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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 July 2009
Back in London I devoted myself to playgoing, the crowning experience of which was seeing Forbes-Robertson as Hamlet at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane: a noble actor in a noble role at a noble theatre—and, as I remember it, a production without gimmicks or recondite interpretations of the text. Before returning to the States I wished to see all kinds and conditions of English theatre, and after visits to the West End, I sought Suburbia.
1. Editor's Note: In “Villains Galore” Morley relates his experiences upon his return to England in the summer of 1913, when he played a season of melodrama with a pick-up company under the direction of Maurice Hoffman. The excerpts given here include his account of the circumstances of his hiring and a typical anecdote from his sketch of the season. This is followed by “Seeing America,” the last section of the autobiography left incomplete at Morley's death.
2. Malcolm Morley joined Maurice Hoffman's company at Lincoln on 16 June 1913.
3. Editor's note: The Syndicate or Theatrical Trust, formed in 1896, originally included Al Hayman, Charles Frohman, Sam Nixon, Fred Zimmerman, Marc Klaw, Abe Erlanger, Issac Rich, and William Harris. Within a decade of its formation, the Syndicate controlled about six hundred theatres in America. For accounts of its corrupt business practices, see the weekly issues of the New York Dramatic Mirror during the period (especially November and December 1897); Bernheim, Alfred L., The Business of the Theatre (New York, 1932), pp. 45–65Google Scholar; Hornblow, Arthur, A History of the Theatre in America (Philadelphia, 1919), II, 286–326Google Scholar.
4. Editor's note: The worst years of the “booking war” were 1909–1913—see Bernheim, p. 67. On the Shuberts, see Stagg, Jerry, The Brothers Shubert (New York, 1968)Google Scholar.
5. Joseph and his Brethren opened in Syracuse on 8 September 1913Google Scholar.
6. From 29 September to 1 November 1913.
7. From 3 to 7 November 1913.
8. Lyn Harding took up James O'Neill's role on 26 March 1914.
9. The last performance of the season was on 25 April 1914 at the Nixon Theatre, Pittsburgh. Morley rejoined the tour on 29 August 1914, after a second summer with the Maurice Hoffman Company in England. Morley's last performance in Joseph and His Brethren was on 7 November 1914.