115-599: The Garrick Club is a private members' club in London , founded in 1831 as a club for "actors and men of refinement to meet on equal terms". It is one of the oldest members' clubs in the world. Its 1,500 members include many actors, writers, journalists, leading arts practitioners, at least 10 serving members of parliament (MPs) and dozens of members of the House of Lords, many heads of public institutions alongside businessmen, and at least 160 senior legal professionals and members of
230-783: A "general utility" actor. He made his professional debut in the small role of a groom in an adaptation of Wilkie Collins 's The Woman in White . As a junior member of Wyndham's company Pinero quickly gained experience in a range of roles, supporting E. A. Sothern in Our American Cousin , and Charles Mathews in the Balzac adaptation A Game of Speculation , and graduating to larger parts such as Crosstree in Black-Eyed Susan . His engagement in Edinburgh came to
345-534: A 21-year-old kitchen maid at the club stabbed a 33-year-old fish cook at the club in a dispute about working conditions. She was subsequently remanded for a medical report at the Bow Street Police Court. The evidence presented to the court by a witness included a large chopping knife and a letter complaining about her working conditions. In 1956, the rights to A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh books were left to four beneficiaries: his family,
460-502: A West End playwright – achieved fame at an unusually early age: his contemporaries Bernard Shaw , J. M. Barrie and John Galsworthy were all in their thirties before their plays were produced in London. Pinero's other Court farces – The Schoolmistress (1886), Dandy Dick (1887), The Cabinet Minister (1890) and The Amazons (1893) – ran for 291, 262, 199 and 114 performances respectively, an aggregate of 866. Their success
575-546: A bygone era. For twenty years after his death Pinero's reputation remained in what Dawick calls "a state of near-eclipse". From the 1950s onwards interest in his Court farces grew. In a 1972 study of the playwright, Walter Lazenby wrote, "Pinero cannot be outranked as a farceur by any other English writer; not even Shakespeare consistently expended on this form the care and art which went into the Court Theatre farces or achieved such thoroughly satisfying results". Reviewing
690-459: A four-act play The Gay Lord Quex , a comedy of manners, in succession to two others in the genre, The Times (1891) and The Princess and the Butterfly (1897). The Gay Lord Quex , a story of a determined and resourceful young woman and a reformed aristocratic philanderer, had an initial run of 300 performances, and has proved one of Pinero's more revivable plays. In the first decade of
805-420: A full-time playwright. He first became known for a series of farces , of which The Magistrate (1885) was the longest-running. During the 1890s he turned to serious subjects. The Second Mrs Tanqueray (1893), dealing with a woman with a scandalous past, was regarded as shocking, but ran well and made a large profit. His other successes included Trelawny of the "Wells" (1898), a romantic comedy celebrating
920-615: A group of "misogynists [who] want to keep women out" and said the Garrick was becoming a "pariah" because of its attitude to women. Some current members have openly stated their support of the Garrick Club opening up its membership to women. John Simpson , the journalist, foreign correspondent and chief editor for world affairs at the BBC , who has been a club member since 2001, has said, I'm profoundly and passionately in favour of opening
1035-563: A highly successful lawyer. His younger son, Pinero's father, also took up the legal profession, but was much less successful; Pinero was brought up in circumstances that were not poor but were not affluent. He attended Spa Fields Chapel charity school in Exmouth Street, Clerkenwell , London, until the age of ten, when he went to work in his father's office. John Daniel Pinero died in May 1871, leaving very little money. To contribute to
1150-569: A knighthood, had himself been blackballed in 1873. Bernard Levin was blackballed by members who were upset by a column he had written about Lord Chief Justice Goddard after Goddard's death. When the club was founded in 1831, rule 1 of the Garrick Club Rules and Regulations called for the "formation of a theatrical Library, with works on costume". At a general meeting on 15 October 1831, the barrister John Adolphus suggested that members should present their duplicate dramatic works to
1265-680: A list of 100 notable deceased members (since updated): Private members%27 club Private members' clubs are organisations which provide social and other facilities to members who typically pay a membership fee for access and use. Most are owned and controlled by their members even to this day. Some were originally gentlemen's clubs to which members first had to be elected; others are more modern commercial establishments with no class or gender bar, typically offering food, drink, comfortable surroundings, venue hire and business facilities, in return for members paying subscription or membership fees. The first gentlemen's clubs, mostly established in
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#17327723795971380-475: A member but her nomination was blocked by the chair of the club and Sieghart was taken for lunch at the club by Lester instead. In 2011, the actress Joanna Lumley attempted to become the first female member in the club's then 180 year history, and she was the first female to be proposed as a member, proposed by Hugh Bonneville . The page upon which Bonneville wrote Lumley's nomination was torn out and expletives were written upon it. The Garrick Club consulted with
1495-675: A member, and about 150 members had included the title 'Sir' and 40 members listing themselves as 'Lord' as part of their name. The membership list also includes at least 90 members who have been appointed CBEs (Commander of the Order of the British Empire), 96 members appointed OBEs (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) and 9 members have been appointed KCMGs (Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George). Such awards have been granted for service including acting as ambassadors to Moscow, Rome and Washington, senior roles at
1610-592: A modest amount of publicity. His first full-length play, La Comète , was staged in a theatre in Croydon in 1878, and he wrote four more one-act comedies, staged in London in 1878–1880, playing in two of them – Daisy's Escape and Bygones – at the Lyceum. Another of these, Hester's Mystery (1880), written for the comic actor J. L. Toole , ran for 300 performances at the Folly Theatre . Pinero's profile as
