Garrick

by Ian McIntyre

It's the obvious question. How does one celebrate the elusive art of an actor whose traditional legacy lies in the memory and especially one who trod the boards pre- celluloid? It would seem a pointless exercise. David Garrick, however, was much more than a vainglorious luvvie (though he was that as well) and Ian McIntyre chooses the circumstantial route to reconstitute his hero, something he achieves gloriously. Assembling a first-class cast, which includes Samuel Johnson (Garrick's contemporary from Lichfield), Sheridan, Handel, Goldsmith and Gainsborough, he could hardly fail and the huge cornucopia of artistic riches yields a canvas of Hogarthian proportions (who incidentally painted him): Exhaustive and occasionally exhausting. Garrick's first major stage appearance, in 1741 as Richard III, won him tumultuous acclaim and he was rarely to look back. He was, in a sense, the first method actor; eager for naturalism and equally adept at comedy and tragedy, he almost single-handedly did away with contrived thespian conventions. His busy, intimate style ("all bustle")re-ignited an art form that previously had been only a remove from crime and prostitution. In addition, he wrote prologues, verse and a clutch of very competent plays, and as manager of the Drury Lane Theatre for 20 years, he oversaw vast improvements in lighting, set design and general conditions at a time when the theatrical arena was inclined to resemble a modern-day football ground. Macintyre crowns Garrick "Shakespeare's vicaron earth" and certainly he was responsible for establishing the cult of "Bardolatry"--a dubious accolade, but manna to McIntyre, for his chapter describing Garrick's involvement in the 1769 Shakespeare Jubilee at Stratford, a disastrous affair which lasted three days and saw not a play of Shakespeare's actually performed, is a delicious highlight. With his many years' experience at BBC television, McIntyre obviously knows a thing or two about luvvies, and he gives them enjoyably indulgent scope to demonstrate their bitchiness and high drama, which is mostly played out, naturally, off- stage. Somehow this is the first major work on Garrick for more than 40 years, yet McIntyre makes up for the lack impressively, drawing on a wealth of correspondence, literature and theatre records to document a theatrical luminary of serious import, whose life in itself was successfully unspectacular, but which in context ignites like a flare of limelight. -- David Vincent

Genres: Biography

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Ian McIntyre was a BBC Radio producer, journalist, broadcaster and author. who was Controller of BBC Radio 4 from 1976 to 1978 and then Controller of BBC Radio 3 between 1978 and 1987.

Reviews

[Ivanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would have rated it more highly but it does lose steam. Also the font is crazy small - like 8? That said, there is a wealth of detail and the picture of Georgian theater as well as the vibrant scene in Dublin at the time is interesting.