T.W. Robertson
born Jan. 9, 1829,
Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, Eng.
died Feb. 3, 1871, London
British playwright whose realistic social
comedies and pioneering work as a
producer-director helped establish the
late-19th-century revival of drama in
England.
Born into a theatrical family that played a
provincial circuit based on the city of
Lincoln, Robertson in 1848 moved to London
to become an actor. In 1854 he was engaged
as prompter at the Lyceum Theatre by Mme
Vestris, an enterprising and important
manager. It was her work in refining the
staging of comedy that he was eventually to
perfect. After his marriage in 1856,
Robertson gradually abandoned acting for
writing. Some of his adaptations and
translations had already been produced, and
in 1861 a one-act farce called The Cantab,
his first original play, was staged.
From 1865 to 1870 a number of plays
produced by Marie and Squire Bancroft made
Robertson famous: Society, Ours, Caste,
Play, School, and The M.P. The broader
themes suggested by the titles are merely
touched upon, but the plays give a
convincing picture of the social scene and
are marred only by a strain of
sentimentality. Many of his plays long
remained in the repertory, and Caste was
among those most frequently performed.
Generally speaking, Robertson’s
characters are recognizable as individuals,
his plots are skillfully manipulated, and
his characters’ dialogue is easy and
conversational. As a director, Robertson
stressed the performance as a whole,
insisting upon adequate rehearsal, attention
to detail, and ensemble playing. The
rigorous domestic realism of both his plays
and his staging methods gave rise in the
1860s to a broader style known as
“cup-and-saucer” drama that exerted
significant influence over the development
of the English theatre during the second
half of the 19th century.
