Spring Tea: Jane Austen And The Theater

Jane Austen and the Theater
Spring Tea 2019
Fairway Village Club House
Vancouver, WA
Hosts: Nan and David Williams
Speaker: Kimberly Brangwin Milham
By Vonnie Alto, Secretary
 
For the third year in a row, our region held its annual Spring Tea at the beautiful Fairway Village Club House in Vancouver, WA on Sunday, April 28th. Nan Williams and her husband, David were the hosts.

This year, Val Bloye with Mary-Elise Diedrich assisting made the table decorations to compliment our theatrical theme. Charming baskets of fresh and dried flowers adorned the tables with miniature two-sided placards advertising Georgian theaters and plays of the era with period actors/actresses. 

Our tea table included a potluck style of scrumptious main dishes and delectable desserts which included baked ham, beef summer sausage, a cheese plate platter, tea sandwiches, shrimp, lentil salad, chicken salad,  pretzels, cherry tomatoes, banana nut bread, Devonshire scones with clotted cream, Ruby Berry Eton Mess, shortbread, chocolate chip cookies, and savory caramels.     

Many of our ton dressed in Regency and Georgian costume to celebrate our Spring Tea. Of course, we held our own emporium of Jane Austen books, merchandise, and Regency era attire which raised over $200! This helped fund our annual Tribute Grant for one person each year to attend the JASNA AGM who has never been there.

Amid our festivities, Tribute Grant Creator and former Region Coordinator, Kim Higgins, announced our 2019 Tribute Grant Recipient: Lauren Bruss.  Lauren has been a member of our region since 2015 and claims to have read all of Jane Austen's works by the time she finished high school. One of Lauren's favorite novels is Northanger Abbey, as she has always related strongly to the novel's heroine. We are delighted that Lauren was awarded our Tribute Grant so that she could delve further into the world of Catherine Morland at the Williamsburg AGM--the ideal environment for Lauren to seek a a little mischief and adventure of her own!

Our Spring Tea speaker this year was Kimberly Brangwin Milham who is an active JASNA member and a renowned expert on theater, food, crime, and etiquette. She has performed in numerous plays for regional meetings and the national JASNA AGM. We were in for quite a treat. Kimberly’s extensive knowledge of Jane Austen and the Regency ere allowed us all to experience Georgian theater.
 
Kimberly attended dressed in Georgian attire and enthralled us all with her knowledge of the risqué world of Georgian theater, its high drama both on and off the stage. She gave a lively and informative discourse with anecdotes, humor, and slide projector visuals about the actors and actresses and playhouses in London and Bath during the time of Jane Austen, including Jane Austen's love of theater.—whether performing in home theatricals with her family at holidays or attending the grand theaters of London or Bath.
 
What Did We Learn About the World of Georgian Theater?

• Plays began in the afternoon. The entire theater showing could last as long as 6 hours.  Prior to a theater showing, dancers and singers performed. Good plays were often performed twice.
•  A play’s run was approximately 1-2 weeks.  
• There was no copyright, so there was lots of stealing of plots and lines.
•  The perception of theater is “possibility.”
•  Theater is ephemeral. It’s enticing and offers illusions and dreams. The actors are not being themselves. Women show their legs. Men dressed as women.  Indeed, cross dressing for both men and women was a crowd pleaser. Age, size, infirmity, and infamous/famous reputations didn’t limit an actor’s appeal. Once you became known for a role, you could play it for decades.  
• Actors and actresses had longevity in their careers. Muted lighting of candles and lamps, rouge  makeup, and physical distance from the audience made it possible for older actors to act.
• In 1807, London had gas lamps. Actors found lamp light more flattering than oil lamps. In 1817, cold gas was used to light Covent Garden with a green light.
•  Theater was a big part of the middle and upper class and a welcome venue for them. The gentry thought that the theater was about seeing and being seen and coming and going.  
• Legitimate theater was real theater and not musical theater.
•  The audience and actors expected a participatory experience. Performances were often interrupted by guffaws and applause.  
• Fire destroyed theaters and happened frequently due to hazardous lighting and draperies. In 1808, a fire destroyed Covent Garden. It started at 4 am and within 3-4 hours, the entire theater was demolished. In 1809, Drury Lane burned.  In 1811, the theater was rebuilt which Jane Austen attended with her brother.
•  Most towns had their own theaters, in a horseshoe shape circle. The larger ones were built for 800 people and crowded.  
• The Monthly Mirror was similar to People magazine, filled with gossip about the actors and very personality driven.
•  Memoirs of actresses were greatly sought after whether or not they were true.

 
 The Actors of Georgian Theater:

• Famous actors were David Garrick (1717-1779) and John Kemble (1757-1823).  Kemble created a legacy. His older sister, Sarah Siddons achieved famed with him on the stage. His nephews and grandson continued his legacy as an actor.  
• Sarah Siddons (1775-1831) was a famous actress of Drury Lane. Women would faint away at her drama. Theater goers really thought she had died during her death scenes and moaned in terror.
• Edmund Kean (1787-1833) as Othello theatrically died in his last performance in 1833 when he collapsed into the arms of his son, Charles who played Iago. Kean died 2 months later.  
• Mrs. Dorothea Jordan (1761-1816) had several pregnancies during 20 years while acting. People loved her best in low cast roles of country maids because of her sassy humor.

 
Playwrights that Jane Austen Saw:

• Susannah Centlivre (1667-1723) was an English poet and actress and also “the most successful female playwright of the 18th century.” She published 17 plays.    
• Hannah Cowley (1743-1809) was an English dramatist and poet. She wrote 13 plays including the romantic comedy, The Belle’s Strategem about marriage and how women strive to overcome the injustices imposed by social customs and traditions as well as family life.
• Elizabeth Inchbald (1753-1821) wrote Lover’s Vows (most famous because Jane Austen made it famous when she referred to it in Mansfield Park),  
• Richard Sheridan (1751-1816) wrote The Rivals and School for Scandal which are his most popular plays which are still performed today.

 
Jane Austen’s Love of Theater:

• Jane Austen’s writings have a modern feel which makes it easy for adaptation. Jane understood dramatic elements. She also understood the structure of plays into acts. She used to read plays aloud with her family. One of her brothers noted that he thought her talents far exceeded the written works and sometimes the performances.  
• Jane Austen’s writings were inspired from her visits to the theater.
•  In 1799, Jane attended her first professional play with her brother, called Lover’s Vows which she referred to in Mansfield Park.  Jane liked farce and saw The Devil to Pay by Charles Coffey.