Britain – September 2019

http://www.britain-magazine.com BRITAIN 25

CULTURE

PHOTOS:

© GL ARCHIVE/ALAMY/ANDREW THOMAS/SHAKESPEARE BIRTHPLACE TRUST

theatre six years later, he was synonymous
with Shakespearean roles.
His desire to champion the Bard’s plays
meant that they soon formed the core of his
offering to a very receptive public. In Garrick’s
hands, these old-fashioned relics of the
previous century were sensationally popular.
His adaptations made them accessible and
relevant to his 18th-century audience, who
loved his extra scenes and songs, and his
cutting-edge effects; his Hamlet had a
mechanical wig that stood up on end when
the ghost appeared – much to their delight.
Garrick was therefore an obvious ally when
the Stratford Corporation began looking for
donors to assist with the completion of their
new town hall in the late 1760s. He readily
agreed to donate the statue of Shakespeare

they requested, but suggested that he also

stage a celebratory entertainment in the

town featuring the Drury Lane company

and its orchestra.

As an event, his Jubilee was not a great

success. Britain’s unpredictable weather quite

literally rained on Garrick’s parade; torrential

downpours on the second day forced the

cancellation of his planned procession of

Shakespearean characters, and the hastily

constructed pavilion on the riverside was

ooded. The rework display was a washout,

and by the time it came to the horse-chase

for the Jubilee cup on the nal day, the horses

were all knee deep in water.

To make matters worse, Stratford itself

was totally unequipped for a great inux

of visitors, particularly lords and ladies used

to all the comforts and conveniences of the

metropolis. They complained bitterly about

the terrible roads, clogged with rain, mud and

sewage, the lack of beds, and the extortionate

prices the townspeople were charging.

The press gave Garrick a hard time,

too, condemning the Jubilee as a ippant

celebration and an act of self-promotion.

It’s true that not a single word written by

the Bard was performed during the whole

festival, and that the Ode to Shakespeare

(penned by Garrick himself) was the

intentional highlight of the event.

Yet Garrick had hoped that people would

discover the Bard around them in Stratford.

“Now, now, we tread enchanted ground,

Here SHAKESPEARE walk’d and sung!”

his performers chorused. It was a new

Top left: Shakespeare’s Birthplace

Bottom left: Garrick Jubilee

Souvenir Medal and Ribbon Bow

This image: David Garrick and his

wife, Eva-Maria Veigel, painted

by William Hogarth