William Arthur Law (22 March 1844 – 2 April 1913), better known as Arthur Law, was an English playwright, actor and scenic designer.

Life and career

Law was born in

Northrepps Northrepps is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is southeast of Cromer, north of Norwich and north of London. The village lies west of the A149 which runs between Kings Lynn and Great Yarmouth. The nearest rai ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, England, to Rev. Patrick Comerford Law and his wife, Frances ''nee'' Arbuthnot. He was educated at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. From 1864 to 1872, he served in the

Royal Scots Fusiliers The Royal Scots Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1678 until 1959 when it was amalgamated with the Highland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow Regiment) to form the Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Ma ...

Early career

Law began to act, making his professional stage debut in 1872 at the Theatre Royal,

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. He then toured the British provinces and played at London's Surrey Theatre for two years, after which joined the

German Reed Entertainments The German Reed Entertainments were founded in 1855 and operated by Thomas German Reed (1817–1888) together with his wife, Priscilla German Reed (née Horton) (1818–1895). At a time when the theatre in London was seen as a disreput ...

in London in 1874. While performing with the German Reeds, he wrote nineteen short comic theatre works performed by the company. In 1877, Law married actress Fanny Holland, with whom he appeared with the German Reeds at the

Gallery of Illustration The Royal Gallery of Illustration was a 19th-century performance venue located at 14 Regent Street in London. It was in use between 1850 and 1873. The gallery was built in the 1820s by the architect John Nash (architect), John Nash as part of h ...

and St. George's Hall. The couple had a son named Hamilton Patrick John Holland Law (born 1879). Some of Law's plays for the German Reeds include ''A Night Surprise'' in 1877 (under the pseudonym, "West Cromer"), ''A Happy Bungalow'' (1877), with music by Charles King Hall; ''Cherry Tree Farm'' (1881) and ''Nobody’s Fault'' (1882), both with music by Hamilton Clarke. In 1881, he wrote '' Uncle Samuel'', a curtain raiser for the

D'Oyly Carte Opera Company The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company is a professional British light opera company that, from the 1870s until 1982, staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas nearly year-round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North America and elsewhere. The ...

played at the

Opera Comique The Opera Comique was a 19th-century theatre constructed in Westminster, London, located between Wych Street, Holywell Street and the Strand. It opened in 1870 and was demolished in 1902, to make way for the construction of the Aldwych and K ...

, with music by

George Grossmith George Grossmith (9 December 1847 – 1 March 1912) was an English comedian, writer, composer, actor, and singer. His performing career spanned more than four decades. As a writer and composer, he created 18 comic operas, nearly 100 musical ...

. It played, together with ''

Patience or forbearance, is the ability to endure difficult or undesired long-term circumstances. Patience involves perseverance or tolerance in the face of delay, provocation, or stress without responding negatively, such as reacting with disrespect ...

'', in 1881, and Law appeared in the role of John Bird. Law later appeared on stage at the

Savoy Theatre The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy ...

as Mr. Wranglebury in the companion piece '' Mock Turtles'' in 1882, and as Major Murgatroyd in ''Patience'' in 1882, filling in for

Frank Thornton Frank Thornton Ball (15 January 192116 March 2013), professionally known as Frank Thornton, was an English actor. He was best known for playing Captain Peacock in the TV sitcom ''Are You Being Served?'' and its sequel '' Grace & Favour'' (''A ...

.Stone, David
Arthur Law
Who Was Who in the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company, 27 August 2001, accessed 15 February 2013 During a two-year period, from 1879 to 1881, Law and Holland performed on tour as "Mr. & Mrs. Arthur Law's Entertainment," but the venture proved unsuccessful. He retired from acting following a final engagement at

, in 1881, to turn his attention completely to writing.

Later years

His first "serious" drama, ''Hope'', was produced at London's Standard Theatre in 1882. That year he also wrote a musical farce, ''Mr. Guffin's Elopement'', in collaboration with George Grossmith, for

Toole's Theatre Toole's Theatre was a 19th-century West End theatre, West End building in William IV Street, near Charing Cross, in the City of Westminster. A succession of auditoria had occupied the site since 1832, serving a variety of functions, including ...

, starring J. L. Toole. In 1885, Grossmith and Law wrote ''The Great Tay-Kin'', produced at Toole's. Law wrote dozens of other plays. His best known include an adaptation of '' The Mystery of a Hansom Cab'', produced at the Princess's Theatre in 1888; ''The Judge'', produced at Terry's Theatre in 1890; ''The Magic Opal'' (an

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...

with music by

Isaac Albéniz Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz y Pascual (; 29 May 1860 – 18 May 1909) was a Spanish virtuoso pianist, composer, and conductor. He is one of the foremost composers of the post-romantic era who also had a significant influence on his con ...

) played at the Lyric Theatre and the

Prince of Wales's Theatre The Scala Theatre was a theatre in Charlotte Street, London, off Tottenham Court Road. The first theatre on the site opened in 1772; the last was demolished in 1969, after a catastrophic fire. From 1865 to 1882, the theatre was known as th ...

in 1893; ''The New Boy'' at Terry's and the

Vaudeville Theatre The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on the Strand in the City of Westminster. Opening in 1870, the theatre staged mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. The theatre was rebuilt twice, although each new buildin ...

in 1894; ''The Sea Flower'' at the

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

in 1898, ''A Country Mouse'' at the Prince of Wales's in 1902; ''The Bride and Bridegroom'' at the New Theatre in 1904; and ''Artful Miss Dearing'' at Terry's in 1909. A few of Law's plays were also produced on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

, including ''The New Boy'' in 1894 at the Standard Theatre and ''A Country Mouse'' in 1902 at New York's

. He also created the scenic design for ''The Bachelor'', by

Clyde Fitch William Clyde Fitch (May 2, 1865 – September 4, 1909) was an American dramatist, the most popular writer for the Broadway stage of his time (). Biography Born in Elmira, New York and educated at Holderness School and Amherst College (clas ...

, in 1909 at the

Maxine Elliott Theatre Maxine Elliott's Theatre was originally a Broadway theatre at 109 West 39th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Built in 1908, it was designed by architect Benjamin Marshall of the Chicago-based firm Marshall and Fox, ...

."Arthur Law"
Internet Broadway Database, accessed 17 September 2015 Law died in

Parkstone Parkstone is an area of Poole, in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole district, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. It is divided into 'Lower' and 'Upper' Parkstone. Upper Parkstone – "Up-on-'ill" as it used to be known in ...

, a suburb of

Poole Poole () is a coastal town and seaport on the south coast of England in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area in Dorset, England. The town is east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, England at the age of 69. His brother was the cricketer Alexander Law.

Notes

References

* *Gänzl, Kurt. ''The British Musical Theatre'' (1986) Macmillan, vol.I, London.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Law, Arthur People associated with Gilbert and Sullivan English male stage actors 1844 births 1913 deaths People from Parkstone English male dramatists and playwrights People from Northrepps