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Angles Theatre

The Angles Theatre is a theatre and historic Georgian playhouse in the market town of Wisbech, Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. It is among the oldest of Britain's theatres.[1] The current premises consists of the original theatre building and a former library, originally an "infant" school built in 1837, both of which are Grade II listed.[2] The patrons are Sir Derek Jacobi, Jo Brand, Claire Tomalin and Dame Cleo Laine.

Former names

Wisbech Theatre,
Concert-room, Crescent Passage

Alexandra Road, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, PE13 1HQ
Wisbech
England

community theatre and arts centre

1790

1978

The theatre was believed to have been built in 1790 as part of the Lincoln theatre circuit and was generally referred to as the Wisbech Theatre.[3][4] Regular performances at the theatre continued until about 1850 when it was used as a concert room for a number of years. At the end of the 19th century, part of the property was used by the School of Science and Art. The building was returned to use as a theatre and arts venue, and renamed as The Angles, in 1978.

History[edit]

18th century[edit]

The Licensing Act 1737 created the office of Examiner of Plays, whose responsibilities included censoring all plays in Britain.[5]: 4  In 1778, John Larpent was appointed inspector of plays by the Marquis of Hertford, who was then Lord Chamberlain. He preserved manuscript copies of all the plays submitted to the inspector from 1737 to his death in 1824, including those produced at the theatre in Wisbech.[6] Buildings in Wisbech in Pickard's Lane [7] and on the Sutton road were used as theatres in the 18th century.[8] The Whitley and Herbert company of comedians performed in the town during Wisbech Race Week in June 1777.[9] In 1778 or 1779 Italian writer Giuseppe Marc'Antonio Baretti attended a theatre performance here.[10] Other early theatres in Wisbech, referred to in newspapers and other documents, appear to have been temporary structures such as that erected near the High street by the company of James Augustus "Jemmy" Whitley (c. 1724–1781) for a season in 1779. Whitley announced, in 1779, an intention to build an elegant and extensive structure for the 1780 season.[11] With Whitley's death, however, that theatre was never built, and the way was left open for the development of a theatre in Wisbech by others.[12][13] The Theatrical Representations Act 1788 allowed local magistrates to license occasional performances for periods of up to 60 days.[14]


An early reference to a theatre on Deadman's Lane (later Great Church Street and now Alexandra Road) is a benefit performance, for Mr and Mrs James Edward Miller, of the play The Battle of Hexham, on 20 May 1791, which was the last performance of the 1791 season.[15] The Stamford Mercury of 24 February 1792 stated, "A correspondent from Wisbech informs us, that a very elegant theatre is just fitted up in the compleatest stile (sic), and will be opened on Saturday, March 3d, with the admired comedy of As You Like It, and the Farce of No Song, No Supper."[16] The theatre was built by Miller,[17] who managed it jointly with Thomas Shaftoe Robertson until 2 May 1796, when Robertson purchased Miller's rights in all the properties of the Lincoln theatre circuit.[18] In 1793 The Millers advertised the last benefit of the 1793 season at Wisbech Theatre to be Everyone Has His Fault and Don Juan.[19]


When not in use for performances the theatre regularly held auctions, the most prominent of which was the sale of household furniture, linen and china from Wisbech Castle, belonging to the late Edward Southwell. This was most likely the first auction held at the "New Theatre" in November 1791, because the sale of the mentioned items was not permitted on the castle premises.[20]


Robertson married Frances Maria Ross in 1793.[21]

1800 to 1840[edit]

Robertson announced in 1806: "The Theatre has undergone considerable improvement and will be lighted up with new and elegant chandeliers"; these are unlikely to have been supplied by gas as the town council did not negotiate gas supplies until the 1830s.[22] Child actor William Henry West Betty performed at the Wisbech theatre in 1808.[23] Amelia Holman Gilfert and her father Joseph George Holman, appeared in 1812 as Cora and Rolla in Pizarro, Desdemona and Othello in Othello and Lady Macbeth and Macbeth in Macbeth, and she played Lady Contest in the farce The Wedding Day.[24] The use of weapons firing blanks, candles, oil lamps, fireworks and other special effects could cause fires and injuries. For example, Fanny Robertson's half-sister Mary Brown was a member of the Wisbech company until she married an actor of the Stamford company and moved to Stamford, where, in 1816 whilst working on a dress, a candle set her clothes on fire; she died of her burns.[25] William Hilton the elder (father of William Hilton) created scenery for the Robertsons for many years until the 1820s.[26]


Madame Tussaud brought her touring waxwork show to the theatre in November and December 1825.[27] The pit was covered over to enable the display of her works.[28] A military band played. Tickets cost one shilling, and the theatre was crowded each evening.[29]


