King George IV attracts star Shakespearean actors

The Prince of Wales - later King George IV - had a long-standing relationship with Brighton. Indeed, he was seen by some as largely responsible for Brighton's popularity as a resort town with the fashionable London set, as well as championing high profile performances of Shakespeare in the town.

Between 1804 and 1809, the Prince acted as patron of the Theatre Royal Brighton, and took a personal interest in cultivating the theatre.

In 1806 he granted the owner, Mr Hewitt Cobb, Royal Assent to relocate the theatre from Duke Street to a new building on New Road. Constructed over ten months at a cost of £12,000 and with a capacity of 1,200, the venue was designed to the highest standards and even engaged the same painters to decorate the interior that the Prince had hired for his iconic Royal Pavilion.

The New Road Theatre Royal opened on the 27 June 1807 with a production of Hamlet starring famous actor Charles Kemble and his wife, Maria Theresa De Camp, both of whom were employed by the Theatre Royal Covent Garden.

Actor Henry Irving (c) Yale Center for British Art; Gift of Michael H. LeWitt, Peter A. LeWitt, and Erwin Strasmick

The late 18th and early 19th century, the era of great acting stars and to be a star on the stage became synonymous with being a great Shakespearean actor

Although earlier in his career Charles had been overshadowed by his older and more successful siblings Sarah Siddons and John Philip Kemble, by 1807 he had established himself as a popular actor in his own right, and Hamlet was one of his favourite roles. His daughter, Fanny Kemble, wrote in her autobiography of being moved to tears by her father's performance, when 'every shadow of expression and intonation was so full of the mingled anguish that the human heart is capable of enduring'.

Throughout the era of the Prince's patronage, Shakespeare was performed frequently: there are records of performances of The Merchant of Venice, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, Henry IV, Hamlet, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, Catherine and Petruchio (a popular version of The Taming of the Shrew), King Lear, Richard III, and The Merry Wives of Windsor.

The late 18th and early 19th century was an era of great acting stars and to be a star on the stage became synonymous with being a great Shakespearean actor.

Among those stars were Sarah Siddons, John Philip Kemble, Henry Irving and Ellen Terry. For men, the role that would make their career was Hamlet. For women, it was Lady Macbeth.

This playbill records a visit by the major star, Sarah Siddons, to the Theatre Royal in Brighton where she played Lady Macbeth. Siddons was born in Wales and became the best-known tragedienne of the 18th century. She was John Philip Kemble’s older sister. She became famous for her portrayal of Lady Macbeth.

Theatres - and the scenery used to decorate them - became more and more elaborate in the 1800s. Editions of Shakespeare’s plays were progressively cut and restructured to emphasis the soliloquies for the actors, giving the star actors even more profile on stage.

In the 1820s and 30s there was a craze for child stars.

Child actress Clara Fisher. Credit: © AS400 DB/Corbis

Although it was not uncommon for women to play male roles, Clara was no ordinary actress - she was just nine years old.

Theatre managers and parents alike were not shy in coming forward to push youngsters into the limelight in the hope of finding fame and fortune.

On the 10th October, 1820, Miss Clara Fisher joined the company at the Theatre Royal Brighton to play the role of Shylock in a production of The Merchant of Venice. Although it was not uncommon for women to play male roles, Clara was no ordinary actress - she was just nine years old.

After witnessing her first play at the age of four, at the Theatre Royal Covent Garden in London, Clara had become enamoured of the stage and set her heart on acting. Within two years she had made her debut at Covent Garden and quickly became one of the most highly regarded child stars of the nineteenth century, excelling in the Shakespearean roles of Shylock and Richard III. For ten years she toured provincial theatres across the UK to great acclaim, often appearing alongside her older sisters, Amelia and Caroline.

Their talent and stage presence captured the British public's imagination, and even inspired poems devoted to their talents. In 1820 an anonymous admirer penned a Valentine’s ode to each sister. He praised Amelia's 'voice and figure', addressed 'dear-loved' Caroline, and to Clara expressed his hope that 'Shakespeare's bright genius inspire you forever'.

In 1827 the Fisher sisters and their parents moved to New York. Clara, now sixteen, graduated to Shakespeare's female roles, including Ophelia and Viola, and her performances took America by storm. She became a theatrical celebrity and starred with some of the greatest American and British actors of the age, ultimately enjoying a career that spanned seven decades.

Sadly, another child ‘star’ was somewhat less successful than acting prodigy Clara Fisher.

Eight-year-old ‘Master Mangeon’ similarly appeared at the Theatre Royal in Brighton. In late October 1833, the Sussex Advertiser reported that the theatre had engaged Master Mangeon to perform 'on our boards in several favourite tragic characters'. He played a four-night engagement the following month, taking on the roles of Richard III, Shylock and Othello, and was billed as 'the celebrated Master Mangeon, The American Roscius, whose representations in the United States have created the most powerful sensation.'

At such a delicate age, a large part of Mangeon's draw for Brighton audiences was indeed his youth.

Unfortunately, he was not destined to follow the same trajectory as Clara Fisher and her sisters.

Master Mangeon was one of the many who survived just a year or so on the theatrical circuit before crashing and burning.

In February 1834, following a series of dates at provincial theatres which were relatively easy to obtain for novelty acts, Mangeon secured a trial performance at London's Victoria Theatre. This was the ultimate aim of all theatre performers in this period, as a permanent appointment in the capital came with respect from the industry and, perhaps more importantly, a sizable income.

Regrettably, poor Master Mangeon failed to impress the metropolitan audience. The Morning Chronicle featured a lengthy and scathing review of his act, which included a healthy dose of anti-American sentiment.

"Mr Mangeon, like most boy-actors, has been too much taught; natural talent he certainly has, but it has been overlaid with so much art that we fear it will, ere long, be entirely smothered by it… We advise his parents to get him taught to read and pronounce English by some competent person, for at present his orthoepy is defective… He has recently, we understand, performed in the United States, which will account for a few of his peculiarities. On the whole, we are inclined to recommend that he be taken from the stage and sent to some school."

After this, there are no further mentions of Master Mangeon in the theatrical records: it would appear that his appearance at the Victoria Theatre was his last.