''Paul Pry'' (1825), a

farce Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate absurdity o ...

in three acts, was the most notable play written by 19th-century English

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

John Poole. It premiered in London on 13 September 1825 at the

Haymarket Theatre The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre on Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use. Samuel Foote ...

and ran 114 performances. The play continued to be popular until the early 1870s.

Synopsis

The storyline is centered on a comical, idle, meddlesome and mischievous fellow consumed with curiosity. Unable to mind his own business, he's an interfering busybody who conveniently leaves behind an umbrella everywhere he goes in order to have an excuse to return and eavesdrop. At the end, however, Pry becomes a hero for rescuing papers from a well that incriminate more serious troublemakers. '' Cherry Ripe'', the 17th-century English folk song to words by the English poet Robert Herrick, is adapted into the play.

Analysis

Rumors abounded that the Pry character was based on the eccentric Thomas ("Tommy") Hill, editor of the ''Dramatic Mirror'', who took daily walks with Poole at

Kensington Gardens Kensington Gardens, once the private gardens of Kensington Palace, are among the Royal Parks of London. The gardens are shared by the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and sit immediately to the west of Hyde P ...

. However, Poole was quoted in magazines as saying,

"The idea was really suggested by an old invalid lady who lived in a very narrow street, and who amused herself by speculating on the neighbors, and identifying them, as it were, by the sound of the knocks they gave... It was not drawn from an individual, but from a class. I could mention five or six persons who were contributors to the original play."

Productions

In the original 1825 London production, Madame Vestris sang "Cherry Ripe", and

John Liston John Liston (c. 1776 – 22 March 1846), English comedian, was born in London. He made his public debut on the stage at Weymouth as Lord Duberley in ''The Heir at Law''. After several dismal failures in tragic parts, some of them in supp ...

portrayed the title character. His costume included striped pants, Hessian boots,

top hat A top hat (also called a high hat, a cylinder hat, or, informally, a topper) is a tall, flat-crowned hat for men traditionally associated with formal wear in Western dress codes, meaning white tie, morning dress, or frock coat. Traditionally m ...

, and

tailcoat A tailcoat is a knee-length coat characterised by a rear section of the skirt, known as the ''tails'', with the front of the skirt cut away. The tailcoat shares its historical origins in clothes cut for convenient horse riding in the Early Mode ...

. Liston's portrayal was so popular that images of Liston as Pry appeared on signs, shops, warehouses, handkerchiefs, and snuff boxes.

Porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises mainl ...

and

pearlware Creamware is a cream-coloured refined earthenware with a lead glaze over a pale body, known in France as '' faïence fine'', in the Netherlands as ''Engels porselein'', and in Italy as ''terraglia inglese''.Osborne, 140 It was created about 17 ...

factories in

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

, Rockingham,

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

and

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

produced

figurine A figurine (a diminutive form of the word ''figure'') or statuette is a small, three-dimensional sculpture that represents a human, deity or animal, or, in practice, a pair or small group of them. Figurines have been made in many media, with cl ...

s of Liston as Pry. The Liston as Pry image was even stamped on butter. The following year, in 1826, the play was produced in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

at the Park Theatre, featuring Thomas Hilson. It was first produced in Australia in October 1835 at the Theatre Royal in Sydney, when Joseph Simmons took the title role. It returned to London's

Adelphi Theatre The Adelphi Theatre is a West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster, central London. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiv ...

, for the 1851–52 season, featuring

Edward Richard Wright Edward Richard Wright (c. 1813–21 December 1859) was an English comedian and actor. Life He was one of at least five children born to Elizabeth and Francis Wright, whose profession was listed as "Gent", of Sloane Square in London. He was init ...

and

Sarah Woolgar Sarah Jane Woolgar (8 July 1824 – 8 September 1909) was an English stage actress. She had leading roles in plays by notable dramatists of the day, including original productions. She had a long association with the Adelphi Theatre in London. ...

, receiving extensive, positive press comment.

References

External links

Text, scanned text of 1827 edition
at Hathi Trust Digital Library,
Paul Pry, definition"> Paul Pry, definition
at

Dictionary of American Regional English The ''Dictionary of American Regional English'' (''DARE'') is a record of American English as spoken in the United States, from its beginnings to the present. It differs from other dictionaries in that it does not document the standard language u ...

, p. 59
Etching, 1827/28, Paul Pry as humanly dressed monkey

Comic song based on the character of Paul Pry; from ''The Universal Songster'' (1826), Vol.3, p.97
{{Authority control 1825 plays English plays Comedy plays