1725-491: A national theatre and the reform or abolition of theatre censorship. Shaw conceived the idea that playwrights needed a titled figure to lead their campaigns, and lobbied the British government to secure a knighthood for Pinero. Whether because of Shaw's canvassing or not is unknown, but Pinero was knighted in 1909, only the second dramatist to receive the honour (Gilbert having been knighted two years earlier). Pinero rarely used
1840-457: A petition against the club which attracted the signatures of over 300 senior legal professions. Signing the above petition, Cherie Blair recalled how, in 1976, she watched: her fellow trainee barrister and future husband Tony Blair being admitted into the club [as a guest]... while she was shut outside [because women were allowed as guests but not at the centre table]. She described the lack of progress as 'outrageous'. 'Forty-five years ago, I
1955-675: A playwright was further raised by The Money Spinner , a full-length comedy, first given at the Prince's Theatre, Manchester in November 1880 and then at the St James's in London in January 1881. The theatre historian J. P. Wearing regards the play as of particular importance in the history of the St James's, a theatre previously known more for its failures than its successes. Pinero's play
2070-461: A revival of the melodrama The Bells , with which Irving's name was already synonymous, he played Dr Zimmer (1878). While in Irving's company Pinero wrote his first plays. He began with £200 a Year , a one-act comedy written in a single afternoon for a colleague to present at a benefit performance in 1877. The play was well received and was given several further performances, bringing Pinero's name
2185-466: A run of 88 performances, The Benefit of the Doubt (1895) ran for 74, The Thunderbolt (1908) and Mid-Channel (1909) both ran for 58. The year 1898 saw one of Pinero's most enduring successes and his most conspicuous failure. The first was Trelawny of the "Wells" , the second, The Beauty Stone . In Trelawny of the "Wells" , described by a 21st-century critic as "Pinero's love letter to theatre",
2300-419: A series of committees followed by a secret vote on membership. According to the club website, the original assurance of the committee is "that it would be better that ten unobjectionable men should be excluded than one terrible bore should be admitted". The exclusion of women from membership generated disagreement within the club and criticism from wider society, especially as many figures were seen as members of
2415-956: A serious bout of influenza, Pinero failed to survive an operation for a hernia . He died on 23 November 1934 in Marylebone Nursing Home. A memorial service was held at St Marylebone Parish Church on 28 November 1934, after which, by Pinero's request, his ashes were buried in his wife's grave in the churchyard of Chiddingfold , Surrey, close to their former country house. The original London productions that were followed by New York productions were: The Money Spinner (New York, 1882); The Squire (1882); Girls and Boys (1883); Lords and Commons (1884); In Chancery (1885); The Magistrate (play) (1885); The Schoolmistress (1886); Dandy Dick (1887); Sweet Lavender (1888); Lady Bountiful (1891); The Cabinet Minister (1892); The Second Mrs Tanqueray (1893); The Amazons (1894); The Notorious Mrs Ebbsmith (1895); The Benefit of
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#17327723795972530-549: A social message as they could stomach". Both Pinero and Alexander were apprehensive about the public reception of the piece, but it was a sensational success at its opening in May 1893, made a profit of more than £10,000, and was still playing to full houses when Alexander, who disliked acting in long runs, closed the production in April 1894 after 225 performances. Wearing comments that the public's appetite for similar Pinero plays varied. The Notorious Mrs Ebbsmith (1895) managed
2645-538: A sudden end in February 1875 when the theatre was destroyed by fire. He was fortunate in being offered another provincial engagement, at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, Liverpool , where he began to be noticed by the press, gaining approving reviews for his acting in supporting roles. A production of Miss Gwilt , an adaptation of Wilkie Collins's Armadale , starring Ada Cavendish , was reported by
2760-485: A wealthy stockbroker and donated to the club, having already hung on its walls for several years. The collection continued to grow with many being presented by artist members, such as Clarkson Frederick Stanfield and David Roberts , who with fellow scene painter Louis Haghe painted a series of large canvases, especially for the Smoking Room at the old Clubhouse . Roberts' Temple at Baalbec remains today one of
2875-715: A year. When its star, Arthur Cecil , required a summer break, Beerbohm Tree deputised for him for three weeks. Three touring companies were needed to meet the demand for the play in the British provinces, and local managements in Australia, India and South Africa were licensed to stage it; Pinero travelled to New York for the American premiere, at Daly's Theatre in October 1885. He had turned 30 earlier that year. A retrospective review of his career published in 1928 pointed out that Pinero – who had recently celebrated 50 years as
2990-512: Is being dusted down, reappraised and hailed as one of the great British playwrights". Four of Pinero's plays have been adapted as musicals: The Magistrate as The Boy (1917) with words by Fred Thompson , Percy Greenbank and Adrian Ross and music by Lionel Monckton and Howard Talbot ; In Chancery as Who's Hooper? (1919) with lyrics by Thompson and music by Talbot and Ivor Novello ; The Schoolmistress as My Niece (1921) with words by Greenbank and music by Talbot; and Trelawny of
3105-411: Is required to initially propose the name of a prospective new member, with another member required to second this proposal. The name of the proposed new member is then "put up" or "posted" in a membership list book. Enough members must sign in support of membership before membership will be formally considered. Should enough members have signed in support, the name of the prospective member has to go before
