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Old American Company

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TheOld American Companywas an American theatre company. It was the first fully professional theatre company to perform in North America.[1]It also played a vital role in the theatre history of Jamaica. It was founded in 1752 and disbanded in 1805. It was known as theHallam Company(1752–1758), theAmerican Company(1758–1785) and theOld American Company(1785–1805).[2]With a few temporary exceptions, the Company enjoyed ade factomonopoly of professional theatre in the United States until 1790.

History[edit]

Hallam Company[edit]

The company was organised byWilliam Hallam,former proprietor of the New Wells Theatre in London, and was led by his brotherLewis Hallam.Their company consisted of 12 adults and three children, drawn from English actors of "modest accomplishment". They were also known as the "Comedy of Comedians from London."[3]

They arrived by the vesselCharming SallyatYorktown, Virginia,on 2 June 1752, and made their early performances in nearbyWilliamsburg.[4]Their first performance,The Merchant of Venice,is generally considered to be the first professional staging ofShakespearein America.[5]In 1753, the Hallam company moved toNew York City,and played there from September 17, 1753, to March 18, 1754.[4]They played inPhiladelphiafor two months starting on April 15, 1754.[6]The company then traveled toCharleston, South Carolina.[7]

First Jamaica Tour[edit]

In 1755 the company moved to Jamaica in the West Indies. In Jamaica, the performed in the "New Theatre" in the King's Store on Harbour Street in Kingston with the company ofDavid Douglass.[8]On Lewis Hallam's death, David Douglass married his widowSarah Hallam Douglass.The Hallam company merged with the company of David Douglass.[7]In 1758, the company returned to tour the mainland, as the "American Company".[9]

American Company[edit]

Lewis' son,Lewis Hallam Jr.,eighteen at the time of the American Company's first tour, took leading roles alongside Douglass. Lewis Jr.'s style was described as declaratory rather than realistic, but he was much admired and became known as America's leading Shakespearean interpreter.[9]Douglass had his limitations: one Alexander Graydon described him as "rather a decent than shining actor". However, he was a capable manager and he gave North America its firstFalstaffandKing John.Within the repertoire wasCymbeline,which proved a popular vehicle for two of the company's actresses,Margaret CheerandNancy Hallam.[10]Douglass built the Society Hill Theatre in Philadelphia in 1759, having the company play there for six months before protests halted theatrical performances.[7]He also built theSouthwark Theatrein Philadelphia in 1766, which was the first permanent theatre structure in North America.[7]On April 24, 1767, at the Southwark, the American Company stagedThe Prince of ParthiabyThomas Godfrey,the first production in theUnited Statesof a play written by an American.[11]TheJohn Street Theatrewas built in New York in 1767, modeled after the Southwark.[12]

In Quaker and Puritan areas, the company encountered religious opposition to theatre in general. At Rhode Island in 1761 they were obliged to perform Othello disguised as "a series of moral dialogues".[13]

Second Jamaica Tour[edit]

In 1774, theContinental Congressbanned theatre entirely, and the company resettled in Jamaica. By that time, Hugh F. Ranking calculates that the company had performed at least 180 times, their repertoire having included fourteen of Shakespeare's plays.

The Company achieved great success in Jamaica, as the island had a great interest for theatre but no professional theater had existed since they left sixteen years prior. Finding the old playhouse in Kingston not sufficient to their needs, the company successfully asked the authorities to construct theKingston Theatrein Kingston, where they performed three or four times a week from 1775 onward: they also constructed theatres inSpanish TownandMontego Bay.[8]David Douglass even served in the office of Master of the Revels, responsible of the representational festivities of the Governor, in 1779–80, and Lewis Hallam Jr. in 1781–1783.[8]

Old American Company[edit]

After the peace of 1783, the company left Jamaica in July 1785 and returned to New York, with Lewis Hallam Jr. as the leading actor, andJohn Henryas his co-manager.[13]The theatre ban was still in place, and until it was lifted, the company officially named its plays "recitals", operatic performances and similar euphemisms for theater plays. For part of 1786 the company was in residence at the newly builtRichmond Theatrein Virginia, then known as Quesnay's Academy.[14]

The Old American Company virtually had monopoly of theatre performances in the United States until 1790, whenThomas Wade WestandJohn Bignallsplit from the Company and formed theVirginia Comedians,performing in Virginia and South Carolina, followed the next year by the foundation of the Philadelphia Company ofThomas WignellandOwen Morris.[15]After this, the Old American Company was essentially active in New York: first at theJohn Street Theatre,and from 1798 at thePark Theatre.In 1805, the Company went bankrupt.

