Fred Barnes : ‘The Beau Brummell of his Calling’

As part of LGBT + History Month, we have decided to shine the light on Fred Barnes (1885 – 1938), one of Birmingham’s music hall variety stars who first appeared on the stage at the Gaiety Theatre, Birmingham in 1906 and who quickly become a prominent and popular entertainer commanding up to £150 per week in his heyday in the first three decades of the twentieth century. Amongst Fred’s achievements were sharing the bill at the London Coliseum with the internationally renowned actress, Sarah Bernhardt and taking his show to overseas locations such as Australia.

Fred’s name isn’t as widely known now as some of his music hall contemporaries such as Vesta Tilley and Harry Lauder. There have been attempts to reclaim Fred’s career and life, most noticeably in Three Queer Lives (2001) by Paul Bailey (LP 78.1 BAR) – chapter 1 is an engaging biography of Fred Barnes: ‘The Wavy -Haired, Blue- Eyed Adonis’  – this quote was taken from a review of Fred’s show in The Era magazine in 1914. The piece charts Fred’s humble beginnings as the son of a butcher at 219 Great Lister Street, Saltley which was a typically working class area of Birmingham – to his rise to fame, brush with the law in 1924 which could have ended his career there and then, declining star appeal and the suspicions surrounding his death in 1938. Fred is buried next to his father in the churchyard at St. Saviour’s Church in Saltley.

A photographic postcard of Fred Barnes (1885-1938) by Beagles’ Postcards (photographer: Campbell-Gray) from the Manning Collection [MS 310/1339]

Roll Up, Roll Up! Birmingham 19th Century Circus Play Bills

Fig 1. Macarte’s Circus playbill, woodcut illustration, detail. A collection of bills and posters issued by the various circuses, minor theatres etc. in Birmingham. 1800 – 1874 [Ref. LFF26.1/57520]

The nineteenth century paved the way for what could be called the ‘Golden Era’ of the Circus and Menageries (shows featuring exotic animals), becoming a popular choice of entertainment to people from all backgrounds, with shows put on from small rings in country fields, through to established, grand theatres in busy cities and towns. Perhaps the greatest attraction to the public was the lure of the extravagant shows, with performances from a range of acrobats, jugglers and equestrians, alongside a display of wild, exotic animals from continents far away, never seen of or even heard of to many.

The role of the poster laid a crucial part in promoting such events, as travelling shows would be performing for one night only in different cities, and it would be the most effective and direct means of informing the public. Circus bills boasted amusements in bold, woodcut type, jumping from the page to grab the attention of any passing by, as wild and exciting as the acts they had to offer. Touring shows would be competing for audiences, so the poster would had to stand out and grab a persons attention, as they would have been pasted on walls alongside a whole range of other posters.

The Kingsway Cinema, Kings Heath

Detail from the building plan of ‘The Kingsway’, showing the front of the building [Ref. BBP 36328]

The Kingsway façade as it stands today [Author’s own photograph, March 2019]

The Kingsway Cinema, described as the Super-Cinema of its time, stood as a landmark on the High Street of Kings Heath village.  The initial planning of the Kingsway was scheduled in 1913, but due to the intervening First World War, the completion could not take place until 10 years later.  Premiering with Down to the Sea in Ships, on Monday 2^nd March 1925, the Kingsway was publicized as a state of the art cinema of the time, providing ‘high-class amusement tastefully presented’, for the rapidly growing district of Kings Heath, described as ‘one of the finest suburbs of England’s second city’.

Opening night listing, The Kings Heath Observer, Monday 2^nd March 1925 [Microfilm 18/7]

‘Grand Opening Night’ programme, Monday 2^nd March 1925 [Ref. Birmingham Scrapbook Vol.10]

Residents were assured of ‘a cinema of excellence of design‘, with the architectural design by Horace G. Bradley, who was also credited for many respected Birmingham cinemas, including the Broadway, Coronet and Lozells.

Yo! Ho! Ho! Christmas Again! Oh! No It Isn’t!

Well I hope you can all see where this one is going…..

It’s Panto Season again and a really good opportunity to visit the Theatre Royal Prompt Book series we have here (MS 2899). The Theatre Royal was a venerable institution operating in New Street from 1774 to its final demolition in 1956. The special collection consists of play texts and prompt books dating from mid to late 19^th century. The collection was formed by successive theatre managers and finally came to the library in 1935. There is a plethora of pantomime plays in the archive, some familiar, some not so.

Pantomime as a dramatic form dates back to classical theatre, well, doesn’t everything!

Oh, no it doesn’t! Oh, yes it does! …….. ermm, where was I?

The Greek word ‘panto’, meaning ‘all’ and ‘mimos’, meaning ‘imitator’ took on the meaning, first as a group who ‘ imitated all’ with song and music to eventually encompass the event itself. The Greeks and the Romans liked their pantos, lots of tragedy, comedy and sex, a bit like Eastenders if you cut out the comedy.

