John Kilby Green
& the History of the Toy Theatre
Alan Keen could not have been more unlike
Benjamin Pollock. Pollock was a quiet and reserved man and had remained in the
same premises throughout his career of some 61 years. Pollock produced little
in the way of new productions, relying heavily on printing from his own stock.
Keen, however, was entrepreneurial, and flamboyant. He set up “Benjamin Pollock Limited” and moved
to the far more impressive location of 1 John Adam Street, Adelphi. A young
George Speaight was brought in as manager and a new revival of the toy theatre was
about to begin.
(An early display from the Adelphi years. – If
anyone know’s the two individuals photographed, please drop me a line?)
The stock Keen had acquired wasn’t enough for
the grand ideas he had for the toy theatre and he quickly set about creating
lavish new productions and the first true “kit-form” stage, “The Regency”.
“The Regency Theatre” was a kit-form
combination of paper, Bakelite and wood. Keen commissioned the production of a
Bakelite mould, so that the purchaser could glue a pre-printed coloured version
of Green’s proscenium from the 1850’s, directly onto it. Although this was
called “The Regency” by Keen, it is not clear as to whether or not it was based
upon the original “Regency Theatre”. It was more likely called “The Regency”
from the period it depicts. The Bakelite proscenium was then attached via two
bolt-screws to a veneered plywood stage floor. But before adding the nuts to
the protruding bolts, a curved orchestra was added to the front, again using an
example from Green, this time dated from August 1834. The structure then tilted
backwards. To stop this, the stage rigging was added in the form of a pinewood
frame, which slotted into the back of the proscenium and extended backwards,
with cross runners for the scenery, to two down beams that slotted into the
stage floor at the back with enough extra length to bring the stage floor to
the level position. It takes about five minutes to set up and still works
perfectly today, over fifty years since their original production. A similar
kit was released at the same time using the “Aldelphi Theatre” of modern
design. The “Adelphi Theatre” used the same Bakelite mould as the “Regency”
with blackened parts of the proscenium where the mould didn’t quite fit. This
was cleverly done, as it is almost indiscernible to the naked eye.
(The Regency & Adelphi Theatres fresh from
the production line)
The Regency Theatre is really a misnomer, which would
probably never have arisen had the stage front not been one of the tiny handful
of prints which Green failed to put a date on. It is almost certainly a rather
late production (early to mid-1850s?), but like so much of Green's work has a
spare elegance about it which does suggest Regency good taste rather than
Victorian fussiness. When Alan Keen started to manufacture toy theatres in the
1940s, he (or his designer Edwin Smith) coupled this front with Green's 1834
orchestra to create what was marketed as the "Regency" theatre, while
Green's other surviving stage front was offered to the public under the more
defensible title of the "Victorian" (or "Victoria", in the version created
by Peter Adams Turner for Mrs Fawdry in 1960).
There was indeed a real theatre
called the Regency, and West produced versions of several plays produced there,
as did Green (“Robin Hood”, “Sleeping Beauty”, “Belphegor the Conjuror”),
though by his time it was called the Queen's. In the later Victorian period it
became the Prince of Wales', and at the beginning of the twentieth century it
was rebuilt as the massive Scala, with the grand portico of the old theatre
being retained as the stage door of the new. The Scala was demolished in the
1970s (though it can be seen in A Hard Day's Night and other films), having stood
behind the present Pollock's Toy Museum, hence Scala Street. But none of this
is really relevant to the stage front.
The “Regency” and “Adelphi” theatres were
followed by a much cheaper and completely assembled card theatre, “The
Victoria”. Again this was of Green’s design and is extremely similar to “The
Regency”. The purchaser just takes the item out of the box and it folds out
ready for performance. Another very ingenious design.
The only complaint that could be made about
these excellent productions was the fact there was no penny plain version. All
came coloured and ready for performance. The hours of painting and construction
was one of the major selling points of the toy theatre and just perhaps the
omission of plain versions was a cause of the future downfall of the Keen era.
The Regency Theatre (1946)
The Victoria Theatre (1946)
(A cardboard fold out theatre)
(Note: The cut down orchestra is extracted
from the one used with the Regency Theatre above)
A lighting set-up was also made available, so
that the young toy theatre enthusiasts could create a true feeling of the real
theatre in the comfort of their own homes. It must have been quite a task for
the impresario to single-handedly manipulate the characters, the scene changes
and all the lighting changes, not to mention the performance itself.
Pollock’s Miniature Stage Lighting Set
(1946-1950)
In 1946 Keen’s first release was a complete
Penny Plain version of “The Red Rover”, including additional scenes from Park’s
version just to show the similarity between the two. This was printed on thick
paper, but it would still require gluing on to card before any performance of
the play could be made.
The Red Rover – Packet Cover (1946)
Keen followed this with a completely unedited
coloured version of “The Silver Palace” on thick card. This was a truly superb
production. The use of thick card meant that the purchaser could just cut out
the characters ready for performance. Such a simple idea, but one that doesn’t
appear to have been used in toy theatre history before.
