Sydney Grundy (23 March 1848 – 4 July 1914) was an English dramatist. Most of his works were adaptations of European plays, and many became successful enough to tour throughout the English-speaking world. He is, however, perhaps best remembered today as the

librettist A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major litu ...

of several

comic opera Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue. Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...

s, notably ''

Haddon Hall Haddon Hall is an English country house on the River Wye near Bakewell, Derbyshire, a former seat of the Dukes of Rutland. It is the home of Lord Edward Manners (brother of the incumbent Duke) and his family. In form a medieval manor house, it ...

''.

Life and career

Grundy was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, England, the son of Alderman Charles Sydney Grundy. He was educated at

Owens College Owens may refer to: Places in the United States * Owens Station, Delaware * Owens Township, St. Louis County, Minnesota * Owens, Missouri * Owens, Ohio * Owens, Virginia People * Owens (surname), including a list of people with the name * Ow ...

, Manchester, and studied law at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

. He was called to the bar in 1869 and practised law until 1876.

Early career

His early one-act farce, ''A Little Change'', was produced 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 ...

in 1872 by the Kendals. This was followed by ''All at Sea'' in 1873, also starring the Kendals. In 1876, Grundy published ''The Days of His Vanity''. He wrote ''Mammon'' for W. H. Vernon at the Strand Theatre in 1877 and ''After Long Years'' for the Folly Theatre in 1879. Early comedies included ''The Glass of Fashion'' (1882), '' The Silver Shield'' (1885), and the

blank verse Blank verse is poetry written with regular metrical but unrhymed lines, almost always in iambic pentameter. It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since the 16th century", and P ...

''Clito'' for

Wilson Barrett Wilson Barrett (born William Henry Barrett; 18 February 1846 – 22 July 1904) was an English manager, actor, and playwright. With his company, Barrett is credited with attracting the largest crowds of English theatregoers ever because of his suc ...

(1886). Grundy became well known as an adapter of French and German plays, cleaning them up for British audiences and revisiting the source material to craft his final product. As the protagonist in his 1900 play, ''A Debt of Honour'', explains: "It all takes place in Paris: nobody pretends that such things happen here." Among his earlier successes at adapting European works were ''The Snowball'' at the Strand Theatre (1879), based on ''Oscar, ou le mari qui trompe sa femme'' by

Eugène Scribe Augustin Eugène Scribe (; 24 December 179120 February 1861) was a French dramatist and librettist. He is known for writing "well-made plays" ("pièces bien faites"), a mainstay of popular theatre for over 100 years, and as the librettist of ma ...

and Duvergne; ''In Honour Bound'' (1880), based on Scribe's ''Une Chaine''; ''Dust'' at the

Royalty Theatre The Royalty Theatre was a small London theatre situated at 73 Dean Street, Soho. Established by the actress Frances Maria Kelly in 1840, it opened as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School and finally closed to the public in 1938.

(1881); ''The Glass of Fashion'' (1883); and ''A Wife's Sacrifice'' (1886). ''The Bells of Haslemere'', written with H. Pettitt, was a success at the

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 ...

in 1887. He also created a farce in three acts, ''The Arabian Nights'' (1887), an adaptation of von Moser's ''Haroun al Raschid''; ''Pompadour'', written with W. G. Wilts; and ''Mamma'' (1888), an adaptation of ''Les surprises du Divorce''. Grundy's original

libretti A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major l ...

included the one-act "musical absurdity" ''Popsy Wopsy'' (1880), the full-length ''

The Vicar of Bray The Vicar of Bray is a satirical description of an individual fundamentally changing his principles to remain in ecclesiastical office as external requirements change around him. The religious upheavals in England from 1533 to 1559 (and then from ...

'' (1882) and ''Pocahontas'' (1884), both with

Edward Solomon Edward Solomon (25 July 1855 – 22 January 1895) was an English composer, conductor, orchestrator and pianist. He died at age 39 by which time he had written dozens of works produced for the stage, including several for the D'Oyly Carte Oper ...

. These Solomon and Grundy comic operas toured extensively in both Britain and the US. His ''

'' (1892), with

Sir Arthur Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera, operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinaf ...

, dramatised the legend of Dorothy Vernon's elopement from

with John Manners.

Later years

In 1889–90 Grundy produced three original comedies, ''A White Lie'' at the Court Theatre, ''A Wife's Sacrifice'' and ''A Fool's Paradise'' at the Gaiety Theatre, which had been produced two years earlier as ''The Mouse-Trap''. Later successful adaptations included ''A Pair of Spectacles'' at the

Garrick Theatre The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, named after the stage actor David Garrick. It opened in 1889 with ''The Profligate'', a play by Arthur Wing Pinero, and another Pinero play ...

(1889), from ''Les Petits Oiseaux'' of Labiche and Delacour. In 1890,

Lilly Langtry Emilie Charlotte, Lady de Bathe (née Le Breton, formerly Langtry; 13 October 1853 – 12 February 1929), known as Lillie (or Lily) Langtry and nicknamed "The Jersey Lily", was a British socialite, stage actress and producer. Born on the isl ...

presented Grundy's ''Esther Sandraz'' at the

St. James's Theatre The St James's Theatre was in King Street, St James's, London. It opened in 1835 and was demolished in 1957. The theatre was conceived by and built for a popular singer, John Braham; it lost money and after three seasons he retired. A suc ...

