Squire Bancroft
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Sir Squire Bancroft (14 May 1841 – 19 April 1926), born Squire White Butterfield, was an English
actor-manager An actor-manager is a leading actor who sets up their own permanent theatrical company and manages the business, sometimes taking over a theatre to perform select plays in which they usually star. It is a method of theatrical production used co ...
. He changed his name to Squire Bancroft Bancroft by deed poll just before his marriage. He and his wife
Effie Bancroft Marie Effie Wilton, Lady Bancroft (1836–1921) was an English actress and Actor-manager, theatre manager. She appeared onstage as Marie Wilton until after her marriage in December 1867 to Squire Bancroft, when she adopted his last name. Bancro ...
are considered to have instigated a new form of drama known as 'drawing-room comedy' or 'cup and saucer drama', owing to the realism of their stage sets.


Early life and career

Bancroft was born in
Rotherhithe Rotherhithe ( ) is a district of South London, England, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping, Shadwell and Limehouse on the north bank, with the Isle of Dogs to the ea ...
, London. His first appearance on the stage was in 1861 at
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
, and he played in the provinces with success for several years. His first London appearance was in 1865 as Jack Crawley in J. P. Wooler's ''A Winning Hazard'' at the
Prince of Wales's Theatre The Scala Theatre was a theatre in Charlotte Street, London, off Tottenham Court Road. The first theatre on the site opened in 1772; the last was demolished in 1969, after a catastrophic fire. From 1865 to 1882, the theatre was known as th ...
off
Tottenham Court Road Tottenham Court Road (occasionally abbreviated as TCR) is a major road in Central London, almost entirely within the London Borough of Camden. The road runs from Euston Road in the north to St Giles Circus in the south; Tottenham Court Road tu ...
. He was then using the stage name Sydney Bancroft; also in the cast was his future wife, Effie Wilton. This theatre was managed by Henry Byron and Wilton, whom Bancroft married in December 1867. After their marriage the Bancrofts became joint managers of the theatre. Mr and Mrs Bancroft produced and starred in all the
Thomas William Robertson Thomas William Robertson (9 January 1829 – 3 February 1871) was an English dramatist and stage director known for his development of Naturalism (theatre), naturalism in British theatre. Born to a theatrical family, Robertson began as an acto ...
comedies beginning in 1865: ''
Society A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. ...
'' (1865), ''Ours'' (1866), ''
Caste A caste is a Essentialism, fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (en ...
'' (1867), ''Play'' (1868), ''School'' (1869) and ''M.P.'' (1870), and, after Robertson's death, in revivals of the old comedies, for which they surrounded themselves with an admired company. Together, Robertson and the Bancrofts are considered to have instigated a new form of drama known as "drawing-room comedy" or "cup and saucer drama". The Bancrofts gave Robertson an unprecedented amount of directorial control over his plays, which was a key step to institutionalizing the power that directors wield in the theatre today. The Bancroft management at the Prince of Wales's Theatre constituted a new era in the development of the English stage and had the effect of reviving the London interest in modern drama. They were also responsible for making fashionable the "box set", which
Lucia Elizabeth Vestris Lucia Elizabeth Vestris (''née'' Elizabetta Lucia Bartolozzi; 3 March 1797 – 8 August 1856) was a British actress and a contralto opera singer, appearing in works by Mozart and Rossini, among others. While popular in her time, she was more ...
had first used at the Olympic Theatre in the 1830s – this consisted of rooms on stage which were dressed with sofas, curtains, chairs, and carpets on the stage floor. They also provided their actors with salaries and wardrobes. Also, the Bancrofts redesigned their theatre to suit the increasingly upscale audience: "The cheap benches near the stage, where the rowdiest elements of the audience used to sit were replaced by comfortable padded seats, carpets were laid in the aisles, and the pit was renamed the stalls." Other plays they premiered or produced there were
W. S. Gilbert Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (18 November 1836 – 29 May 1911) was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his collaboration with composer Arthur Sullivan, which produced fourteen comic operas. The most fam ...
's ''Allow Me To Explain'' (1867) and his romantic comedy tribute to Robertson, '' Sweethearts'' (1874), as well as ''Tame Cats'' (1868), Lytton's ''Money'' (1872), ''
The School for Scandal ''The School for Scandal'' is a comedy of manners written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first performed in London at Drury Lane Theatre on 8 May 1777. Plot Act I Scene I: Lady Sneerwell, a wealthy young widow, and her hireling S ...
'' (1874), Boucicault's ''London Assurance'' (1877), and ''
Diplomacy Diplomacy is the communication by representatives of State (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, non-governmental institutions intended to influence events in the international syste ...
'' (1878), an adaptation of Sardou's ''Dora'' by
Clement Scott Clement William Scott (6 October 1841 – 25 June 1904) was an influential English theatre critic for ''The Daily Telegraph'' and other journals, and a playwright, lyricist, translator and travel writer, in the final decades of the 19th century ...
and B. C. Stephenson.