Benjamin Pollock Limited – Colour Version of Green’s “The Silver Palace” (1946)
He followed this in 1947 with re-worked
versions of Green’s “Aladdin” and “Cinderella”, with shortened playbooks and
limited coloured characters and scenes. These too were printed on card, rather
than paper, although the card was thinner than that used in “The Silver
Palace”. Both these two plays were packaged in a brown paper envelope with a
small Redington theatre used for the label. The “Aladdin” was also distributed
as the play included with the “The Regency Theatre”.
Packets for Aladdin & Cinderella (Both 1947)
Keen went one
step further, which was perhaps a step too far, as he commissioned new works,
employing the highly paid JB Priestley and Doris Zinkeisen to create “The High
Toby”. This was followed by “Hamlet” based on Laurence Olivier’s successful
film, with scenes by Roger Furse. The characters are actual photographs of
Laurence Oliver, Peter Cushing, Jean Simmons and the rest of the cast. But as
with so many productions for the toy theatre before them, they were almost
impossible to perform on the toy stage. More importantly the cost of creation
and production far exceeded the revenue that would be generated from the sales
of such lavish productions.
Laurence Olivier’s “Hamlet”
(An Invitation to see the only public
performance of “The High Toby”)
The plays produced between 1946 and 1950 were
as follows: -
|
1946 |
Red Rover |
Green (plus comparison plates from A Park) |
Penny Plain |
|
1946 |
The Silver Palace |
Green |
Tuppence Coloured |
|
1947 |
Therese |
Green |
Penny Plain |
|
1947 |
Aladdin |
Green (Abridged) |
Tuppence Coloured |
|
1947 |
Cinderella |
Green (Abridged) |
Tuppence Coloured |
|
1947 |
Harlequinade |
Compiled by George Speaight (from Green) |
Tuppence Coloured |
|
1947 |
Blackbeard the Pirate |
Green (Abridged) |
Tuppence Coloured |
|
1948 |
The High Toby |
JB Priestley & Doris Zinkeisen |
Tuppence Coloured |
|
1948 |
Hamlet |
From Laurence Olivier’s Film |
Tuppence Coloured |
|
1950 |
The Bethlehem Story |
A Nativity Play by Irene Gass. Artwork by
Sheila Jackson |
Tuppence Coloured |
|
1951 |
The Atom Secrets |
George Speaight – Although never published |
Tuppence Coloured |
Costs spiralled and revenue was never enough
to cover such grand ideas. In 1950 the business started to fail and the offices
were moved to 16 Little Russell Street. Hopes of a revival in fortunes were
placed on the formation of “Pollock’s Toy Theatre Club”. A quarterly magazine
was promised to all members called the “Model Stage”. The first edition ran off
the printing presses in 1950, complete with a 12 page newsletter and George
Speaight’s “Harlequinade” re-arranged by Edwin Smith. The latter had a
copyright stamp dated in 1947, although it is believed that it wasn’t made
available for sale until after Issue One had been released. Issue Two was
delayed due to printing problems and was sent out with no magazine but an
apology. Also included was a re-arranged version of Green’s “Blackbeard the
Pirate” in full colour. Like “Harlequinade”, “Blackbeard the Pirate” also had a
1947 copyright stamp and wasn’t made available for sale until after Issue Two
had been released. The third and final issue was accompanied with “The
Bethlehem Story”. There was to be fourth issue, including Speaight’s “The Atom
Secrets”, but George Speaight had resigned due to lack of payment of his
salary, and it was never released. The demise of the “Model Stage” was quickly
followed by the failure of “Benjamin Pollock Limited”. Within the year the
receivers were called in, and by 1952, “Benjamin Pollock Limited” had ceased
trading.
Keen had brought about the end of the last
print selling organisation, through his creation of highly expensive
productions and an entertaining lifestyle. But in so doing he did create one of
the most enduring toy theatre kits with “the Regency” and a series of excellent
productions in “The Silver Palace”, the “High Toby” and “Hamlet”. I think
without him the toy theatre world would have died much earlier, perhaps with
the closure of Pollock’s shop at 73 Hoxton Street, by Pollock’s two daughters.
To survive in post war Britain, the toy theatre needed the heightened standards
and the quality that Keen’s forward-thinking modernisation introduced. If Keen
is to be blamed for anything, it must be the way he stored the plates. As it
was he who was responsible for the improper packaging that resulted in the
irreversible damage to most of the zinc plates. Ultimately Keen brought
quality, modernisation and flamboyance to his productions that created a
passion in the toy theatre world that lasts with many to this day? I wonder how
many readers of these pages have examples of his work?
(All images on this page have been published with the kind permission of “Pollock’s Toy Theatres Ltd”)
(Visit “Pollock’s Toy Theatres Ltd” web-site here)