. This was followed by ''A Village Priest'' at the

(1890), from ''Le Secret de la terreuse'' (called ''The Broken Seal'' in America) a melodrama by Busnach and Cauvin; ''Sowing the Wind'' at the

Comedy Theatre The Harold Pinter Theatre, known as the Comedy Theatre until 2011,

(1893); ''

An Old Jew ''An Old Jew'' is an 1894 play by the British writer Sydney Grundy. It opened at the Garrick Theatre in London on 6 January 1894 with its original run ending less than a month later on 3 February. The play was written for one of the leading actor ...

'' at the Garrick (1894); an adaptation of

Octave Feuillet Octave Feuillet (11 July 1821 – 29 December 1890) was a French novelist and dramatist. His work stands midway between the romanticists and the realists. He is renowned for his "distinguished and lucid portraiture of life", depictions of fem ...

's ''Montjoye'', called '' A Bunch of Violets'' at the Haymarket (1894); ''The New Woman'' (1894) at the Comedy Theatre; ''The Slaves of the Ring'' (1894); and ''The Greatest of These'' at the Garrick with the Kendals (1895). Other late notable works included ''The Greatest of These'' (1895); ''A Marriage of Convenience'' at the Haymarket (1897) from ''Un Mariage de Louis XV'', by

Alexandre Dumas, père Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where ''Suffix (name)#Generational titles, '' is French language, French for 'father', to distinguish him from ...

; ''The Silver Key'' at

Her Majesty's Theatre Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, ...

(1897) from his ''Mlle de Belle-isle''; and ''The Musqueteers'' (1899) from the same author's novel. These were followed by ''The Degenerates'' (1899, at the Haymarket, starring Langtry); ''A Debt of Honour'' at the

St James's Theatre The St James's Theatre was in King Street, St James's, London. It opened in 1835 and was demolished in 1957. The theatre was conceived by and built for a popular singer, John Braham; it lost money and after three seasons he retired. A succ ...

(1900); ''Frocks and Frills'' at the Haymarket (1902) from ''Doigts de fees'' of Scribe and

Ernest Legouvé Gabriel Jean Baptiste Ernest Wilfrid Legouvé (; 14 February 180714 March 1903) was a French dramatist. Biography Son of the poet Gabriel-Marie Legouvé (1764–1812), he was born in Paris. His mother died in 1810, and almost immediately after ...

; ''The Garden of Lies'' at St James's (1904) from

Justus Miles Forman Justus Miles Forman (November 1, 1875 – May 7, 1915) was an American novelist and playwright. Biography Forman was born on November 1, 1875, in Le Roy, New York. He attended Yale University. His only play, ''The Hyphen'', appeared in 1 ...

's novel; ''

Business is Business ''Business is business'' (french: :fr:Les affaires sont les affaires, Les affaires sont les affaires) is a French comedy in three acts, by the novelist and playwright Octave Mirbeau, performed in April 1903 on the stage of Comédie-Française, in ...

'' at His Majesty's (1905), a rather free adaptation from

Octave Mirbeau Octave Mirbeau (16 February 1848 – 16 February 1917) was a French novelist, art critic, travel writer, pamphleteer, journalist and playwright, who achieved celebrity in Europe and great success among the public, whilst still appealing to the ...

's ''Les affaires sont les affaires''; and ''The Diplomatists'' at the

(1905) from ''La Poudre aux yeux'', by Labiche. About a dozen of Grundy's works played on Broadway, including ''A Pair of Spectacles'' in 1890 and 1905; ''The New Woman'' in 1894; ''A Bunch of Violets'' in 1895; ''The Late Mr. Castello'' in 1896; ''A Marriage of Convenience'' in 1897 and 1918; ''The Musketeers'' in 1899; ''The Degenerates'' in 1900; ''The Love Match'' in 1901; ''Frocks and Frills'' in 1902; ''Gypsy'' in 1903 and ''The Awakening'' in 1908. Several of Grundy's plays were made into films, including ''A Bunch of Violets'' and ''A Pair of Spectacles'', both in 1916; and ''Sowing the Wind'' in 1921. Many of Grundy's plays also had runs in Australia. Grundy died in London at the age of 66. His daughter, Lily, married the publisher and philanthropist Sir

Bruce Ingram Sir Bruce Stirling Ingram MC D.Litt. (5 May 1877 – 8 January 1963) was a publishing entrepreneur and philanthropist. He was the editor of ''The English Illustrated Magazine'' (September 1899 – September 1901), ''The Sketch'', and ''The Illust ...

.''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage'' 2003, vol. 2, p. 2048

References

External links

* * Biography with list of notable plays
Haddon Hall page
* *
Two of grundy's libretti and commentary online

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Grundy, Sydney English opera librettists People associated with Gilbert and Sullivan 1848 births 1914 deaths Writers from Manchester Alumni of the Victoria University of Manchester English male dramatists and playwrights