The 1827 season included Sarah Booth's appearance for five nights in May, playing Juliet in Romeo and Juliet. The theatre was "entirely new Painted", in addition to improvements made in the previous year.[30] The "Infant Roscius" Master Herbert performed in Wisbech in 1829.[31] Edmund Kean appeared in April 1831.[32] The same year, Robertson died, leaving his wife Fanny in charge of the Robertson theatre company. T. W. Robertson, the son of her nephew, William Shaftoe Robertson, performed here, aged five, as Hamish, the son of the title character in Rob Roy.[33]


The banker James Hill (father of Octavia Hill and Miranda Hill) bought the theatre and adjoining land in 1835 and started to invest money in the theatre and in further developing the site.[34] The two Masters Grossmith (William and Benjamin) performed in December 1835.[35] When the theatre opened in February 1836 for a one-month season, it was advertised as the "New Theatre", with the scenic department and every other arrangement on a scale of expensive improvement never before attempted in Wisbech.[34] The improvements did not go unnoticed; in May a Georgina Gooch was charged with stealing the theatre's gas fittings.[36] William Macready performed here in June 1836,[37] and social reformer Robert Owen gave a lecture in January 1837.[38] The five-week 1837 season opened in February with The Stranger followed by the farce Love, Law, and Physics. The theatre was described as having a ceiling "designed from the celebrated Painting by Rubens, in the Louvre; the Fronts of the two tiers of Boxes are formed in compartments of Groups of Figures from the Mythology: the space between each Panel finished by a splendid Drapery of Green and Gold, in imitation of the Ornamental arrangement of the Italian Opera in 1831, the whole forming a coup d'oeil of elegant embellishment never before attempted in Wisbech".[39]


Hill was also the owner of the newspaper The Star in the East, in which he promoted the theatre's productions, such as the four day engagement of vocalist Harriet Waylett.[40] He built a progressive infant school in front of the theatre in 1838.[1][41] Mr Young performed the titles roles in Virginius and Hamlet and took the part of Quasimodo in Esmerelda in March 1838.[42] Richard Owen returned that year to give three lectures.[43]


The Wisbech Dramatic Society gave their first performances, The Castle Spectre and Hunting a Turtle, in December 1838 and January 1839.[44] They performed The Honeymoon and The Haunted Inn in June.[45] The theatre pit was boarded over to facilitate the 1839 New Year's Eve Ball.[46] In March 1839 the theatre hosted circus acts for three days.[47] Also in 1839, Mrs Robertson engaged Henry Compton to perform at Wisbech and other Lincoln circuit venues.[48] A critic wrote that his performance as Touchstone in As You Like It and as Mawwarm in Isaac Bickerstaff's The Hypocrite "was capital, he kept the audience in one tumult of laughter from beginning to end".[49] On 27 June 1840 James and Thomas Hill went bankrupt, and their estates were sold by auction, including the Wisbech theatre, which Mrs Robertson was then leasing.[50][51]

1841 to 1899[edit]

The theatre opened for the usual five-week season on 5 March 1841 with a new company and extensive internal alterations.[52] The Cambridge Independent Press described the improvements: "[A] floor has been laid along the entire length from the stage to the boxes, and the space hitherto appropriated to the stage, tastefully embellished with variegated drapery; the ensemble forming an elegant saloon, adapted to public assemblies, lectures, &c., but easily convertible, we believe, to its original use."[53] In October a newspaper reported that "Wisbech old workhouse is to be sold on the 30th inst., the building is of immense size, in a good situation, and at small expense might be converted into a theatre. The present theatre is much too small, and in a miserable situation, difficult of access in carriages."[54] A later report gave further details of the interior:

William Watson (1827). An Historical Account of the Ancient Town and Port of Wisbech. H. & J. Leach.

anonymous (1833). The History of Wisbech. William Watts.

Thomas Craddock & Neil Walker (1849). . Richard Walker.

The History of Wisbech and the Fens

Frederic John Gardiner (1898). . Gardiner & Co. Retrieved 3 October 2019 – via archive.org.

History of Wisbech and Neighborhood, During the Last Fifty Years - 1848-1898

Dame Madge Kendal (1933). Dame Madge Kendal. John Murray.

"Wisbech Theatre". The Wisbech Society 11th Annual Report. 11: 10–13. 1950.

Richard Leacroft (1973). The Development of the English Playhouse. Methuen.

Richard and Helen Leacroft (1984). Theatre and Playhouse: An illustrated survey of theatre building from Ancient Greece to the present day. Methuen.

Mansfield, Nick (1985). "James Hill and the Owenites". The Wisbech Society 46th Annual Report. 46: 10–14.

"Wisbech Theatre". The Wisbech Society 52nd Annual Report. 52: 15. 1991.

Clayton, Peter (1994). "The Wisbech Theatre - Part One". The Wisbech Society 55th Annual Report. 55: 11–16.

Clayton, Peter (1995). "The Wisbech Theatre - Part Two". The Wisbech Society 56th Annual Report. 56: 23–26.

Rex Mountain (2009). A Wisbechian returns to his roots. Rex Mountain.

Neil R Wright (2016). Treading the Boards. Society for Lincolnshire History & Archaeology.

Angles Theatre website