboration in the other condensation. removeOn the The language of the drama should be epigrammatic, short, strong, and pointed—every superfluous word not necessary to the strength of a speech weakens it. A novelist will be pardoned if he digresses for the purpose ofexpand_less description, or to moralize, or even when it is apparent that he is merely padding his work—provided the divergence is entertaining reading. The dramatist, however, jeopardizes the success of his play when he introduces side issues, and so diverts the mind of his audience from the direct continuity of his play. His removepersonages dramatis personæexpand_less should all bear some relation to each other, and work together for the developement [sic development] of the plot. The interest, however, should never be divided between more than two characters The remaining should be given sufficient strength to ensure them…slip a certain degree of removestrength importanceexpand_less, but their action must be, as it were, centripetal—working to the centre. The strongest of Shakespeare's plays—those that keep the stage—are generally based upon this plan. Richard and Hamlet are one-part plays with no diversion of interest, and they are the mot [sic most] attractive of this great author's plays. Othello has two characters of equal importance, although, to my mind, Iago has always appeared the stronger of the two. Other dramatists might have removeconstructed given toexpand_less the stageexpand_less aremovesn Othello, but Iago is unapproachable—He has a common existence in real life but only a Shakespeare could place him before us—give him a vitality impossible to the painter or the sculptor The Iago of real life stands before us, reading him in the closet, or viewing him from the stage,—an incarnation of all that is evil in mankind. A candid manner conceals thremoveise total insincerity

of his nature—a smiling face masks a heart filled with the blackest thoughts. A bluff soldierly deportment gives a license to his rudeness. He has the power of adapting himself to all moods, and idyosincracies [sic idiosyncrasies] expand_less consequently every sufferer can find in him a sympathizing friend. He is, indeed, everything to everybody, yet nothing to removeeveryaddanyone —removethe very embodiment of incarnationexpand_less de deception Falsehood, duplicity, treachery, deceit, all stand personified in Iago. King Lear is, also, a one part [sic one-part] play—Edgar and Cordelia are pleasing characters, but entirely …slipovershadowed by Lear, whose sufferings are alone remembered on the descent of the curtain. Julius Cesar [sic Caesar] , it is true, has three grand characters, of equal prominence, yet this play depends largely on spectacular display, and the aid of numerous auxiliaries. Romeo & Juliet has three parts, but Mercutio dies so early in the play as to be almost forgotten at the termination Shakespeare was not only the greatest of dramatists, but his style of construction must ever stand as a model. He knew the strength of a concentrated interest, and seldom diverted the minds of his hearers from the cental [sic central] figures of his plays. Our engagement at the Lyceum ended with the withdrawal of the "Pioneers", which, notwithstanding that this Theatre was not the house for a drama of this kind, might have enjoyed a long aremove…slipnd profitable run. Lieut. Col. (Lieutenant Colonel) Addison, a dramatist of some reputation in London, was anxious that Celeste [sic Céleste] should produce a new Comic drama, from his pen, entitled the "Rose of Vera Cruz", with Mrs W. (Watkins) as the heroine. The play read well, and would probably have proved successful. But Celeste [sic Céleste] would not entertain the author's proposition—She was determined to have the field