Paul John Meritt (originally Paul John Maetzker; 1843/4 – 7 July 1895) was a British dramatist and theatre manager, producing many sensational dramas.

Life

Meritt was born in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

, to British parents; his father, originally from

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, was naturalized British, and was at one time private secretary to Sir Edward Earle Gascoyne Bulwer. After his father died in 1854, he attended school in Leeds, and was later was an office clerk; from 1868 he was a clerk in London. From the early 1870s he wrote professionally, creating sensational melodramas which were performed at the

Royal Grecian Theatre The Royal Grecian Theatre was a Music Hall theatre, located in the grounds of the ''Eagle Tavern'', a public house at Shepherdess Walk, just off the City Road in Shoreditch, in the East End of London. The Eagle, best known for its association wi ...

in Shoreditch. In the early 1880s, Meritt and

George Augustus Conquest George Augustus Oliver Conquest (1837 – 14 May 1901) was a playwright, theatrical manager, acrobat and pantomimist described as "the most stunning actor-acrobat of his time". Early life and family Conquest was born in 1837, the son of theatri ...

jointly operated the

Surrey Theatre The Surrey Theatre, London began life in 1782 as the Royal Circus and Equestrian Philharmonic Academy, one of the many circuses that provided entertainment of both horsemanship and drama ( hippodrama). It stood in Blackfriars Road, near the ju ...

, and wrote plays together. His plays brought him success, and made money. Meritt was a member of the

Savage Club The Savage Club, founded in 1857, is a gentlemen's club in London, named after the poet, Richard Savage. Members are drawn from the fields of art, drama, law, literature, music or science. History The founding meeting of the Savage Club took ...

and the Dramatic Authors' Society, and he was a friend of leading figures in the theatrical world. He died on 7 July 1895 at his home in Pembroke Square in Kensington, London, survived by his wife Annie, and was buried at

Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is a London cemetery, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries. Es ...

Plays

Meritt wrote about 40 pieces, many of which were collaborations, working with George Augustus Conquest,

Augustus Harris Sir Augustus Henry Glossop Harris (18 March 1852 – 22 June 1896) was a British actor, impresario, and dramatist, a dominant figure in the West End theatre, West End theatre of the 1880s and 1890s. Born into a theatrical family, Harris briefl ...

Tom Taylor Tom Taylor (19 October 1817 – 12 July 1880) was an English dramatist, critic, biographer, public servant, and editor of ''Punch'' magazine. Taylor had a brief academic career, holding the professorship of English literature and language a ...

Henry Spry Henry Thomas Augustus Spry (bapt. 2 July 1834 – 17 February 1904) was an English playwright and pantomime performer who co-wrote and appeared in nearly 50 productions with George Conquest at the Surrey Theatre and elsewhere. Early life Henry S ...

Henry Pettitt Henry Alfred Pettitt (7 April 1848 – 24 December 1893), was a British actor and dramatist. With Augustus Harris, he wrote the play ''Burmah'', produced on Broadway in 1896. With G. R. Sims, he created a substantial body of very success ...

. About a quarter of his works were published (in ''Lacy's Acting Edition''). His most successful work was ''The New Babylon'', produced in Manchester in 1878 and at Duke's Theatre in Holborn, London in 1879, where it ran for 361 performances. It was notable for its effects and settings, including a ship collision in mid-Atlantic, and Goodwood racecourse.Several entries in which Meritt is mentioned. Charles E Pascoe, editor. ''The Dramatic List: a record of the performances of living actors and actresses of the British stage''. 1880. Other works included ''Rough and Ready'', produced at the

Adelphi Theatre The Adelphi Theatre is a West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster, central London. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiv ...

in 1874; ''Stolen Kisses'', produced at the Amphitheatre, Liverpool in 1876; ''Such is the Law'', by Meritt and Tom Taylor, staged at

St James's Theatre The St James's Theatre was in King Street, St James's, King Street, St James's, London. It opened in 1835 and was demolished in 1957. The theatre was conceived by and built for a popular singer, John Braham (tenor), John Braham; it lost mon ...

in 1878; ''Love or Life'', by Meritt and Tom Taylor, staged at the

Olympic Theatre The Olympic Theatre, sometimes known as the Royal Olympic Theatre, was a 19th-century London theatre, opened in 1806 and located at the junction of Drury Lane, Wych Street and Newcastle Street. The theatre specialised in comedies throughout m ...

in 1878; ''The Worship of Bacchus'', by Meritt and Henry Pettitt, staged in 1879 at the same theatre; and ''A Pair o' Wings'', by Meritt and Edward Righton, staged in 1879 at the

Gaiety Theatre, Dublin The Gaiety Theatre is a theatre on South King Street in Dublin, Ireland, off Grafton Street and close to St. Stephen's Green. It specialises in operatic and musical productions, with occasional dramatic shows. History In April 1871, the brot ...

. ''The World'', written with Augustus Harris and first produced in 1880, was revived in London in 1894, running for 50 performances.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meritt, Paul 1843 births 1895 deaths 19th-century British dramatists and playwrights 19th-century theatre managers Burials at Brompton Cemetery Writers from Leeds