Legacy[edit]

The Company enjoyed ade factomonopoly on professional theatrical performances in North America until the 1790s. In many places, they were the first professional company to perform theatre, and they founded playhouses for their use in many of the cities and towns they visited, often the very first playhouses in those places. They toured from Newport in Rhode Island to Williamsburg in Virginia, and between Annapolis, Philadelphia and New York. They founded a playhouse in New York in 1754, the 'New Theatre' playhouse inCharleston, South Carolinain 1754, theSouthwark Theatre in Philadelphiain 1766, theJohn Street Theatrein New York in 1767, and the New Theatre in Annapolis in 1770.[16]

Managers[edit]

Members[edit]

Hallam Company in 1752[edit]

In 1752, when the Hallam Company departed from London and arrived in Williamsburg in Virginia, the Company had twelve adult members:Lewis Hallamand his wifeSarah Hallam,William Rigby and his wife, Thomas Clarkson and his wife, Mary Palmer, John Singleton, Mr. Herbert, Mr. Winnell, William Adcock, and Patrick Malone.

American Company in 1766[edit]

In November 1766, when theSouthwark Theatre in Philadelphiaopened, the American Company had the following members:Sarah Hallam Douglass,her husbandDavid Douglass,and her sonLewis Hallam Jr.;Margaret Cheer;Stephen Woolls;Adam Allyn; Miss Dowthwaite; James Godwin; Catharine Maria Harman; Mr. Mathews; Owen and Mary Morris; Anna Tomlinson and her husband; Sarah Wainwright; and Thomas Wall.

By October 1767, new members wereJohn Henry,Ms. Storers (Ann,Mariaand Fanny), Patrick Malone, and Mr. Roberts.

American Company in 1773[edit]

In 1773–74, when the American Company departed to Jamaica, the Company had the following members:David Douglass,Lewis Hallam Jr.,Nancy Hallam,John Henry,Elizabeth Walker Morris,Mr. Byerley, Mr. Dermot, Richard Goodman, Catharine Maria Harman, Mr. Johnson, Owen Morris, Charles Parker, Mary Richardson, Mr. Roberts, Miss Storer (Ann,Mariaor Fanny), Thomas Wall, Mrs. Wall, Stephen Woolls, George Hughues, and Sarah Wainwright.

The cast lists mentionThomas Wignell,Mrs. Hamilton, Mrs. Raynard, Mr. Sales, Mr. Mores, Mr. and Mrs. Godwin in the period of 1779-82.

Old American Company in 1788[edit]

In 1788, around the time when the theatre ban was lifted in the United States, the American Company had the following members:Lewis Hallam Jr.,John Henry,Maria Henry,Stephen Woolls, Owen Morris,Elizabeth Walker Morris,Thomas Wignell,Charles Biddle, Mr. J. Kenna, Mrs. Kenna, Miss Kenna,Eliza Tuke,Mrs. Hamilton, Mrs. Williamsson,Joseph Harper,Mrs. Harper, and Fanny Storer.

Other members included John Martin (from 1790), referred to as the first American-born actor. In 1792,John Hodgkinsonjoined.

Old American Company in 1798[edit]

In 1798, when the American Company moved into Park Theatre in New York, the Company had the following members (listed in order of salary):Lewis Hallam Jr.,Eliza Hallam,John Johnson,Mrs. Johnson,Georgina George Oldmixon, Thomas Apthorpe Cooper,Charlotte Melmoth,Joseph Tyler, Joseph Jefferson I, John Martin, Mirvan Hallam, Ann Storer Hogg, John Hogg,Juliana Westray,Ellen Westray, Mr. Lee, Mrs. Seymour, Mr. Seymour, John D. Miller, Miss. Hogg, and Mrs. Collins.

Old American Company in 1804[edit]

In 1804, the last season of the American Company, the Company had the following members:Lewis Hallam Jr.,Eliza Hallam,John E. Harwood, John Johnson, Elizabeth Ford Johnson, Joseph Tyler, Ann Storer Hogg, John Hogg, John Martin, John Claude, Mrs. Claude,Joseph Harper,Mrs. Harper, John Darley, Ellen Darley, Mr. Darby,Charlotte Melmoth,Mirvan Hallam, Mr. Shapter, Mr. Robinson, and Mr. M'Donald.

References[edit]

  1. ^Morrison 2002,pp. 230–232.
  2. ^Seilhamer, George Overcash:History of the American theatre
  3. ^Davis 2010,p. 11.
  4. ^abDavis 2010,p. 12.
  5. ^Morrison 2002,pp. 230.
  6. ^Davis 2010,pp. 12–13.
  7. ^abcdDavis 2010,p. 13.
  8. ^abcErrol Hill,The Jamaican Stage, 1655-1900: Profile of a Colonial Theatre
  9. ^abMorrison 2002,p. 231.
  10. ^Morrison 2002,pp. 231–232.
  11. ^Davis 2010,p. 14.
  12. ^Cambridge Guide to American Theatre
  13. ^abMorrison 2002,p. 232.
  14. ^Keller, Kate Van Winkle (2007).Dance and Its Music in America, 1528-1789.Pendragon Press.p. 229.ISBN9781576471272.
  15. ^Robin O. Warren,Women on Southern Stages, 1800-1865: Performance, Gender and Identity
  16. ^Odai Johnson, William J. Burling, James A. Coombs, The Colonial American Stage, 1665-1774: A Documentary Calendar

Sources[edit]

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