"With all its defects," he says, "'The House of Darnley' secures the attention and the respect of the audience, and succeeds in right of its own good qualities, and not merely because of the esteem in which the performances of its departed author are generally held. If the theme be weak, it is yet strongly handled, and demonstrates sufficiently the wit and the humour and the literary accomplishments of the late Lord Lytton. The comedy has been provided for with the good taste and liberality which have so laudably distinguished Mr. Hare's management."
Ellen Terry acted with great distinction as Lady Juliet, and excellent work was done by John Hare, Charles Kelly, Alfred Bishop, Amy Roselle, and others, but, interesting though it was, the play did not long hold the stage.
There was another performance in 1877 that must not be forgotten. This was on June 20th, at the Gaiety Theatre, for the benefit of Charles Lamb Kenney, who had through illness lasting over a considerable time been unable to ply his facile pen. "The School for Scandal" was the pièce de résistance, and it was then that Ellen Terry appeared for the first time as Lady Teazle. Charles Kelly was the Sir Peter; Henry Neville, Charles Surface; and John Clayton, Joseph Surface. By those who remember the prodigiously long run of Sheridan's masterpiece at the Vaudeville Theatre, the last mentioned performances of the admirably contrasted brothers will ever be borne in appreciative memory. Mrs. Arthur Stirling was the Mrs. Candour; and Mrs. Alfred Mellon the Lady Sneerwell. As may be imagined Ellen Terry played Lady Teazle with winsome high spirits in the earlier acts, and plaintive remorse in the great screen scene.
John Hare's next venture at the Court Theatre was not successful. In spite of the care lavished upon its production, and of much clever acting on the part of the company, Tom Taylor's comedy "Victims," originally presented at the Haymarket in 1857, failed to attract audiences in 1878, and was speedily withdrawn. Withdrawn, it may be unhesitatingly said, in favour of his greatest managerial success—the stage version by W. G. Wills of Oliver Goldsmith's immortal story "The Vicar of Wakefield," entitled "Olivia." John Hare suggested the subject to Wills, and it was at once seized with the characteristic avidity of a prolific and graceful writer. No one who knew that unquestionable, but all too kindly and erratic, genius will be surprised to hear that the first draft of the play was for stage purposes impossible. It was made up of scenes of great beauty hopelessly choked with vast quantities of irrelevant matter. It was not consecutively written, but was jotted down at random in untidy copy-books, on the backs of used envelopes, chance scraps of paper, and even on the eager but unmethodical author's wristbands. At one time the task of bringing all this heterogeneous matter into workmanlike form seemed to be a hopeless one, but with full faith in his project and his author, John Hare was not to be baffled.
Night after night the two sat up together, and the play was re-constructed and re-written in accordance with the practical managerial views. When it was at last completed the dramatist prudently withdrew from the scene. W. G. Wills had no interest in or talent for stage management, and he wisely left the production in the experienced hands of John Hare, only attending the perfected rehearsal on the eve of the first performance.
John Hare can rarely be induced to talk about himself or his work, but in connection with this production he is inclined to be somewhat enthusiastic. "The beauty of the subject," he told me, "made the stage management of this play profoundly interesting to me, and stimulated my imagination and inventive powers to a greater height than I had ever reached. By working out the whole scheme of the play in my home study I planned all the movements and minute stage directions, so that at the very first rehearsal it practically was the same as when it was presented to the public. The part of the Vicar I offered in the first instance to Alfred Wigan, making every effort to induce him to return to the stage in order that he might create this beautiful character. I could not induce him, however, to face the footlights again. So Hermann Vezin became the 'Court' Vicar, and how admirably he played the part we all know."
No one grudges Hermann Vezin his well-won success in the part, but some of us who ponder over things theatrical, sometimes wonder whether, if the Court Theatre had had another manager, and the services of John Hare had been available, he might not have been induced to impersonate Dr. Primrose.
The part of Olivia had of course been designed for Ellen Terry, and how much she was pleased with it is proved by the following little note impulsively dashed off to the author:—
"Court Theatre,
Monday, March 5, 1878.
"Dear Mr. Wills,—I can't tell you how much I was delighted with the play, and with my part, but I was delighted!
"I only hope I shall be able to please you in my part of the work.—Believe me to be, very sincerely yours, Ellen Terry."