3220-554: Is ridiculous in the 21st century". Simon Case , head of the civil service argued that he wished to "make the change from within" in referral to the Club's exclusion of female members. After the rejection of Joanna Lumley's proposed membership in 2011, various public figures campaigned for female members. In 2015, Baroness Hale , as the then-president of the Supreme Court , protested about the club's continued exclusion of women and
3335-609: The Succession TV series, Hugh Bonneville , Hugh Laurie , Stephen Fry , Benedict Cumberbatch , David Suchet , and Damian Lewis . From opera, ballet and theatre, members include Christopher Rodrigues, the chair of the Royal Ballet School , John Gilhooly , the artistic director of Wigmore Hall , Harry Brünjes , the chair of the English National Opera , Alex Beard , the chief executive of
3450-479: The Centre Table which was reserved for members and their male guests [1] . In Autumn 2010, however, the Garrick Club management wrote to members informing them that women guests (of members) were no longer banned from sitting at the centre table of its Coffee Room. For the first time in the club's history, women would also now be allowed to visit the cocktail bar before 9 o'clock in the evening and venture "under
3565-508: The Court Theatre , where five of his farces were presented, with great success at the box office, between 1885 and 1892, beginning with The Magistrate . Wearing writes that in these plays Pinero "attacked facets of Victorian society by creating credible though blinkered characters, trying to preserve their respectability while trapped in a relentless whirlpool of catastrophically illogical events". Pinero told an interviewer that with
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3680-847: The Groucho Club (established in 1985), Soho House (1995) and Home House (1998); similar clubs operate in other cities and countries: for example, the CORE Club was established in New York City in 2005. These typically offer memberships by subscription and are owned and run as commercial concerns. They offer similar facilities such as food, drink, comfortable surroundings, venue hire and in many cases accommodation. Mobile working (using phone and email) had put pressure on traditional London clubs, some of which discouraged use of mobiles and laptops, or discussion of business matters. By contrast, business-oriented private members' clubs combine
3795-689: The Guardian reports, Simon Case , the cabinet secretary and the prime minister’s most senior policy adviser and the leader of nearly half a million civil servants, and Richard Moore , the head of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), announced their resignations from the club on 20 March 2024. From the legal profession, The Guardian reported that membership included a Supreme Court judge, five Court of Appeal judges, eight High Court judges, and about 150 KCs. The membership of significant numbers of senior legal professionals and
3910-582: The Napoleonic Wars ), and Francis Mills (a timber merchant and railway speculator). It was decided to write down a number of names in order to invite them to be original members of the Garrick Club. The avowed purpose of the club was to "tend to the regeneration of the Drama". It was to be a place where "actors and men of refinement could meet on equal terms" at a time when actors were not generally considered to be respectable members of society. The club
4025-745: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization ( NATO ), the United Nations , the Foreign Office and the European Commission . The list also includes three bishops (two retired and one serving) and 14 priests. Until May 2024, the club rules were assumed to exclude the election of female candidates, referring as they did exclusively to 'gentlemen' members. Several past attempts to open the club to women members had failed. The most recent in-person poll on
4140-762: The Royal Literary Fund , Westminster School and the Garrick Club. A 1960 dinner at the club hosted by Eugen Millington-Drake brought together British and German survivors of the Battle of the River Plate . In January 1961 the Soviet naval attaché and spy Yevgeny Ivanov was introduced to osteopath Stephen Ward at the club by Colin Coote , the editor of the Daily Telegraph , which would lead to
4255-648: The Royal Opera House , and Antonio Pappano , chief conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra . From the business world, members include Crispin Odey , the hedge fund manager and founder of Odey Asset Management that has had to close following an investigation report documenting the alleged sexual harassment and assault of 13 different women; Nigel Newton , chief executive and founder of the publisher Bloomsbury , best known for publishing
4370-813: The UK Statistics Authority , who was chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility from 2010 until 2020, David Willetts , the president of the British think tank, the Resolution Foundation (chiefly focused on issues of inequality) and Dean Godson , the director of the Policy Exchange , a right-wing think tank, former Post Office chair Tim Parker and the chair of the Independent Press Standards Organisation , Edward Faulks . Following
4485-662: The West End of London from the late 17th century onwards, were highly exclusive, offering aristocratic and wealthy men a refuge from work and family. The eligibility of potential members depended on their class and gender, with women banned from joining any of them. Early clubs also provided an environment for gambling, illegal outside of members-only establishments. Individuals needed to be formally proposed for membership, and candidates were subject to election by committees which scrutinised individuals' character and suitability. Several private members' clubs for women were established in
4600-436: The "Wells" (1949, 1971 and 1985, Bransby Williams , Roland Culver , Michael Hordern); Dandy Dick (1948, directed by Athene Seyler ) and The Second Mrs Tanqueray starring Elizabeth Sellars (1962). In 1906, The Times commented: By the time of Pinero's death in 1934 the paper had become less enthusiastic. Both The Times and The Daily Telegraph published polite obituaries that respectfully relegated his works to
4715-576: The "Wells" (as The Actress , 1928), The Magistrate (as Those Were the Days , 1934), Dandy Dick (1935), The Enchanted Cottage (1945), and The Second Mrs Tanqueray (1952). There have been many adaptations of Pinero's works for broadcasting. Television versions include The Gay Lord Quex (1946, 1953 and 1983, starring respectively Ronald Ward , André Morell and Anton Rogers ); The Magistrate (1946, 1951 and 1972, Desmond Walter-Ellis , Richard Goolden and Michael Hordern ); Trelawny of
