September 1817
This is part of a local history note on performances at Richmond's Theatre Royale. See the start of this local history note.
Date: 22 September 1817
Plays:
- William Dimond, The Broken Sword
- Samuel Beazley Jr, Is He Jealous?
- Three and the Deuce!
The Company
The Company included:
Charles Moritz Klanert
Charles Moritz Klanert became the manager of the theatre in June 1817 and held it until November 1829. Klanert had played minor characters at Covent Garden and first appeared at Richmond in 1810 when among the parts he played was the triple role that also played on this night: Pertinax Single, Peregrine Single and Percival Single in Three and the Deuce! Edward Stirling in Old Drury Lane (1881) describes Klanert as "an actor of small parts at Covent Garden," who "on his own ground, Richmond, became an actor of great proportions – so at least he thought." Stirling allows, nevertheless, that Klanert was always word-perfect and that on one occasion when he (Stirling) was playing Malcolm in the final scene of Macbeth and suddenly forgot his lines, Klanert, as the slain Macbeth, rose again in exasperation and finished the speech himself.
Whatever his merits of defects as an actor, however, the period when Klanert was manager of the Theatre Royal was one of the most notable in its history. He was prepared to pay high salaries in order to attract actors of the highest calibre, such as Edmund Kean. Other famous players engaged by Klanert were Eliza O’Neill (who later married the member of Parliament William Becher), Maria Foote (who appeared during several seasons playing such parts such as Rosalind in As You Like It) and the schoolmaster turned actor John Liston. The latter played Paul Pry, one of his most celebrated roles, at Richmond in September 1827.
One of the most popular annual events in Richmond at this time was the August rowing match for local watermen, the prize being a wherry donated by Klanert. In the evening after the match, the successful competitor would be carried on to the stage of the theatre in the boat which he had won.
The first performance in this country of Klanert’s Elisina, an adaptation of a French melodrama, took place at Richmond on 18th August 1817. The work was subsequently performed many times at the theatre.
Updated: 22 October 2020
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