Compton Comedy Company - Playbill, 1895
Title
Compton Comedy Company - Playbill, 1895
Date
3 June 1895
Description
Late Victorian playbill for Edward Compton and the celebrated Compton Comedy Company, performing the plays Davy Garrick, Edmund Kean Tragedian, Road to Ruin and Money.
What's the story?
Actor Edward Compton formed the Compton Comedy Company in 1881, following a bequest of £2,000 in the will of his fiancée Adelaide Neilson, who had suddenly died.
Following this bereavement Compton threw himself into his work, devoting himself to touring the regions in comedy productions.
Clearly in two of the productions here Compton is channelling the spirits of two former actor/managers, playing both David Garrick and Edmund Kean.
Well-known actors Alan Howard and Leslie Howard could trace their family tree back to Edward Compton.
This Theatre Royal playbill was donated to the Theatre Royal archive by The Nottingham Mechanics on North Sherwood Street in Nottingham. They had been kept in storage in their building for many years and it was only with the launch of the Theatre Royal digital archive in October 2018, that they finally came to light. The Theatre Royal is sincerely grateful to the Nottingham Mechanics for enabling us to bring these playbills to the wider public.
Since 1837 The Nottingham Mechanics Institute has been serving the city of Nottingham as a centre of cultural, educational and social activity.
In its present home on North Sherwood Street groups such as Nottingham Poetry Society, The Dickens Fellowship, Nottingham Shakespeare Society, The Embroiderers’ Club and others meet regularly to enjoy the building’s facilities www.nottinghammechanics.com
Following this bereavement Compton threw himself into his work, devoting himself to touring the regions in comedy productions.
Clearly in two of the productions here Compton is channelling the spirits of two former actor/managers, playing both David Garrick and Edmund Kean.
Well-known actors Alan Howard and Leslie Howard could trace their family tree back to Edward Compton.
This Theatre Royal playbill was donated to the Theatre Royal archive by The Nottingham Mechanics on North Sherwood Street in Nottingham. They had been kept in storage in their building for many years and it was only with the launch of the Theatre Royal digital archive in October 2018, that they finally came to light. The Theatre Royal is sincerely grateful to the Nottingham Mechanics for enabling us to bring these playbills to the wider public.
Since 1837 The Nottingham Mechanics Institute has been serving the city of Nottingham as a centre of cultural, educational and social activity.
In its present home on North Sherwood Street groups such as Nottingham Poetry Society, The Dickens Fellowship, Nottingham Shakespeare Society, The Embroiderers’ Club and others meet regularly to enjoy the building’s facilities www.nottinghammechanics.com
Type
Playbill
Location of item
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
Rights
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
Contributor
Researcher: David Longford
Photographer: Ian Webster
Photographer: Ian Webster
