Disclaimer: since my last outing, in January of last
year(!), several things have happened. First, I accepted my place at Exeter to study
dramaturgy and playwriting for a year. This done I didn't want to look back at
this after graduating and see my work pre-MA become outmoded so quickly by all
I was going to learn.
Now at the other end of the course, actually the discussion
of historical dramaturgy hasn't really been discussed. I've progressed as a
playwright but other than that...
People I respect have seen the blog and encouraged me to
keep going with it (thank you Cathy, Michael and David for saying so too) -
so, it's back, with WILLIAM ARCHER. I know, the excitement is palpable.
William
Archer [left] was born in Perth ,
Scotland , on 23
August 1856. He studied at Edinburgh
University where he
graduated with the degree of M.A. in 1876. He then became a journalist with the
Edinburgh Evening News until 1878. In
1878 he settled in London
devoting himself to the study of theatre and becoming dramatic critic of The London Figaro between 1879
and 1881. In 1884, Archer became dramatic critic of The World, a post which he held until 1905. He was a prolific
translator of the work of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906)
including Pillars of Society which
was produced at London 's Gaiety Theatre in
December 1880, becoming the first Ibsen production in England . As a playwright, his most popular work, The Green
Goddess, was produced New York
in 1921. A melodrama, it was a popular success, although of much less
importance than his critical and translation work. Before
his death in 1924, Archer had also held posts as a drama critic of for
publications The Tribune, The Nation
and The Star, had worked for the
abolition of theatrical censorship and, as you will read later, written extensively
on the formation of a 'national theatre'. William Archer died on 27 December
1924.
Archer, in a strange quirk toward Lessing, was as a critic and playwright, though not an especially successful one, whose interest was set primarily on the developments of the contemporary theatre of the 1880s. He wrote greatly on the setting of new standards within a 'national theatre' and reviled the narrow-minded approach of much of the theatre scene inLondon 's developing West End .
He sought his 'national theatre' by looking to Scandinavia - much like Lessing
and his Voltaire - and the work of Strindberg and, his great source of
translatable works, Ibsen.
Archer, in a strange quirk toward Lessing, was as a critic and playwright, though not an especially successful one, whose interest was set primarily on the developments of the contemporary theatre of the 1880s. He wrote greatly on the setting of new standards within a 'national theatre' and reviled the narrow-minded approach of much of the theatre scene in
Between 1880 and 1891, he was responsible for translating
the bulk of Ibsen's work and editing his collected prose dramas. The
translations, whilst a little dated, still stand up, especially his A
Doll's House [I own an 1890 Pillars of Society, League of Youth,
and A Doll's House, which I found in a second-hand shop in Cromer.] Archer
also picked up on Ibsen's acute use of structure and style within his works,
the Norwegian writer assisted ably here with his outside eye - Bjornstjerne
Bjornson. This way of working would be something Archer himself would later
find himself doing with a great British dramatist.
Archer, in his role as a leading Ibsen specialist, prepared
historical materials, attended rehearsals, and gave critical notes to the
actors and directors for around 25 different productions of Ibsen's work, which
he had also translated. It is through this work, and his Ibsen specialism, that
he credited as both the first dramaturg specialising in one playwright and the
first professional dramaturg working in the UK .
His bringing Ibsen to prominence,
however tangentially, I've found really important in my development as a writer
and dramaturg. Seeing Ghosts at Bristol Old Vic was one of those
shows that the text really blew me away - the production wasn't great but I was
transfixed by the script. Some people may scoff and hope that I would have come
across Ibsen before I was a first year undergrad, I hadn't - oh well. Have now
and read plenty of his work over the last 6 years. Another prime example being Enemy
of the People at Sheffield with Tony Sher, and a great performance from
Trystan Gravelle as underhand journalist Hovstad.
The slightly dodgy picture of a bronze bust of Ibsen was
taken by me when I chanced upon it outside the Shanghai Theatre Academy when travelling. Not
something I had expected to see in China . Below is the statue of Ibsen
outside the Norwegian national theatre in Oslo . I've said it. I love Ibsen, now back to
Archer.
Among his various Ibsen related activities, Archer came
into contact with up-and-coming actor-director Harley Granville-Barker.
Both men had a vision for a 'national theatre' that was driven by progressive
ideals in the staging and creating of work and influenced by both men's
socialist politics. They both agreed that the predominant actor-manager,
profit-seeking model would in the long run be harmful to the development of a
world leading British theatre. They proposed a repertory system with the
'Literary Manager' as key link role in this, acting as the pipeline to new
writers and new innovations.
In their book A Scheme and Estimate for a National
Theatre, Archer co-authored with Granville-Barker, in 1904, Barker defined the
'literary manager' as "an official answering to the German Dramaturg"
- "His duties should be to weed out new plays before they are submitted to
the reading committee; to suggest plays for revival and arrange them for stage;
to follow the dramatic movements in foreign countries, and to suggest foreign
plays suitable for production; to consult with the scene painter, producers,
etc. on questions of archaeology costume, and local colour"
Granville-Barker and Archer's idea of thrusting the Literary
Manager into the British theatre machine was their attempt at creating a
"guardian of literary standards [securing] a playwright's advocate at the
heart of theatre" (Luckhurst). Whilst this was part of the two men's
campaign to elevate the status of contemporary writers and dramatic literature
within the canon, the proposal of literary managers, save for Barker himself
and his work on Ibsen, was not seen in the UK for another 50+ years.
There is another string to Archer's dramaturgical bow [see
what I did there?]. Archer was a friend of G. B. Shaw's, and assisted in
his plays being translated into German. The two remained friends despite a
botched attempt at working collaboratively on a text, Widower's Houses,
and Archer frequently being called in by Shaw to be critical on his new work -
a core role for a modern dramaturg, the outside eye. The two were virtually
next-door neighbors for a period, Archer lived at 27 Fitzroy Square in
central London ,
whilst Shaw lived at number 29.
These three areas of Archer's creative practice: Ibsen's
translator/expert scholar, Granville-Barker's collaborator in the shaping
of a future 'national theatre' and Shaw's trusted second reader, combine neatly
to paint William Archer as a thoroughly-modern dramaturg. A researcher and
translator who would assist within a rehearsal context, a writer of plays,
pamphlets and criticism, an outside eye on both texts and process. In short, Britain 's first
"official answering to the German Dramaturg"
Rough Bibliography
Mary Luckhurst - Dramaturgy: A Revolution in Theatre
Mary Luckhurst - Dramaturgy: A Revolution in Theatre
Gabrielle H. Cody and Evert Sprinchorn - The Columbia Encyclopaedia
of Modern Drama
Links
William Archer's works, including some Ibsen translations on Project Gutenberg
Links
William Archer's works, including some Ibsen translations on Project Gutenberg