Theatre of Jersey
[2] The fact that the States deemed it necessary to pass such an Act suggests that theatrical performances were at that time frequent enough and of sufficient concern to the authorities to require the setting up of a regulatory system.
[3] Before 1788 it appears that acting was an amateur pastime, and that the States were concerned that young men were spending too much time in idle distractions.
[3] The first specific record of a particular troupe of actors is of an amateur club of 12 gentleman in 1786 proposing to present a season of plays by famous playwrights.
The annual midsummer fair in Saint John attracted huge crowds and the English companies of Fisher and Henry Lee are known to have performed in tents there in 1793 and 1795.
A backdrop painted to depict a panoramic view of the entrance of Saint Helier Harbour and the whole of St Aubin's Bay from the viewpoint of Fort Regent was particularly admired on opening night.
Boielle also performing as the title rôle in The Mikado, as Sir Joseph Porter in HMS Pinafore, Bunthorne in Patience, Mr Pockett in The Magistrate and others.
The success of these performances persuaded cast and author-director to form a regular company for the production of an annual Dickens stage adaptation: 1909–1910 The Chimes; 1910–1911 The Battle of Life; 1911–1912 The Cricket on the Hearth; 1912–1913 The Christmas Carol; 1913–1914 a revival of The Haunted Man; 1914 Scenes from Pickwick; 1915 The Chimes; 1916 Edwin Drood; 1917 The Battle of Life; 1918 The Old Curiosity Shop; 1919 The Cricket on the Hearth; 1921 Oliver Twist.
The Oddfellows' Hall was then turned into a cinema, and the Dickens Players moved to the Opera House for their final productions: 1922 a revival of The Christmas Carol; 1924 David Copperfield.
Boielle's commitments as manager of Wests Picture House and competition from new forms of entertainment led to the suspension of the annual Dickens dramatisations, but members of the amateur troupe moved on to other associations.
The Jersey Entertainment Society commissioned CW Blanshard Bolton, architect, in 1935 to enlarge the building to house a new theatre.
The striking new Art Deco frontage of the New Playhouse was revealed in 1938, and from then until the outbreak of the Second World War a repertory theatre was operated, mostly by actors and crew from England, including Laurence Naismith and Donald Pleasence.
[12] Scripts were subject to arbitrary German censorship: innocent remarks were struck out, while blatantly patriotic statements were sometimes passed without objection.
A production of The Merchant of Venice was considered insufficiently anti-Semitic, and the lead actor was summoned by the censor and ordered to act more Jewish and with more venom.
The German censor passed the text despite the inclusion of a stirring and anthemic chorus "Faithful and Free" that became an expression of patriotic longing that produced an emotional response in the audience.
[12] Following the Liberation in 1945, Springfield Hall regularly hosted trade exhibitions, plays, pantomimes, shows, the Jersey Eisteddfod, and other attractions.
Work on the Jersey Arts Centre started in 1981 when the Education Committee made available the redundant domestic science building in Saint Helier.
The Jersey Arts Centre continues to provide a theatrical space in Phillips St, in the 250 seater Benjamin Meaker Theatre, as well as performances in Care Homes, Historic Sites and Tours to the Other Islands and Europe.
As well as providing a space for both visiting professional and local amateur performers Jersey Arts Centre also has 3 in house performance groups (Junior Drama, Youtheatre and ACT) Since 2016 Jersey Arts Centre has produced a local community Christmas show as well as collaboration with groups and schools across the Island.
The Bailiff's powers of theatrical censorship were the subject of controversy during the term of office of Sir Peter Crill who refused permission for a visiting amateur theatre group to perform Howard Brenton's play Christie in Love[19] and required changes to the staging of a production of Shakespeare's Coriolanus by the Tricycle Theatre Company to prevent an actor's naked buttocks being visible to the audience.
The first book published in Jèrriais Rimes et Poësies Jersiaises (1865) included dramatic duologues, which may have been performed at traditional veil'yes (social neighbourhood gatherings) or read as closet dramas.
Élection de St. Martin, a playlet in Jèrriais and French published in the newspaper Le Constitutionnel on 24 November 1838, was probably never staged, but rather read in company.
Henri Luce Manuel's Queur de Femme (in modern spelling: Tchoeu d'Femme – "heart of a woman") of 1861 was published in pamphlet form.
En chèrche d'femme, L'Învitâtion and L'Annonce X Y Z were all written before the First World War, subsequent to the setting up of the Jersey Eisteddfod.
The most frequently performed of his plays Lé Procès was published in pamphlet form and was revived as a touring fundraiser during the First World War, remaining a favourite long after.
[12] George F. Le Feuvre took part in amateur dramatic performances, including in works by E. J. Luce, as a young man.
Other stage actors from Jersey have included Seymour Hicks, Ivy St. Helier, Alma Stanley and Sylvestra Le Touzel.
