Ellen Terry - Postcard, 1908
Title
Ellen Terry - Postcard, 1908
Date
24 February 1908
Description
Promotional postcard of Ellen Terry, starring in 1908 touring productions of Captain Brassbound's Conversion and Henry of Lancaster.
What's the story?
Ellen Terry starred in a double-bill of Captain Brassbound’s Conversion and Henry of Lancaster at the Theatre Royal from 24 to 29 February 1908.
Captain Brassbound’s Conversion played from Monday 24 to Thursday 27 February and Henry of Lancaster on Friday 28 and Saturday 29 February.
Captain Brassbound’s Conversion is a 1900 play by Bernard Shaw. It was first produced in London in 1906 with Ellen Terry in the lead role of Cicely Waynflete. Henry of Lancaster is a now largely forgotten play by Gladys Unger, who was present at these Theatre Royal Nottingham performances.
The Nottingham Evening Post review for the opening night of Henry of Lancaster reveals an enthusiastic audience for Terry and her husband and fellow actor James Carew …
“Liberal in their applause to the point of prodigality, last night’s audience in the Nottingham Theatre Royal welcomed with acclamation Miss Ellen Terry’s new play ‘Henry of Lancaster’, then produced for the first time … Enthusiasm fairly ran riot, until one lost count of the number of times that the curtain was raised to allow Miss Terry and Mr Carew to bow their acknowledgments … Miss Ellen Terry, looking handsome and majestic in her magnificent costumes, bore herself with the dignity and grace which she knows so well how to assume when portraying such characters as that in which she was seen last night … The authoress participated with Miss Terry and Mr Carew in the demonstrations of goodwill upon the part of the audience at the close.”
Ellen Terry was a renowned actor of this period, often considered the leading dramatic actor of her time, particularly following her Shakespeare work alongside Henry Irving at the Lyceum Theatre in London at the end of the nineteenth century.
She married American actor James Carew in 1907. The marriage was short-lived, with the couple divorcing in 1910.
Interesting to note that for an actor of Terry’s stature, this postcard also identifies her as ‘Mrs James Carew’ and not solely in her own right.
This postcard forms part of a large scrapbook collection donated to the Theatre Royal archive by Diane Meadwell from Sandiacre. Her great grandfather was Bernard Hill, the former landlord of The Sun Inn on Parliament Street and who later became the Stage Door Keeper at the Theatre Royal. Bernard’s daughter Edith also worked at the Theatre Royal as an usherette.
Whilst in his stage door job, Bernard collected a large number of postcards of the numerous artists who performed at the venue, many of which he got them to autograph, as well as writing the date and if necessary, the show on the reverse, making the future archivist’s job that little bit easier. We have then been able to cross-reference this information with the list of Theatre Royal shows being compiled by volunteer researcher Lynn Whitley.
We are grateful to Diane for sharing her family memories with us and for donating such a valuable resource to the archive.
Captain Brassbound’s Conversion played from Monday 24 to Thursday 27 February and Henry of Lancaster on Friday 28 and Saturday 29 February.
Captain Brassbound’s Conversion is a 1900 play by Bernard Shaw. It was first produced in London in 1906 with Ellen Terry in the lead role of Cicely Waynflete. Henry of Lancaster is a now largely forgotten play by Gladys Unger, who was present at these Theatre Royal Nottingham performances.
The Nottingham Evening Post review for the opening night of Henry of Lancaster reveals an enthusiastic audience for Terry and her husband and fellow actor James Carew …
“Liberal in their applause to the point of prodigality, last night’s audience in the Nottingham Theatre Royal welcomed with acclamation Miss Ellen Terry’s new play ‘Henry of Lancaster’, then produced for the first time … Enthusiasm fairly ran riot, until one lost count of the number of times that the curtain was raised to allow Miss Terry and Mr Carew to bow their acknowledgments … Miss Ellen Terry, looking handsome and majestic in her magnificent costumes, bore herself with the dignity and grace which she knows so well how to assume when portraying such characters as that in which she was seen last night … The authoress participated with Miss Terry and Mr Carew in the demonstrations of goodwill upon the part of the audience at the close.”
Ellen Terry was a renowned actor of this period, often considered the leading dramatic actor of her time, particularly following her Shakespeare work alongside Henry Irving at the Lyceum Theatre in London at the end of the nineteenth century.
She married American actor James Carew in 1907. The marriage was short-lived, with the couple divorcing in 1910.
Interesting to note that for an actor of Terry’s stature, this postcard also identifies her as ‘Mrs James Carew’ and not solely in her own right.
This postcard forms part of a large scrapbook collection donated to the Theatre Royal archive by Diane Meadwell from Sandiacre. Her great grandfather was Bernard Hill, the former landlord of The Sun Inn on Parliament Street and who later became the Stage Door Keeper at the Theatre Royal. Bernard’s daughter Edith also worked at the Theatre Royal as an usherette.
Whilst in his stage door job, Bernard collected a large number of postcards of the numerous artists who performed at the venue, many of which he got them to autograph, as well as writing the date and if necessary, the show on the reverse, making the future archivist’s job that little bit easier. We have then been able to cross-reference this information with the list of Theatre Royal shows being compiled by volunteer researcher Lynn Whitley.
We are grateful to Diane for sharing her family memories with us and for donating such a valuable resource to the archive.
Type
Postcard
Location of item
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
Rights
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
Contributor
Researchers: David Longford / Lynn Whitley