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4830-491: The "Wells" as Trelawny (1972), adapted by Aubrey Woods , George Rowell and Julian Slade . The first of Pinero's works to be filmed was The Second Mrs Tanqueray , in an unauthorised American silent version in 1914, which prompted a successful but not very lucrative lawsuit by the author. With his approval, eight of his plays were adapted for the silent cinema, an authorised version of The Second Mrs Tanqueray (1916) with George Alexander in his first film role, reprising
4945-517: The 1880s and 1890s that has endured. There have been numerous revivals of many of his plays; and some have been adapted for the cinema or as musicals. By his later years, Pinero was seen as old-fashioned, and his last plays were not successful. He died in London at the age of 79. Pinero was born in London, the only son, and second of three children, of John Daniel Pinero (1798–1871), and his wife Lucy, née Daines (1836–1905). Pinero's father and grandfather were London solicitors . They were descended from
5060-710: The British establishment , or cultural elite ; this criticism increased after a membership list was published in March 2024. In May 2024, the club voted to accept women as members for the first time. The Garrick Club was founded at a meeting in the Committee Room at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane , on Wednesday 17 August 1831. Present were James Winston (a former strolling player, manager and important theatre antiquarian), Samuel James Arnold (a playwright and theatre manager), Samuel Beazley (an architect and playwright), General Sir Andrew Barnard (an army officer and hero of
5175-488: The Candidates Committee. Only then, to progress from there, is someone considered by a reportedly 24-member General Committee. In between those two stages, a prospective member will be invited to attend so that members of the more senior committee can judge him. Although prices are not publicly available, in March 2024 the cost of an annual membership was around £1,600. In 2011, the waiting list for membership
5290-571: The Court, but subsequently became one of Pinero's most revived plays. At the same time the impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte was in need of a new opera for his Savoy Theatre after the end of Gilbert and Sullivan 's long partnership. It is not clear why Carte chose to commission a libretto from two writers with no experience in the genre, but for Arthur Sullivan 's The Beauty Stone he brought together Pinero and J. Comyns Carr , an art critic, gallery owner and part-time author of dramas. Sullivan, who
5405-615: The Doubt (1896); The Princess and the Butterfly (1897); Trelawny of the Wells (1898); The Gay Lord Quex (play) (1900); Iris (1902); Letty (1904); A Wife without a Smile (1904); His House in Order (1906); Mid-Channel (1910); Preserving Mr. Panmure (1912); The "Mind the Paint" Girl (1912); and The Enchanted Cottage (1923). Among the notable British revivals of Pinero plays singled out in John Dawick's 1993 study of
5520-409: The Garrick's membership to women, because I feel the continued bar to their joining is an embarrassing blight on an otherwise delightful institution. Likewise, Stephen Fry has said he feels "ashamed and mortified by the continuing exclusion of women from our club". The actor Brian Cox , a member since 1996, has said it was "about time" membership was opened up to women, and that "this archaic practice
5635-746: The Harry Potter series; Peter Straus, the literary agent, and Rocco Forte , the British hotelier and chairman of Rocco Forte Hotels , and Paul Smith , the fashion designer and owner of the eponymous brand. Members of the press include Paul Dacre , the journalist editor-in-chief of the DMG Group, the publisher of the Daily Mail among other publications, John Simpson , the BBC's world affairs correspondent, and Sir Simon Jenkins , former editor of The Times. The Guardian reported King Charles III being
5750-535: The House of Lords and 10 serving members of Parliament (MPs) and remains a significant hub for senior legal professionals and Whitehall leaders. The majority of serving politicians are members of the Conservative Party ; these include the former deputy prime minister, Oliver Dowden , the former levelling-up secretary, Michael Gove , Gove's levelling up department colleague Simon Hoare , the former minister of state for Brexit opportunities Jacob Rees-Mogg ,
5865-803: The Madding Crowd . After leaving Irving's company Pinero joined another well-known London management, Squire Bancroft and his wife Effie , who ran the Haymarket Theatre . For them he played the Marquis de Cevennes ( Plot and Passion , 1881), Sir Alexander Shendryn ( Ours , 1882), Hanway ( Odette , 1882) and finally Sir Anthony Absolute in The Rivals (1884) as part of a starry cast that included Squire Bancroft, Johnston Forbes-Robertson , Lionel Brough and Julia Gwynne . Pinero received mixed notices, some unfavourable, and others among
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#17327723795975980-625: The Pinheiro family, described by Pinero's biographer John Dawick as "a distinguished family of Sephardic Jews who rose to prominence in medieval Portugal before suffering the persecutions of the Inquisition". Pinero's branch of the family fled to England. His grandfather abandoned the Jewish faith, became a member of the Church of England , married a Christian Englishwoman, Margaret Wing, and became
6095-662: The Supreme Court, to "reconsider" their membership in the club. In September 2020, the entrepreneur Emily Bendell threatened a legal challenge over the club's refusal to admit women as members under the terms of the Equality Act 2010. She asserts that the rule breaches the Equality Act 2010 , but failed to address how the Garrick failed to meet the specific exemptions mentioned in the act that protected same-sex sporting and social clubs. Bendell subsequently launched
6210-409: The Supreme Court, to "reconsider" their membership in the club. Originally established so that “actors and men of refinement and education might meet on equal terms”, and named after the 18th-century actor and theatre manager David Garrick , the Garrick Club continues to be patronised by members of the arts. The membership includes the actors Brian Cox and Matthew Macfadyen , both of whom starred in
