Shakespeare and Early America · Creating Shakespeare · Newberry Digital Exhibitions

On March 5, 1750, the first known performance in America of a Shakespearean production was performed - an "altered" version of Richard III. From the article:

"Shakespeare and Early America · Creating Shakespeare · Newberry Digital Exhibitions

Shakespeare’s work encountered some difficulty in crossing the Atlantic. In 17th-century America, Puritans and Quakers opposed the theater, and in 1682, William Penn authorized severe punishment for stage plays, which he placed in the same category as dice and bear-baiting.

The earliest surviving evidence of a Shakespeare performance in America is a 1730 advertisement for Romeo and Juliet in New York; by 1752, Lewis Hallam’s “London Company of Comedians” had arrived in Williamsburg, Virginia, where they attracted audiences of legislators and merchants. Between 1750 and 1774, 15 Shakespeare plays were known to have been staged in America: the most popular were Romeo and Juliet, Richard III, and Hamlet. In 1774, the Continental Congress prohibited theater, although the ban was never entirely successful. In the post-Revolutionary period, the theater became a site of conflict over who had authority to shape the cultural life of the new nation. By the late 1780s, anti-theatrical laws began to be repealed and by 1794 new playhouses were built in Boston and Philadelphia.

The American Stage in 1863, Big and Small
In early 1863, the American actor James Henry Hackett published his book on Shakespeare. In March of that year, Lincoln saw Hackett perform as Falstaff in Henry IV, a role for which he had become famous on both sides of the Atlantic. A week later, Hackett sent a copy of his book to Lincoln, asking for his thoughts on it. Hackett published Lincoln’s reply to him in the hopes of bolstering his own career, although Lincoln was much mocked by the press for his letter, which reads in part:

Some of Shakspeare’s plays I have never read; while others I have gone over frequently… Among the latter are Lear, Richard Third, Henry Eighth, Hamlet, and especially Macbeth. I think nothing equals Macbeth. It is wonderful.

On Saturday, October 17, of that same year, Lincoln attended a performance of his favorite play at Grover’s Theater; the playbill from that night is featured here.

Shakespeare on the American Page
The first American-printed edition of Shakespeare’s works was published in 1795, perhaps in response to the new theaters built in Boston and Philadelphia the preceding year. The edition’s preface addresses a specifically American readership, defending the plays against anti-theatrical Puritans by claiming that “the reproaches which have been thundered from the pulpit against the stage, cannot reasonably be applied to the stage of Shakespeare.” The copious notes of previous editions are also removed by the editors, who declare: “An American reader is seldom disposed to wander through the wilderness of verbal criticism.”

Imagination and Wonder: The Tempest in the 19th Century
By 1857, actor and theater manager Charles Kean was known for lavish productions using historically accurate costumes and sets. With The Tempest, though, he apparently felt himself free from the confines of any specific historical period and at liberty to exercise his imagination. Kean’s resulting production was arguably the most elaborate version of The Tempest ever staged: it took five hours to perform and required over 140 stage hands to move the scenery. The play drew unanimous raves from the press, who conceded that the acting was secondary to the spectacle. One manuscript promptbook served as a “final” or “souvenir” book made by T.W. Edmonds, the prompter at the Princess’s Theatre in London. Capitalizing on the popularity of the production, a printed version of the promptbook was also published.

Advertising Shakespeare
By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Shakespeare was popular enough to sell just about anything, from soap, to clothing, to corned beef, to beer, to cars. The earliest Shakespeare-related advertising in America took the form of trade cards, with a brightly colored picture on the front and an advertising message on the back. Advertisers also issued parody cards, altering quotes and scenes to make it seem as if Shakespeare himself were endorsing the product. By the late 19th century, Shakespeare advertising began to appear in popular periodicals.

Commemorating Shakespeare
The first commemoration of Shakespeare after his death was the erection of his monument in Poets’ Corner at Westminster Abbey in 1741, which was largely financed through the efforts of the Shakespeare Ladies Club—a group of “Ladies of Quality” formed in the 1730s with the goal of restoring Shakespeare to the stage in place of “imported” entertainments.

In 1769, David Garrick announced plans for a Jubilee celebrating the bicentenary of Shakespeare’s birth (the fact that the anniversary had actually occurred five years earlier did not deter him). Held in Stratford-upon-Avon, the Jubilee was the first time Shakespeare was celebrated in his home town. Visitors flocked to Stratford for a pageant of Shakespearean characters, a masquerade ball, music, and fireworks.

Since the Jubilee, Shakespeare devotees have continued to commemorate him with objects both decorative and practical: in the 19th century, one could record the birthdays of friends and family in an illustrated Shakespeare Birthday Book; in 1964, one could send birthday greetings with a Shakespeare postage stamp, printed for the 400th anniversary of his birth."