Jackson v. Stephen Kemble; a tale of two theatres

Jackson, the patentee at the Theatre Royal, having become bankrupt, Mr. Stephen Kemble came forward, and from the trustees took a lease of the Theatre for one year. This he did at the suggestion of Mr. Jackson, who, according to a private missive, was to have an equal interest in the concern. Mr. Kemble, however, refusing to accept the security produced by Mr. Jackson, retained the sole management in his own hands, and the dispute was only settled towards the close of the season by the decreet-arbitral of the Dean of Faculty.

On the termination of the dispute betwixt Jackson and Kemble by the decree of the Dean of Faculty—a decision, however, far from satisfactory to either party—Mr. Jackson obtained a settlement with the majority of his creditors, and conceiving himself to have been ill-used by his opponent, contrived, by a negotiation with Mrs. Eston (an actress of considerable celebrity on more accounts than one), to disappoint him of a renewal of his lease.  In consequence of this, and aware that he stood pretty high in the estimation of the public, Mr. Kemble resolved on opening a new theatre. With this view, he took the Circus —now the Adelphi Theatre—and at great expense had it altered and fitted up in a neat and commodious manner.

The house was accordingly opened on the day announced—the 18th of January, 1793—with the comedy of The Rivals; the part of Sir Anthony Absolute by Mr. Lee Lewes. 'Every part of the New Theatre,' says a paragraph in the Courant, 'was filled soon after the opening of the doors; and in few instances do we recollect where the expectations of the public were more amply gratified. The house is fitted up in a style of neatness and simplicity, and possesses a sufficiency of decoration, without approaching to tawdriness. The scenery is by Mr. Naesmith, and it is sufficient to say his reputation (so deservedly high) will not be diminished by the work: the subjects are well chosen, and tastefully executed. The frontispiece is a spirited representation of Apollo in his car, preceded by Aurora. Sheridan's admired comedy of The Rivals was got up with considerable strength, Mr. Lee Lewes and Mr. Woods, in Old and Young Absolute, were excellent; and Mrs. Kemble, in Julia, displayed that plaintive and affecting simplicity which ever marks her performance.'

Mr. Kemble was not long permitted to enjoy his success unmolested. Jackson's trustees insisting on the monopoly granted by the patent-royal, the question was carried before the Court of Session, and defended by Kemble, on the ground that the patent not having passed the Great Seal of Scotland, it was therefore invalid. In the course of the process, an interdict having been obtained from the Lord Ordinary, Lee Lewes created much merriment amongst the audience the following night, when a pantomime was about to be performed, by appearing on the stage with a padlock attached to his mouth, in allusion to the attempt to prevent them from acting the regular drama.

The contest betwixt the rival houses ultimately terminating in favour of the patentees, the New Theatre was closed, and Mr. Kemble consequently involved in very considerable pecuniary loss. An account of this process was given in a very unsatisfactory work, published by Jackson in 1793, entitled A History of the Scottish Stage, in which, as might be expected, he was by no means sparing of his accusations against Kemble.

[From Kay's Edinburgh Portraits Mr. and Mrs. Lee Lewes, at the Edinburgh Theatre.]


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