Later life and career

In the 1870s and 1880s, in addition to his management responsibilities, Bancroft continued to play leading roles in numerous contemporary plays, as well as in works by Shakespeare and
Richard Brinsley Sheridan Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan (30 October 17517 July 1816) was an Anglo-Irish playwright, writer and Whig politician who sat in the British House of Commons from 1780 to 1812, representing the constituencies of Stafford, Westminster and I ...
's and other classic plays, often opposite his wife."Squire Bancroft letter book, 1836-1922"
Billy Rose Theatre Division,
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, is located at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, in the Lincoln Center complex on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, New York City. Situated between the Metropolitan O ...
, retrieved 8 December 2013
In 1879, the Bancrofts moved to the
Haymarket Theatre The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre in Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in ...
, where they produced or starred in a revival of ''Money'', and in Sardou's ''Odette'' (for which they engaged Madame
Helena Modjeska Helena Modrzejewska (; born Jadwiga Helena Mizel; October 12, 1840 – April 8, 1909), known professionally in the United States as Helena Modjeska, was a Polish-American actress who specialized in Shakespearean and tragic roles. She was success ...
), ''Fedora'', and Pinero's ''Lords and Commons'', with revivals of previous successes. Having made a considerable fortune, they retired from management in 1885, but Bancroft continued to act until 1918. Bancroft was
knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...
in 1897. Between 1917, and his death in 1926, Bancroft maintained rooms at the fashionable Albany, in
Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, England, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road (England), A4 road that connects central London to ...
. He and his wife are buried in
Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is since 1852 the first (and only) London cemetery to be Crown Estate, Crown property, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington a ...
; a flat, arch-shaped memorial marks the graves, but their mausoleum was destroyed by bombing in World War II."Sir Squire & Lady Effie Bancroft"
Explore Brompton Cemetery, The Royal Parks, retrieved 4 November 2019


Publications

Bancroft wrote two books, and in collaboration with his wife, he wrote two volumes of reminiscences called ''Mr. and Mrs. Bancroft On and Off the Stage, Written by Themselves'' (London, 1888) and ''The Bancrofts: Recollections of Sixty Years'' (London: Dutton and Co., 1909).


Notes


Sources

* ''The Bancrofts: Recollections of Sixty Years'' (Dutton and Co.: London, 1909) *


References


Information about the Bancroft's and "cup and saucer drama" from the People Play websiteBritannica.com article
*


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bancroft, Squire 1841 births 1926 deaths 19th-century English male actors 20th-century English male actors 19th-century English theatre managers 20th-century theatre managers 19th-century English memoirists 21st-century English memoirists Actors awarded knighthoods English male stage actors Actor-managers Knights Bachelor People associated with Gilbert and Sullivan Actors from the London Borough of Southwark Burials at Brompton Cemetery People from Rotherhithe