Junius Brutus Booth: Theatrical Prometheus

3. This England

3 This England I must unto the road, to disembark Some necessaries. -'Iivo Gentlemen ofViwona) II, iv, 187-88 B ooth was playing against a stacked deck. Ifacting had earned Booth a great deal ofmoney, the profession had also treated him shabbily. He had starred on the two leadingstages ofthe Englishspeaking world, but the London critics, led by William Hazlitt, had dismissedhim as asecond-rate Kean. And London audiences followed their leaders: Kean reigned supreme; Booth represented merely the latest pretender to the throne. Booth might dream of fame and fortune: in his hometown, but he would never receive it. In 1818 he did not yet realize that simple fact. He proposedjoining the army in aletter to Adelaide on 2 February 1~n8, while she visited her relatives in Brussels.! On the fifteenth she replied sympathetically, insisting that, although she had married him as an actor, he need not remain one on her account. She then begged Booth to be certain he wanted to change his profession, gently suggesting he did not really prefer the simple military life and in fact avidly sought distinction. She warned him against change merely for 47 48 Junius Brutus Booth the sake ofchange, pleading with him to write to her soon. Ifhe did, the reply has disappeared. Booth remained a leading tragedian, plying the provinces with an occasional foray into London. Booth did not appear onstage in 1818 until a single performance at St. Alban's on 11February as Shylockearned him three pounds, eleven shillings. He had opened the Covent Garden season on-3 November 1817 but did not appear there again for slightly over a year. From March to Novembel; Booth again toured the country towns with varying degrees of success and financial gain, usually for somewhat less than he had earned in 1817. Almost immediately, Booth again appearedin court- but this time as the injured party, not as the precocious sly seducer ofQueen Street housemaids. The case appeared in the Court of King's Bench on Wednesday, 17 June 1818, and the Theatrical Inquisitot'y Booth's unflagging critic, cheerfully recorded the events, chronicling the high-handed ways ofmanagers with actors. It seems the manager ofa temporary company of actors at Stamford , a Mr. T. W Manley, wrote to Booth on 7 March, suggesting a two-night engagement the following week. My dear Sir,- This is our fair-time-we fill good houses without stars-better with them. Come and play Tuesday lOth, and Wednesday nth, and share halfafter 10£. each night. It may be 25£. or 30£; nay more-just as they bite! And there ends our bargain. Ifyou say aye) wrap it up in a letter-ifno) adieu! 'And for my love, I pray you wrong me not.'-Shaksp.-IagoJ Sir Giles, or Richard III. Yours, T.w. Manley.2 Booth agreed to this proposal, askingManley to secure lodgingfor him, and arrived in Stamford to perform on the tenth. Upon arrival Booth learned Manley no longer required his services, either then or the next night. The marquis of Exeter had arrived in Stamford and demanded performances ofhis two favorite scripts; neither contained roles for Booth. Booth stayed through Tuesday, ready to appear if called, then he paid his lodging bills and returned to London. He wrote Manley, requesting his travel expenses, to which Manley sneeringly replied, This England 49 Sir-You have indulged your humour by conduct more nearly allied to absurdity than folly, and which I believe is without a parallel in the history of theatrical concerns. Acknowledged genius and admired talent may have its pardoned weaknesses, but an actor of your humble kind can have no pretence for giving himself the airs of a popular favorite: when he does, it becomes provokingly ridiculous. You came down here by stealth to play two characters, which shows your precarious tenure in London, &c. Novelty, however, was in request with us, and I thought that you would take for your trouble what I offered: it is scarcely to be believed that you refused twenty guineas for playing three nights. No; Master Booth weakly thought that we dared not to do without him. Weak little manl Now, Sir, as your actions were full of unmannerly and coarse arrogance, I think it necessary that Mr. Harris should be made acquainted with the circumstances, and as there are two excellent papers published here, I shall fairly give it to them: it will put...