6325-494: The acquiescence of its members in that policy. She has said that "I regard it as quite shocking that so many of my colleagues belong to the Garrick, but they don't see what all the fuss is about", arguing that judges "should be committed to the principle of equality for all". In reaction to the vote maintaining the customary exclusion of women as members, Dinah Rose , a leading barrister specialising in human rights and public law, urged leading legal professionals including members of
6440-525: The actor Charles Mathews , one of the original members of the club who had a passion for collecting theatrical portraits; they were once displayed by him in a gallery at his home, Ivy Cottage, in Highgate , north London. Mathews managed to secure a large number of pictures from the collection of Thomas Harris , who had been manager of the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden , and which included paintings by
6555-588: The actor Donald Sinden . Charles described his profession as "self-employed" on the nomination form. James Winston, the first secretary and librarian of the club, was one of the principal early benefactors and his gifts included minutes from the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, as well as his own Theatric Tourist . These presentations formed the nucleus of a Library which now holds well over 10,000 items, including plays, manuscripts, prints (bound into numerous extra-illustrated volumes), and many photographs. In 1933
6670-408: The author addressed his regular topics of class and inexorable change, to which he added a study of the enduring power of the theatre. The play shows a popular actress in mid-Victorian melodramas marrying into the aristocracy, regretting it, returning to the stage and finding that she can no longer make the old style of plays work, successfully switching to works in the new realistic style. Wearing calls
6785-479: The barrister Michael Beloff on the implications of the rules in law and asked him for a legal opinion concerning the admittance of female members. At the time he advised that women could not be proposed under the club's rules after Lumley was denied membership in 2011. Beloff advised that although the rules do not explicitly preclude women from joining, they state that "no candidate shall be eligible unless he be proposed by one member and seconded by another". The use of
6900-413: The beginning of the 1860s created overcrowding of its original clubhouse . Slum clearance being undertaken just round the corner provided the opportunity to move into a brand-new purpose-built home on what became known as Garrick Street. The move was completed in 1864 and the club remains in this building today. All new candidates must be proposed by an existing member before election in a secret ballot,
7015-701: The best of his acting career. This was his last professional engagement as an actor. During his time at the Haymarket Pinero married Myra Emily Wood (c. 1852–1919), who had acted under the stage name of Myra Holme, a widow with two children, Angus and Myra, from her first marriage. The wedding took place on 19 April 1883. There were no children of the marriage to Pinero. With the exception of two adaptations of serious French works, The Ironmaster (1884) and Mayfair (1885), Pinero's output between 1884 and 1893 consisted of six farces and five comedies. During this period he became particularly associated with
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#17327723795977130-443: The century Pinero continued to be regarded as among the forefront of British playwrights. His comedy of manners Iris (1901) ran for 115 performances, and in 1906 he had one of his biggest successes, with His House in Order , another work for Alexander and the St James's. This piece is a drama about a put-upon second wife who eventually triumphs over the domineering family of her husband's dead first wife and wins his undivided love. It
7245-452: The club committee. Muggeridge said it was "preposterous ... that the committee of a club like the Garrick should consider themselves entitled to adjudicate upon the propriety or otherwise of what a member may choose to say in public". Whilst details of the official membership process are not publicly available, various aspects of the process are known through news stories and the accounts of past or present members. Typically, an existing member
7360-419: The club, and that these should go some way towards forming a Library. A very valuable collection has thus come together over the years, and its special collections are particularly strong on 18th- and 19th-century theatre. The novelist William Makepeace Thackeray would frequently draw members of the club who he found amusing. In 1985, Prince Charles was proposed by his father, Prince Philip , and seconded by
7475-476: The club’s "Putin-style" management. In e-mails sent to members, Brough alleged that some members of management were "against women members, which is why they have, in my view, taken such an active and belligerent role in preventing the membership from reading, considering and assessing for themselves the importance of the Beloff opinions". Brough accused club management members of deception, saying management contained
7590-428: The dramatist were: In 2012 The Times remarked on a revival in interest in Pinero, with new productions of The Second Mrs Tanqueray at the Rose Theatre , The Magistrate at the National Theatre, starring John Lithgow in the title role, Trelawney of the "Wells" at the Donmar , and Dandy Dick , with Patricia Hodge and Nicholas Le Prevost . The paper commented, "Like Terence Rattigan in recent years, Pinero
7705-405: The family income, Pinero continued to work as a solicitor's clerk, earning £1 a week. In the evenings he studied elocution at the Birkbeck Literary and Scientific Institution . He and his fellow students staged several productions of plays, and Pinero became irresistibly drawn to the theatre. In May 1874 he abandoned the legal profession and joined R. H. Wyndham at the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh , as
7820-400: The first of his Court farces, The Magistrate , he had tried "to raise farce a little from the low pantomime level". Instead of relying on the Parisian stereotype, revolving around potentially adulterous liaisons, he tried to create believable characters in credible situations. The piece played for 363 performances in its first run, the first play in the history of the Court to run for more than
7935-409: The former justice secretary Robert Buckland (now chair of the Northern Ireland select committee), Daniel Hannan , a member of the House of Lords and adviser to the Board of Trade and Kwasi Kwarteng who was elected as a member days before he was appointed as chancellor of the exchequer . Also within the political sphere or as heads of public or political institutions are Robert Chote , the head of
