John Rich (producer)
John Rich (* 1692 (baptized May 19), † November 26, 1761 ) was an important theater operator in 18th century London . He opened the new Lincoln's Inn Fields Theater in 1714, which he directed until 1728, when he was able to open his new theater at Covent Garden, now the Royal Opera House , in 1732 . He led this until 1761 and started more and more elaborate productions. He introduced pantomime on English stages and played "Lun" himself as a dancing and mute harlequin from 1717 to 1760. Rich's character changed from a poor, noisy, raw and disheveled Arlecchino to a colorfully costumed and mute harlequin with imaginative tricks , Dances and magic. Rich's idea to mute him was due to his uncomfortable tone of voice, which he was also aware of.
Act
John Rich had great success with his references to the Commedia dell'arte . He began his appearances as the Harlequin “Lun” in 1717. His costumes consisted of a leotard with a diamond pattern and he first introduced speechlessness into English pantomime. Rich played several harlequin roles, including Harlequin Doctor Faustus , during his tenure as head of Lincoln's Inn Field . Rich was praised for the way he moved, which allowed each of his limbs to tell a story. So z. B. in Harlequin Sorcerer , where he portrayed a harlequin hatched from an egg. And according to Soame Jenyn's The Art of Dancing of 1729, Rich was a good dancer, known for his harlequin jumps :
That Pindar Rich despises Vulgar Roads,
And soars an Eagle's height among the Clouds,
Whilst humbler Dancers, fearful how they climb,
But buzz below amidst the flow'ry Thyme:
Now soft and slow he bends the circling Round,
Now rises high upon the spritely Bound,
Now springs aloft, too swift for Mortal sight,
Now falls unhurt from some stupendous Height;
Like Proteus , in a thousand Forms is seen,
Sometimes a God , sometimes an Harlequin .
This Pindar Rich despises the usual ways,
And hovers in the heights of an eagle between the clouds,
While humble dancers climb fearfully,
They only hum below between the flowering thyme:
Now gently and slowly he turns the round,
Now he climbs up to the extreme limit,
Now he leaps up, too fast for a mortal's sight,
Now he falls unharmed from an astonishing height;
Like Proteus , he is perceived in a thousand forms
, sometimes a god, sometimes a harlequin.
English editor and author Lewis Theobald wrote pantomimes for Rich. In addition, Rich was considered a synonym for lavish productions until 1728. He designed his theater for loud and effective spectacles. Here often cannon shots, animals and various depictions of battles were performed. The writer Alexander Pope, in his three books, The Dunciad, mocked the competition for vulgarity between London's two theaters, each of which has its advocate of decadence. At Lincoln's Inn Fields, he saw the "angel of dullness" John Rich.
Commenting on the competition between Colley Cibbers Theater Royal Drury Lane and Richs Lincoln's Inn Fields Theater, he remarked:
"Here shouts all Drury, there all Lincoln's-Inn;
Contending Theaters our (Dulness's) empire raise,
Alike their labor, and alike their praise."
"Here everything calls Drury, there everything Lincoln's-Inn;
Competing theaters that enlarge our (dullness) empire
Compared to their work and compared to their praise."
At the same time, in 1728, Rich produced the Beggar's Opera by John Gay . The piece was received extremely positively and ran successfully for 62 performances. A playful bon mot of that time was that the opera "made Gay rich and Rich gay" ("Gay made rich and rich happy"). John Gay was a close friend of Pope and often worked with him. The success of Beggar's Opera allowed Rich to build his own theater. On December 7, 1732 he then opened the Theater Royal in Covent Garden . It was the first of three theaters on the site, now known as the Royal Opera House . Rich hired some of the best landscape painters of his day, including George Lambert , to design the interior and scenery of Covent Garden. His niece was Mary Bulkley , who throughout his life only rehearsed and performed at the Covent Garden Theater.
After the death of his father Christopher Rich on November 4, 1714, John received 75% of the shares in the almost completed new building of the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theater. His brother Christopher Moiser (or Moyser), who was one year younger than him, received the remaining 25%. John already had some theater experience and also helped with the organization. John Rich opened the new theater on December 18, 1714 with the play The Recruiting Officer by George Farquhar , written in 1706, and immediately entered long-standing competition with the Drury Lane Theater (which now worked under Colley Cibber). Rich then led the drama away from the previous serous or comedic representations to spectacular conversations with dance, music and special effects; something that attracted the masses. Hardly in possession of the majority shares, he immediately struggled to get the remaining shares. But it was only the success of Beggar's Opera that finally allowed him to build the new theater at Covent Garden. He also opened a Beefsteak Club (a meat-serving restaurant for members) with Lambert .
Rich's work was heavily criticized by some contemporaries. Open letters were published here in which he was accused of contributing to a decay of the culture and morality of the stage. During his time as a producer and theater director, he had many contentious encounters with his acting ensembles and competing theater directors, including Colley Cibber . In his book Apology, he laments the [qualitative] decline and skyrocketing costs of Rich's productions. Contemporary satire, however, believed that Cibber was doing the same and that Cibber's children were just continuing their father's habits, just as John Rich continued and exaggerated his children's habits [sic!]. Cibbers Drury Lane and Rich's Lincoln's Inn (or Covent Garden) have been in competition with one another since Rich's life. Indeed, between 1756 and 1757, the two theaters put on the same play at the same time - Romeo and Juliet and King Lear . Rich's theater company also staged a number of infrequently played Shakespeare plays, including Cymbeline .
It often attracted sharp criticism and even hostility from literary London greats such as Alexander Pope, Henry Fielding and competing actor and theater director David Garrick . They all described him as vulgar, illiterate, even illiterate. Still, Rich had earned a reputation among actors for being a good manager, running his business properly, and supporting those actors who had left his stage. His supporters included people like John Wilkes , William Hoghart and Samuel Johnson . After Rich's death on November 26th, 1761, attempts were made to describe his style of pantomime as devoid of artistry, since he had put his focus more on the spectacle and choral singing numbers. But not long after, his rivals began to see the value of his work, including David Garrick. Garrick later even said that Rich's mime appearances were unmatched in his day.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c John Rich - Harlequin in England . Archived from the original on July 2, 2007. Retrieved April 25, 2017. PeoplePlayUK Theater Museum
- ↑ a b c Barry Grantham: Playing Commedia . Heinemann, Portsmouth, NH 2001, ISBN 0-325-00346-7 .
- ^ A b Matthew R. Wilson: The Rutledge Companion to Commedia dell'Arte . Routledge, New York 2015, ISBN 978-0-415-74506-2 , pp. 359-60.
- ^ A b Winifred Smith: The Commedia dell'Arte . Benjamin Blom, Inc., New York 1964, p. 147.
- ↑ Soame Jenyns: The Art of Dancing , London 1729
- ↑ a b c d Londoners of Note: John Rich, Pioneer of Panto . December 7, 2013. Accessed December 9, 2016.
- ↑ a b John Rich | British theatrical manager and actor . In: Encyclopædia Britannica .
- ↑ Berta Joncus and Jeremy Barlow: The Stage's Glory: John Rich (1692-1761) , Delaware in 2011 at the Google Book Search
- ↑ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Bulkley, nee Wilford; later married Barresford, Mary, by John Levitt
- ↑ Elisabeth J. Heard Experimentation on the English Stage, 1695-1708, Routledge, London 2015 in the Google book search
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Rich, John |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English theater manager |
| DATE OF BIRTH | baptized May 19, 1692 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | London |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 26, 1761 |
| Place of death | London |