Dickens als toneelschrijver
with him to play the songs; but he was laid
up, when the day came, with a terribly bad
cold and an inflammation of the face. He
wrote to say so, and added that he would
resume his application next season." (L. of
C.D.)
Geen professionele carriere aan het
toneel dus, voorlopig niet, maar wel was
Dickens inmiddels succesvol met zijn
Sketches en de eerste afleveringen van de
Pickwick papers.
Dickens schreef enkele stukken voor
het toneel, bestemd om in het St. James
Theatre te worden opgevoerd. De manager
van dat theatre was goed bevriend met
Dickens's zuster Fanny;
1836: "He was led to take much interest
in Mr Brahan's enterprise at the St. James's
Theatre; and in an aid of it he wrote a
farce for Mr Harley, founded upon one of
his sketches, and the story and songs for an
opera composed by his friend Mr Hullah.
Both The Strange Gentleman" acted in
september and The Village Coquettes"
produces in december 1836 had a good
success, and the last is memorable to me
(John Forster) for having me first into
personal communication with Dickens." (J.F.)
Opmerkelijk was dat er in deze stukken
muzikale gedeeltes voorkwamen. Dat was een
kwestie van moeten omdat slechts enkele
theaters in Londen het voorrecht hadden
"straight plays" op te voeren:
"It is interesting to know why The
Strange Gentleman", a farcial comedy
depending on misunderstandings in dialogue
and situation, had to be put on as a
- 7
burletta. The reason was that the only
London Theaters at that time licensed under
Royal Patent for "straight" plays were
Covent Garden, Drury Lane and the
Haymarket, the lastnamed license operating
only when the first two were closed for the
summer "recess". The principal fare was
Shakespeare, Congreve, Farquhar, Vanbrugh
and Sheridan, and occasionally opera, though
new dramas and comedies were often
introduced to make up a composite bill.
Other houses, apart from the "private
theaters" already notices, could only present
"musical performances of a dramatic nature",
such as operas, operettes, burlesques, and so
on.
Obviously, to evade the monopoly,
music had to be provided. But, in view of
the looseness of the wording of the
prohibition, other managements were quick
to percieve that the musical "quota" could be
reduced to a minimum. Hence the announced
duet in "The Strange Gentleman", though
there would be, of course, an ouverture, and
interval music. An official end was put to
this untenable situation by Act of
Parliament, though not till 1843." (F.D.F.)
Een volgend stuk was een klucht, een
éénacter, "The Lamplighter", volgens
deskundigen het zwakste stuk uit Dickens'
toneel-producties. Zelfs zijn goede vriend
Macready wees het af en was niet bereid het
in Covent Garden op te voeren. Wel was
Dickens nauw betrokken bij de toneelstukken
die zijn vrienden Mark Lemon ("Mr
Nightingale's Diary") en Wilkie Collins
("Lighthouse" en "The Frozen Deep")
schreven.
Toch heeft Dickens in grote mate