8050-427: The full "50 page membership book" (current as at the end of 2023) and started reporting on the identities of "about 1,500" all-male members, many of them senior members of the establishment including individuals from royalty, politics, the legal profession, the media and the arts. Reportedly, the Garrick has fewer politicians as members compared with 20 years ago; however, the membership list reveals dozens of members of
8165-572: The judiciary including King's Counsel (KCs), Supreme Court and Court of Appeals judges. For most of its history, the Garrick was a gentlemen's club with membership customarily restricted to men. However, in May 2024 club members voted to acknowledge that existing rules had never explicitly excluded women as members and that there was no impediment to their election. New candidates must be proposed by an existing member and seconded by another member, before supporting signatures are collected from at least 30 other members. The candidate then goes in front of
8280-787: The late 19th century; among them the Alexandra Club , the Ladies' Institute, the Ladies' Athenaeum and the University Women's Club . Many of the traditional gentlemen's clubs now allow women as members, though a few, including - until May 2024 - the Garrick Club in London's Covent Garden , still refuse women membership. More modern but otherwise similar private members' clubs have since been established. Most of these, however, are for-profit commercial enterprises neither owned nor controlled by members. London examples include
8395-530: The laughter is hushed, where smiles give way to tears, and where mirth is merged in heartfelt sympathy". Plays in a similar vein to Sweet Lavender – The Weaker Sex (1888) and Lady Bountiful (1891) – did not match its success, running for 61 and 65 performances respectively. Nonetheless Pinero's attention continued to turn more to serious than to farcical topics. Wearing comments that Pinero began to write "problem plays", considering "the double standard of morality, applied unequally to men and women". His first
8510-485: The libretto as "a verbose mess ... suffused with a fussy air of arch medievalism". At its premiere, on 28 May 1898, the piece ran for four hours, and Pinero and Carr had to accept some drastic cuts to their words, which also meant sacrificing some of Sullivan's best music. The reviews for the music ranged from polite to enthusiastic; for the libretto they ranged from polite to damning. Max Beerbohm , who had succeeded Shaw as theatre critic of The Saturday Review and who
8625-413: The likes of Johann Zoffany , Francis Hayman and Gainsborough Dupont . He also actively commissioned artists such as Samuel De Wilde to paint all the popular stars of the stage at that time (there are 196 works by De Wilde in the collection). Mathews had hoped to sell the collection to the club and it appears that lengthy negotiations were entered into without any result. It was eventually purchased by
8740-414: The literary world came writers such as Charles Dickens , William Makepeace Thackeray , Anthony Trollope , H. G. Wells , A. A. Milne (who on his death in 1956 bequeathed the club a quarter of the royalties from his children's books), and Kingsley Amis . The visual arts has been represented by painters such as John Everett Millais , Lord Leighton and Dante Gabriel Rossetti . The club's popularity at
8855-406: The masculine and feminine pronouns ( he and she ) can be used interchangeably in contracts. Beloff continued: "if so, there is no legal obstacle to the proposal of a woman for membership of the club by one member, seconded by another; nor, if she obtains the support required under the rules, any legal obstacle to her admission as a member of the club." It was reported that Beloff warned that the club
8970-468: The masculine pronoun "he" led Beloff to conclude that the rule could be interpreted as referring to men only, while he also said the club's objectives also refer to "gentlemanly accomplishment and scholarship". In November 2023, Beloff prepared and issued new legal opinion with the opposite conclusions to that of 2011. Beloff stated that there was "now a cogent argument" that the Law of Property Act 1925 means
9085-426: The membership as a whole just 39% were in favour of change) but as with the previous poll, the club needed a two-thirds majority to trigger a rule change. However, in May 2024 the club voted to accept a legal opinion commissioned by four members from Lord Pannick to the effect that the existing rules, where they used the word 'he', should be construed as also meaning 'she' and that therefore, on this basis, no rule change
9200-403: The membership of women in 2015 showed a very slim majority (50.5%) voted to admit women members, but "the club requires a two-thirds majority before rules can be changed". In 2023, a mail-in poll was conducted on membership but on attitudes towards admitting women. Of those members who participated, 51% indicated that they were in favour of admitting women, while 44% were opposed (as a percentage of
9315-501: The mixed messages this may send have been previously noted. Baroness Hale , as the then president of the Supreme Court , protested about the club’s continued exclusion of women and the acquiescence of its members in that policy. She argued that judges "should be committed to the principle of equality for all." After a vote extending the ban on female members, Dinah Rose , a leading barrister specialising in human rights and public law, urged leading legal professionals including members of
9430-402: The most important paintings by that artist. Sir John Everett Millais is represented by one of his most important portraits, that of Henry Irving which he painted and presented to the club in 1884. The picture collection continued to expand throughout the twentieth century with artists such as Edward Seago and Feliks Topolski both represented. In 2011, the Garrick Club newsletter compiled
9545-409: The original assurance of the committee being "that it would be better that ten unobjectionable men should be excluded than one terrible bore should be admitted". This exclusive nature of the club was highlighted when reporter Jeremy Paxman applied to join but was initially blackballed, though he was later admitted, an experience he shares with Henry Irving who, despite being the first actor to receive
