James Albery (4 May 1838 – 15 August 1889) was an English

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. Ben Jonson coined the term "playwri ...

Life and career

Albery was born in London. On leaving school he entered an architect's office and started to write plays. His

farce Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical comedy, physical humor; the use of delibe ...

''A Pretty Piece of Chiselling'' was given its first production by the Ingoldsby Club in 1864. After some failures, his adaptation, ''Dr Davy'', was produced at the

Lyceum Theatre, London The Lyceum Theatre ( ) is a West End theatre located in the City of Westminster, on Wellington Street, just off the Strand in central London. It has a seating capacity of 2,100. The origins of the theatre date to 1765. Managed by Samuel Arno ...

(1866). His most successful piece, ''Two Roses'', a comedy, was produced at the

Vaudeville Theatre The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on the Strand in the City of Westminster. Opening in 1870, the theatre staged mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. The theatre was rebuilt twice, although each new buildin ...

in 1870, in which

Sir Henry Irving Sir Henry Irving (6 February 1838 – 13 October 1905), christened John Henry Brodribb, sometimes known as J. H. Irving, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility ( ...

made one of his earliest London successes as Digby Grant. The production ran for 300 performances. Albery was the author of a large number of other plays and adaptations, including ''Coquettes'' (1870); ''Pickwick'', a four-act drama based on

Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by many as the great ...

's ''

The Pickwick Papers ''The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club'' (also known as ''The Pickwick Papers'') was the Debut novel, first novel serialised from March 1836 to November 1837 by English author Charles Dickens. Because of his success with ''Sketches by Bo ...

'' (1871); '' The Pink Dominos'' (1877), a

that ran for an extremely successful 555 performances and was one of a series of adaptations from the French which he made for the

Criterion Theatre The Criterion Theatre is a West End theatre at Piccadilly Circus in the City of Westminster, and is a Grade II* listed building. It has a seating capacity of 588. Building the theatre In 1870, the caterers Spiers and Pond began developmen ...

, where his wife, the actress and theatrical manager Mary Moore (who after his death became Lady

Wyndham Wyndham may refer to: *Wyndham (name), a surname and given name Places Australia *City of Wyndham, an LGA (local government area) in Victoria * Shire of Wyndham-East Kimberley, a LGA in Western Australia * Wyndham Important Bird Area, Western Aust ...

(1861–1931)), played the leading parts; ''Jingle'' (a farcical version of ''Pickwick''), produced at the Lyceum in 1878; and ''Oriana'' (with music by

Frederic Clay Frederic Emes Clay (3 August 1838 – 24 November 1889) was an English composer known principally for songs and his music written for the stage. Although from a musical family, for 16 years Clay made his living as a civil servant in HM Treasury ...

). His one-act

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...

, ''

The Spectre Knight ''The Spectre Knight'' is a one-act "fanciful operetta" with a libretto by James Albery and music by Alfred Cellier. It was first performed on 9 February 1878 at the Opera Comique by the Comedy Opera Company as a companion piece to ''The Sorcere ...

'', with music by

Alfred Cellier Alfred Cellier (1 December 184428 December 1891) was an English composer, orchestrator and conductor. In addition to conducting and music directing the original productions of several of the most famous Gilbert and Sullivan works and writing th ...

, ran as a companion piece to

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen com ...

's ''

The Sorcerer ''The Sorcerer'' is a two-act comic opera, with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music by Arthur Sullivan. It was the British duo's third operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaboration. The plot of ''The Sorcerer'' is based on a Christmas stor ...

'' and then ''

H.M.S. Pinafore ''H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London on 25 May 1878, and ran for 571 performances, w ...

'' at the

Opera Comique The Opera Comique was a 19th-century theatre constructed in Westminster, London, located between Wych Street, Holywell Street and the Strand. It opened in 1870 and was demolished in 1902, to make way for the construction of the Aldwych and K ...

in 1878 and on tour. Albery also wrote a book called ''Where's the Cat?'' in 1880. Albery and Moore had three sons: Irving, who became a Conservative Member of Parliament, Bronson, a theatre director after whom the

Albery Theatre Albery is a name. It may refer to: Given name * Albery Allson Whitman (1851−1901), African American poet, minister and orator Surname * A. S. Albery, British politician * Bronson Albery (1881−1971), English theatre director and impresario * Do ...

is named, and

, a socialist activist. Their granddaughter through Irving was Jessica Albery (1908–1990) an architect and town planner, one of the first professional women architects in the UK. Albery wrote this epitaph for himself:

Bibliography

* 1870 �
''Two Roses''

References

Sources

*Albery's plays are collected in a two-volume edition at the British Library at 2303 f. 14. *''The Dramatic Works of James Albery'', together with a sketch of his career, correspondence bearing thereon, press notices, casts, etc. 2 Volumes. Peter Davies, London, 1939.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Albery, James 1838 births 1889 deaths People associated with Gilbert and Sullivan Writers from London English male dramatists and playwrights Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery 19th-century English dramatists and playwrights 19th-century English male writers