BOX AND COX PLAYBILL (1878)

PLANCHE'S VAMPIRE WOULDN'T DIE...

You see here a playbill from 1850, thirty years exactly after the debut of The Vampire; or the Bride of the Isles at the English Opera House. It still rates a large-print title. Planche's memoirs in 1872 state that the play "is a stock piece to this day." By the 1850s it was competing with Dion Boucicault's excellent version of the story, but continued to be a favourite.

Planche' himself had reworked the story twice more: once as the libretto of the opera Der Vampyr and later burlesquing his own production in Giovanni the Vampire!!! or, how shall we get rid of him? (text to the latter unfortunately lost to history).

THE VAMPIRE: ORIGINAL PLAYBILL

Here is the programme bill for the 1820 The Vampire, starring T.P. Cooke.
Notice the elucidation on vampires, necessary since they were not part of English folklore:

This Piece is founded on the various traditions concerning THE VAMPIRES...they cannot be destroyed, as long as they sustain their dreadful Existence, by imbibing the BLOOD of FEMALE VICTIMS...

Also of note, T.P. Cooke was director of melodramatic action of the piece (the scenery and equipment by all accounts overwhelmed the audience), decades before the idea of direction came into stage practice.

And, the bill states that "applause at conclusion of each performance has lasted for several minutes." Contemporary reviews bear this out.

PLAYBILL FOR THE VAMPIRE (1820)

Theatrical critics applauded the scenery and effects of The Vampire. The European Magazine and London Review said they "demand[ed] a particular notice", specifically pointing out the effects of moonlight and sea, presenting a "coup d'oeil ... rarely, if ever seen excelled." This handbill for the 1820 production of The Vampire shows two moments from the Introductory Scene, and even from this black-and-white line drawing, we can imagine the effect of T.P. Cooke's appearance in fire and smoke in the dark Caves of Staffa.

For centuries demons, witches and ghosts had appeared through the stage floor by means of trapdoors. The English Opera House, for The Vampire, invented a new device of two rubber doors held shut with sandbags as counterweight; an actor would press quickly through and the weights snapped the doors immediately shut, giving an effect of the actor having melted through a solid plane. With blue fire and smoke, the actor seemed to materialize out of thin air. The "vampire trap" (or "trappe anglaise", in France)became a standard device for supernatural appearances. The Review tells us Cooke as Lord Ruthven "sinks through the stage in a scene of terrific grandeur." Theatre history was made.

SOUVENIR PROGRAMMES

In Victorian theatre, a special production or anniversary performance was often commemorated with programmes printed on satin or silk, as here:

PLAYS MENTIONED IN "THE STAGE STRUCK YANKEE"

The manager-and-star couple, Douglas Double and Fanny Magnet, speak to each other in allusive theatre jargon, often using play titles that reflect their situation.

The playbills here include the titles the Doubles quote. Notice the format of a typical evening at the theatre: a long play and a farce, generally, often studded with musical interludes.