9660-669: The outbreak of war the following year appalled Pinero. Following the sinking of RMS Lusitania by a German U-boat on 7 May 1915, he wrote to The Times calling on naturalised British citizens of German origin to make public statements of their loyalty to the King and reject Germany's methods of warfare. In the following days, numerous letters were received by the newspaper from naturalised Britons affirming their loyalty, including public figures such as Sir Ernest Cassel , Sir George Henschel , Sir Carl Meyer and Sir Felix Schuster . Among others who came under public pressure because of
9775-438: The part he created in 1893; Trelawny of the "Wells" (1916); Sweet Lavender (twice: in 1915 and 1920 ); Iris (twice: 1916 and as A Slave of Vanity , 1920); The Profligate (1917); The Gay Lord Quex (twice: 1917 and 1919 ); Mid-Channel (1920); His House in Order (1920) and The Enchanted Cottage (1924). After the days of silent films there were adaptions of His House in Order (1928) Trelawny of
9890-463: The patron, the Duke of Sussex , had an element of the theatrical about him, being a well-known mesmerist . To this can be added numerous Barons, Counts, Dukes, Earls and Lords, soldiers, parliamentarians and judges. The membership would later include Charles Kean , Henry Irving , Herbert Beerbohm Tree , Arthur Sullivan , J. M. Barrie , Arthur Wing Pinero , Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud . From
10005-405: The play Pinero's homage to Tom Robertson , whose pioneering theatrical realism influenced two generations of writers including W. S. Gilbert and Bernard Shaw as well as Pinero. The critics were confused by the play. Pinero commented that they seemed "divided as to whether the piece is a weak farce or an imperfect realistic drama". It had a good, though not outstanding, run of 135 performances at
10120-413: The play would, and did, end in tragedy. This was his best-known serious work, The Second Mrs Tanqueray (1893). While he was planning it, several plays of Henrik Ibsen were presented in London for the first time, regarded by much of polite society as avant garde , blunt and shocking. Seeing Ghosts led Pinero to reconsider his approach to playwriting, which now seemed old-fashioned by comparison. He
10235-576: The rules of the club reportedly require a two-thirds majority to trigger a rule change. It was reported that the club's general committee decided unanimously not to act on Beloff’s new advice. In February 2024, Colin Brough, a retired theatre producer and a member for 40 years, was expelled from the club for having used the club's address book to contact members to expressed his conviction that women should be admitted immediately. After his exclusion he sent further e-mails to fellow members in which he criticised
10350-403: The stairs", an area hitherto reserved for members. Allowing women to sit at the centre table as guests of members just as male guests of members were permitted was largely in response to the Equality Act 2010 , which was introduced by the former Labour minister Harriet Harman . Jonathan Acton Davis who was at the time the Garrick's chairman, said this act meant that "each of those prohibitions
10465-456: The style, food and drink of a contemporary private members' club with the business facilities of a serviced office or coworking space. Notable examples of private members' clubs include: This organization-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Arthur Wing Pinero Sir Arthur Wing Pinero (24 May 1855 – 23 November 1934) was an English playwright and, early in his career, actor. Pinero
10580-408: The subsequent Profumo affair . The broadcaster Malcolm Muggeridge resigned from the club in 1964 after being asked for a transcript of an American television interview in which he had criticised the British royal family. A committee member of the club, journalist Joseph C. Harsch , inquired whether "the propriety for a member of the club for speaking against the royal family" might be considered by
10695-955: The supporting cast for Irving's forthcoming provincial tour. Although the tour was uncongenial, and Pinero gathered some highly critical notices, he continued to work as a supporting actor to Irving for five years. He first appeared at the Lyceum , Irving's London base, in December 1876 and played a total of 21 parts there between then and 1881. His Shakespearean roles were Lord Stanley in Richard III (1877), Rosencrantz in Hamlet (1878), Guildenstern in Hamlet (1879), Salarino in The Merchant of Venice (1879), and Roderigo in Othello (1881). In
10810-416: The theatre, old and new, and The Gay Lord Quex , about a reformed roué and a feisty young woman. A venture into opera, with a libretto for The Beauty Stone (1898), was not a success, and Pinero thereafter generally stuck to his familiar genre of society dramas and comedies. Although he continued to write throughout the first three decades of the 20th century and into the fourth, it is Pinero's work from
10925-403: The theatrical paper The Era as "a genuine triumph"; the play transferred from Liverpool to the West End , and Pinero retained his role as an elderly solicitor. The production was not the hoped-for success in London, but Pinero received good notices for his performance, and when the run finished after ten weeks he was immediately engaged by Henry Irving 's manager, Mrs Bateman, as a member of
11040-512: The title, but shortened his signature from "Arthur W. Pinero" to "Arthur Pinero". In the second decade of the century Pinero had his last two real successes. The comedy The "Mind the Paint" Girl ran at the Duke of York's Theatre for 126 performances in 1912, and The Big Drum , his last play for Alexander had 111 performances at the St James's in 1915. The First World War badly affected his wish and ability to write. He had suffered an emotional blow in 1913 when his stepson killed himself, and
11155-499: The war was Shaw, who opposed it strenuously, and was much vilified by the public and even by his colleagues. Pinero refused to join in the chorus of disapproval, and his friendship with Shaw endured, although they saw less of each other after Shaw resigned from the Dramatists' Club under pressure from its pro-war members led by Henry Arthur Jones . Pinero's wife died in 1919, having been an invalid for some time. Although her death
11270-501: Was The Profligate (1889), in which past misdeeds come to haunt a seemingly respectable man. It was chosen to inaugurate the new Garrick Theatre , but the lessee, John Hare, persuaded a reluctant Pinero to tone down the ending to avoid alienating his respectable society audience: in the final version the protagonist does not kill himself, as Pinero had written, but is forgiven by his wife. The play ran for 129 performances. When his next such drama came to be produced Pinero remained firm:
