A Study of Drury Lane’s Playbill (1): Garrick’s Strategy

Abstract

This article focuses on three tasks to look into Garrick’s strategy toward Drury Lane’s playbill. First, Drury Lane’s playbill of 21 Jan. 1756 proves that the double bill was very conceptual. Garrick combined his adaptation of Winter’s Tale, Florizel and Perdita as a main piece and Catharine and Petruchio, his adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew as an afterpiece. Garrick strengthened his patriarchal ideology with both pieces, upholding middle class mercantile values at the same time. Second, Garrick’s institutionalization of a pantomime illuminates the background of Garrick’s combination of Shakespeare with a pantomime as well. By downstaging Autolycus/Harlequin, Garrick’s playbill broke down the dichotomy of high/low structure of the playbill Garrick himself had hoped to establish. Third, Garrick’s strategy is different from Sheridan’s. While Garrick in 1756 angled for future George III’s favour with Florizel and Perdita, a Whig politician Sheridan in 1781 didn’t need to angle for George III’s favour with Florizel and Perdita. Therefore the aims of Sheridan’s playbill would be different from Garrick’s though the double bill would be very conceptual as well.