The Actor-Manager

by Leonard Merrick

The Actor-Manager is a novel about the theater world and the life of an actor-manager, from the perspective of a young actress. It offers a fascinating glimpse into the workings of the stage, the relationships between actors and crew members, and the personalities of those who make the theater their life. With its lively characters and engaging plot, The Actor-Manager is a must-read for anyone interested in the theater. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

308 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1919

About the author

Leonard Merrick was an English novelist. Although largely forgotten today, he was widely admired by his peers, J. M. Barrie called Merrick the "novelist's novelist."

Reviews

[Neale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leonard Merrick, who failed as an actor, loved the stage as only a spurned lover could. He was always at his best when writing about the theatre, and ‘The Actor Manager’ is one of his most theatrical books.

It begins, in classic Merrick style, with a young actor and actress meeting in a highly unromantic chop-house on Christmas Eve. Their impecunious and unglamorous lives are contrasted painfully with their glowing and idealistic theatrical dream-lives. It is made clear that such dreams are bound to be disappointed.

But Merrick is too humane a writer too punish his characters harshly (he is no Gissing): or rather, he punishes them with success rather than with failure, while making it clear that their success is a quirk of fortune, and that for the vast mass of struggling dreamers there is no such luck. The young actor breaks through, becoming the titular ‘Actor Manager’, but his very success brings him into contact with the sordid realities of the theatre, the follies of love, and the moral dilemmas of the ‘new’ man and the ‘new’ woman.

The book is all very ‘modern’ for its time, and observed with meticulous realism. These very strengths may make it seem ‘dated’ to some modern readers. But when a taste for Merrick is acquired – perhaps it is necessary to love the theatre, and to be of a melancholy disposition – it is not easily lost.