George Colman the Younger

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George Colman the Younger

George Colman the Younger (born October 21, 1762 in London , † October 17, 1836 ibid) was an English playwright and theater director. He was a son of the writer George Colman the Elder .

Life

George Colman received his first education at Westminster School and then attended Christ Church (Oxford) . But soon he was sent to the Scottish University of Aberdeen in order to avoid the diversions of this college . Here he published his first poem, The man of the people , a satire on Charles James Fox . It was also here that he wrote his first play, The Female Dramatist (1782), a farce with vocals based on Tobias Smollett's rogue play The Adventures of Roderick Random , which his father brought to the stage of the Haymarket Theater , London, but failed. His second attempt, Two to One (1784), which decided Colman's profession for the theater, had better success . His singspiel Turk or no Turk (1785) was also received with acclaim. Another successful work by Colman is the opera in three acts Inkle and Yarico , which premiered on August 4, 1787 at the Haymarket Theater . The music for this is by Samuel Arnold .

From 1789 Colman acted as director of the Haymarket Theater in lieu of his sick father, earning an annual salary of £ 600. After the death of his father in 1794, he bought the theater. He wrote a number of these stage operas , farces , dramas and comedies that, almost universally rated positively, partly kept long in English repertory theater. Among the latter, The Iron Chest (1796, adapted from William Godwin's novel Adventures of Caleb Williams (1794)), The Poor Gentleman (1802) and John Bull (1803, declared by Walter Scott to be the best recent English comedy) are the most excellent and are distinguished by taste, knowledge of real life, humor and cheerfulness. In the comedy The Heir at Law premiered in 1797 , Colman created with the role of the elderly pedant Dr. Pangloss an outstanding comic character.

Colman also helped mock German drama, particularly Goethe's Stella , in Anti-Jacobin (1797). He also loved to mix the sentimental with the cheerful, in Stern's style . He achieved satirical portraits no less. Also worth mentioning is Colman's poetic burlesque , which appeared in 1797 under the title My Night Gown and Slippers and in 1802 in a new edition with additions as Broad Grins (8th edition 1839). In the Poetical Vagaries (1812), Vagaries Vindicated (1813) and Eccentricities for Edinburgh (Poems, 1816), humor does not always adhere to the boundaries of propriety.

Colman had married an actress, Clara Morris, as early as 1784. Many of the leading roles in his plays were primarily for Mrs. Gibbs, geb. Logan, written that he is said to have secretly married after the death of his first wife.

As a cheerful companion, Colman was popular even in the highest circles. George IV was his special patron, and he often dined with Sheridan at the royal table. His management of the Haymarket Theater, however, was unsuccessful in financial terms; he was also embroiled in a lawsuit with Thomas Harris. He got into debt and had to sell a stake in the theater in 1805 and finally his remaining stake in 1820. He also had to serve in the guilty prison, but was released by the favor of the king. This appointed him the exon (officer) of the Yeomen of the Guard , which Colman dignity sold to the highest bidder. The Duke of Montrose made him a theater censor ( licenser ) in 1824, with an annual salary of £ 300 to £ 400. However, in the exercise of this office, due to his severity, he attracted the hostility of contemporary dramatic writers.

Colman's last work was the memoirs of his life, namely his youth, which he published under the title Random Records (2 vols., London 1830) and which provide vivid insights into London's theater. Colman died on October 17, 1836 at the age of 74 in Brompton, London, and was buried at Kensington Church at his father's side. A new edition of Broad Grins and Other Humorous Works was done by Buckstone (London 1872).

Works (selection)

  • The Female Dramatist , Posse, 1782
  • Two to One , comic opera, 1784
  • Turk or no Turk , Singspiel, 1785
  • Inkle and Yarico , Opera, 1787, music by Samuel Arnold
  • Ways and Means , comedy, 1788
  • The Battle at Hexham , Drama, 1789
  • The Surrender of Calais , 1791
  • The Mountaineers , 1794
  • The Iron Chest , tragedy, 1796
  • The Heir at Law , comedy, 1797
  • Anti-Jacobin , 1797
  • My Nightgown and Slippers , poetic burlesque, 1797; new edition under the title Broad Grins , 1802
  • Bluebeard , Opera, 1798, music by Kelly
  • The Poor Gentleman , Comedy, 1801
  • Love Laughs at Locksmiths , Posse, 1803
  • John Bull, or an Englishman's Fireside , Comedy, 1803
  • Gay Deceivers , 1804
  • Who Wants a Guinea? , three-act comedy, 1805
  • The Africans , 1808
  • XYZ , 1810
  • Poetical Vagaries , 1812
  • Vagaries Vindicated , 1813
  • Eccentricities for Edinburgh , Poems, 1816
  • The Law of Java , 1822
  • Dramatic Works , edited with a biography of Colman by JW Lake, 4 vols., Paris 1827
  • Random Records , Autobiography, 2 vols., London 1830
  • Poetical Works , London 1840

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Colman, George the Younger
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English writer
DATE OF BIRTH October 21, 1762
PLACE OF BIRTH London
DATE OF DEATH October 17, 1836
Place of death London