BUNN, ALFRED (1796-186o)

This article appears in Volume V04, Page 799 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: BUN-CAL

BUNN, ALFRED (1796-186o) , English theatrical manager, was appointed stage-manager of Drury Lane theatre, London, in 1823. In 1826 he was managing the Theatre Royal,

Birmingham

BIRMINGHAM

, and in 1833 he undertook the

joint

JOINT (through Fr. from Lat. junctum, jungere, to join)

management of Drury
Lane and Covent Garden, London. In this undertaking he met with vigorous opposition. A bill for the abolition of the patent theatres was passed in the

House

HOUSE
HOUSE (O. Eng. hiss, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dut. huis, Ger. Haus; in
Gothic
- GOTHIC
it is only found in gudhiss, a temple; it may be ultimately connected with the root of " hide," conceal)

of Commons, but on Bunn's

petition

PETITION (Lat. for " seeking " or " praying ")

was thrown out by the

House

HOUSE
HOUSE (O. Eng. hiss, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dut. huis, Ger. Haus; in
Gothic
- GOTHIC
it is only found in gudhiss, a temple; it may be ultimately connected with the root of " hide," conceal)

of Lords. He had difficulties first with his company, then with the lord

chamberlain

, and had to face the keen rivalry of the other theatres. A long-

standing

STANDING

quarrel with Macready resulted in the tragedian assaulting the manager. In 184o Bunn was declared a bankrupt, but he continued to manage Drury Lane till 1848. Artistically his

control

CONTROL (Fr. contrdle, older form contre rolle, from Med. Lat. contra-rotulus, a counter roll or copy of a document used to check the original; there is no instance in English of the use of " control " in this, its literal, meaning)

of the two

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

English theatres was highly successful. Nearly every leading English actor played under his management, and he made a courageous attempt to establish. English opera, producing the principal works of Balfe. He had some

gift

GIFT (a common Teutonic word, cf. Ger. die Gift, gift, das Gift, poison, formed from the Teut. stem gab-, to give, cf. Dutch geven, Ger. geben; in O. Eng. the word appears with initial y, the guttural of later English is due to Scandinavian influence)

for writing, and most of the libretti of these operas were translated by himself. In The Stage Before and Behind the Curtain (3 vols., 184o) he gave a full account of his managerial experiences. He died at Boulogne on the 20th of December 186o.

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