Progress in Scotland was hampered by the lack of royal presence and patronage. The Church of Scotland denounced the theatre as a place of evil, and patent laws caused problems for theatrical entrepreneurs.
Church of Scotland Denounced Theatre
A powerful force in Scotland, the Canongate Kirk (church) took an unequivocal stand against all theatrical endeavours. It believed that the theatre was “the temple of the devil”, and threatened dire consequences for anyone involved in the activities. Its restrictions included visiting players as well as Scottish performers and audiences. Despite the palpable hostility, performances did occur in Edinburgh and nearby towns between 1663 and 1689. The first recorded performance of Shakespeare’s Macbeth occurred in 1672.
In 1736, poet Allan Ramsay supported a theatre company which he attempted to establish at Carrubber’s Close, Edinburgh, in a small playhouse which closed when a new Act was passed in 1737.
As First Lord of the Treasury Robert Walpole was seen by many as too powerful, dramatists constantly attacked him and his Whig Party. He responded with the patent law of 1737 under which all theatres inside and outside London were deemed illegal unless they received approval and had a patent from the Lord Chamberlain. In 1739, Allan Ramsay requested help of his supporters among the Scottish nobility who then presented the first patent petition to Parliament under the Act, but with the combined opposition mounted by the University of Edinburgh and civil authorities, the petition failed.
Tailor’s Hall Concerts and Theatre
Performers often found a way to circumvent the rules. In 1741, the English actor Thomas Este took his acting company to Edinburgh where he advertised performances at Tailor’s Hall Hotel in the Cowgate as concerts. As Tony Aston’s had earlier, Este’s company presented plays, free of charge, following the concerts. Tailor’s Hall was used by iterant acting companies until 1753.
English actress Sarah Ward joined the company at Tailor’s Hall in 1745 for a brief time and started a campaign to raise funds for a permanent theatre in Edinburgh. Wealthy citizens and local tradesmen fully supported the plan, and in 1746, London actor John Ryan laid the foundation stone in the burgh of Canongate (now part of Edinburgh). Canongate Concert Hall, as it was officially known, opened in November 1747 with a concert followed by a performance of Hamlet.
Canongate Concert Hall and John Home
John Home was an ordained minister of the Church of Scotland and a dramatist whose play Douglas was presented at Canongate in 1756. Set at the time of the Viking incursions into Scotland, the play, which was highly successful in Scotland and England for decades, tells the story of a long-lost son, Douglas.
The Church of Scotland acted quickly with condemnation of John Home who had not only written a play, but had shown complete disregard for church views on theatre. The Admonition and Exhortation railing against the theatre as a "pedlar of folly and vice" was read in all churches, and Reverend Home was forced to resign, though he received great support from the public. The Church of Scotland eventually gave permission to attend the theatre.
Successful Theatrical Venues in Edinburgh
The Canongate theatre successfully operated for another ten years without a patent. In January 1767, when a great riot broke out in which the auditorium and stage were mostly destroyed, proprietors that included Scottish judges organized its restoration. During the same year, they acquired the first patent issued since the Licensing Act of 1737, and sold the theatre to actor/manager David Ross.
In 1769, Ross opened his new Theatre Royal in Shakespeare Square, Edinburgh which became the main venue in the city. Some portions of the innovative theatre at Canongate remain as part of the Edinburgh and Leith Brewery.
Sources:
Kathleen Airdrie - Kathleen has thirty years' freelance writing experience covering history, biographical profiles, environmental and social issues
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