Pantomime as we know it today is a Christmas pudding mix of lots of different ingredients: the commedia dell’arte tradition from 16^th century Italy, along with European and British traditions like 17^th century masques, mummers plays from the English folk traditions of the Middle Ages, the giddy larks of the Lord of Misrule from the revels of Saturnalia up to the Tudor fancies of Twelve Days of Christmas when the natural order becomes reversed and, hence, the gender role reversal of ‘slappa my thigh, Dandini!’ becomes a tradition.

By the 19^th century, the English traditional pantomime genre was based on European fairy tales and English literature and nursery rhymes, with a fast paced slapstick element of ‘Harlequinade’ thrown in for good measure. The ‘Harlequinade’ was the plot within the plot that featured the lovers, Harlequin and Columbine, chased by Pantaloon, the grumpy potential father –in –law.  No nodding off here please, you have to have your wits about you when watching the show!

Behind the Scenes

The Birmingham Repertory Theatre archives before being catalogued and packed.

Archives often go on a journey before they get to their destination. This can involve a move to a new building or a change in personnel and the clearing out of an office. Not everything survives and reasons for this include deliberate destruction, an act of war or not knowing that something should be kept. Some of the archives of Birmingham Repertory Theatre have faced these issues on their travels and I thought it would be interesting to look out for any mention of archives in the archives.

They get noted in a report on the future of The Birmingham Repertory Theatre written in November 1960 when it was pointed out that the new Rep building being planned would require storage for material such as theatre archives, photographs, sets of scripts, music, accounts, and reference books.

After the death of its founder Sir Barry Jackson in 1961 The Rep accepted material that had been left by Jackson to the Actors’ Benevolent Fund and his Private Secretary. This included his entire library of theatrical books and drawings by his friend the artist Dame Laura Knight (such as backstage and rehearsal scenes and a portrait of Jackson).

The Repertory Theatre archive after cataloguing and packing, in its new home

By 1964 it was being suggested that the archive should be catalogued by the University of Birmingham’s English Department and in 1967 it was agreed that Jackson’s books be catalogued in the Shakespeare Institute (the material finally got there in 1971). In 1972 one of the Rep’s Directors hoped that the Jackson material currently held at his home could be put into the theatre archives.

The books were still at BirminghamUniversity in 1973 for cataloguing and temporary housing and by this time The Rep was holding photos, prompt books and Laura Knight paintings. The storage of this material at the theatre was discussed again, especially as an archives room had been included in the design of the new building but had subsequently been used for other things. One alternative was to offer material to the City Library or the TheatreMuseum in London.

The Woman With The Missing Face

Poster promoting the 1934 film ‘As You Like It’, starring Elizabeth Bergner.

Dealing with archives is often like being a detective or putting a jigsaw puzzle together. You have some information or records, but the picture is incomplete and you have to do some research. This was the case recently when one of the conservation team at Archives & Heritage asked that a large film poster that was loose in pieces be put together into some sort of order so it could be packed ready for the move to the new Library of Birmingham building.

View of the Rep posters on the floor of the searchroom from floor 7

This poster was first seen right at the start of the REP100 project which is celebrating the 100^th anniversary of Birmingham Repertory Theatre and putting together a website using images and information from The Rep’s archives held at Archives & Heritage. It was used to show the project team examples of The Rep archive material and was put on display in the Archives & Heritage searchroom on the 6^th floor of the Central Library. We wondered why the poster was with The Rep material but it was put to one side as other records were catalogued, until the request came to sort it out. The first attempt at putting the poster together where it was housed on the 7^th floor failed because there were more pieces than expected and it kept growing larger as it was placed on the floor and we ran out of room.

All The World’s A (Smaller) Stage

Photograph of the company in the Birmingham Repertory Theatre Company production of ‘Mary Barnes’ by David Edgar, 1978. Ref: MS 2339.

As Birmingham Repertory Theatre moves back into its Broad Street home after its refurbishment it is looking forward to working on its own stage again.

When The Rep first moved into its then new building in 1971 it was able to make use of a much larger stage. But thoughts soon turned to smaller productions as The Rep wanted to continue its founder Sir Barry Jackson’s belief that it should produce experimental work or plays by new writers. This often required a smaller stage and theatre space so in October 1972 The Studio was opened.

Photograph of Judy Dench with James Larkin rehearsing ‘Much Ado’ about Nothing, 1988. Ref: MS 2339.

The Rep collections at Birmingham Archives & Heritage help to explain the story of The Studio. It was originally designed and used as a rehearsal room but was sound-proofed so that productions could be held there at the same time as performances on the main stage. It was also equipped with sound, lighting, and seating. The work was completed in the summer of 1972 and the first performance was ‘Grab’, directed by newly appointed Studio Director Christopher Honer and based on improvisations.

The Studio (or Brum Studio as it was sometimes called) also hosted workshops, late night folk evenings and poetry readings. The target audience at first was youngsters and The Rep had already put together two initiatives for younger audiences with its Theatre 67 and Theatre 71 clubs.