11385-471: Was "likely to provoke an expensive lawsuit" if it continued to exclude women from membership. Although Beloff notified the club's management of the changed legal opinion along with providing them with the revised advice, the club's management failed to share this guidance with members before a November 2023 poll on attitudes towards admitting women. The results of the poll indicated that 51% of members were in favour of admitting women, while 44% were opposed, but
11500-402: Was Shaw. As authors they held very different views of the nature and purpose of drama. Although both addressed social problems in their plays, Shaw, who held that all good art is didactic, concentrated on the problem itself, whereas Pinero focused more on the people affected by it, which Shaw felt weakened the argument. Nevertheless, they were on good terms and both were prominent in campaigns for
11615-430: Was a triumph for Irene Vanbrugh and Alexander in the lead roles, and for Pinero; it ran for 430 performances and took more than £78,000 at the box-office. The alliance between Alexander had by now become a firm friendship, punctuated by occasional arguments between the actor-manager and the author, who became extremely prescriptive about the staging of his plays and the delivery of his lines. Another of Pinero's friends
11730-428: Was discriminatory and would be illegal" and that the act denoted that "all guests must receive the same treatment irrespective of gender". At the time, Davis said "the decision in relation to the centre table was the most difficult. The long traditions of the club are strongly in favour of restricting use of the centre table to men." In the late 1990s the lawyer Anthony Lester attempted to propose Mary Ann Sieghart as
11845-480: Was drawn to the theatre from an early age, and became a professional actor at the age of 19. He gained experience as a supporting actor in British provincial theatres, and from 1876 to 1881 was a member of Henry Irving 's company, based at the Lyceum Theatre , London. Pinero wrote his first play in 1877. Seven years later, having written 15 more, three of them highly successful, he abandoned acting and became
11960-453: Was far from uncritical of Ibsen's plays, but recognised that if he was to be a serious dramatist he must treat social problems and human misconduct frankly. The Second Mrs Tanqueray centred on "a woman with a past". Hare declined to present it, and George Alexander , the actor-manager running the St James's Theatre , to whom Pinero then offered the play, said, "Sorry, I daren't do it". He had second thoughts, and accepted it. The production
12075-437: Was foreseen it caused Pinero deep distress, and after it he was often despondent, despite the devoted attention of his stepdaughter. During the last years of his life Pinero gradually ceased to be a figure of importance in the theatre. After the end of the war he wrote eight more plays; two of them remained unstaged and of the four that were produced in London the longest-running lasted for 64 performances. His heart weakened by
12190-462: Was left standing outside the Garrick while my supervisor took my fellow pupil Tony Blair inside [to the club's centre table]. It's outrageous that so little progress has been made since then' ... The club holds a remarkable collection of artworks representing the history of British theatre. There are over 1000 paintings, drawings and sculptures, a selection of theatrical memorabilia, and thousands of prints and photographs. The collection originated with
12305-477: Was named in honour of the actor David Garrick , whose acting and management at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in the previous century had by the 1830s come to represent a golden age of British drama. Less than six months later the members had been recruited and a club house found and equipped on King Street in Covent Garden . On 1 February 1832, it was reported that the novelist and journalist Thomas Gaspey
12420-426: Was needed. The vote to accept this opinion required only a simple majority of those present physically and virtually at an extraordinary general meeting, rather than the two-thirds majority that a rule change would have required. Later in 2024, Judi Dench and Siân Phillips became the first female members of the club. From 1831 up until 2010, women were permitted only as guests of members, and not allowed to sit at
12535-405: Was outstripped by that of the gentler comedy Sweet Lavender , which ran at Terry's Theatre for 684 performances from March 1888 to January 1890. This piece concerns an impoverished clerk, a bibulous but wise barrister, fraudulent bankers, a long-lost sweetheart and happy endings all round. It was billed as "a domestic drama", and was mainly comic, but, The Era reported, "there are scenes where
12650-410: Was regarded as daringly unconventional and a risky venture, but it caught on with the public, particularly for the character Baron Croodle, a "disreputable but delightful old reprobate and card-shark" played by John Hare . The following year Pinero wrote the first of eleven more plays for the St James's, The Squire (1881). It caused controversy by its supposed similarity to Thomas Hardy 's Far from
12765-408: Was reported as being up to five years long. The identity of some club members, both past and present, has been widely known and reported in the press, with some individuals publicly identifying themselves as members. Since the Garrick's inception however, the club had always kept details of the full membership a closely guarded secret. In March 2024, The Guardian newspaper reported having access to
12880-461: Was scheduled to replace Oscar Wilde 's Lady Windermere's Fan , which also focused on a woman with a far from respectable past. Unlike Pinero's play, Wilde's ended happily, and was seen by the respectable habitués of the St James's as mildly shocking but acceptable. In Pinero's play Paula Tanqueray kills herself. In Wearing's words, "although not as avant-garde as Ibsen's plays, Tanqueray confronted its fashionable St James's audiences with as forceful
12995-440: Was the first member to enter at 11am, and that "Mr Beazley gave the first order, (a mutton chop) at ½ past 12." The list of those who took up original membership includes actors such as John Braham , Charles Kemble , William Macready , Charles Mathews and his son Charles James; the playwrights James Planché , Theodore Hook and Thomas Talfourd ; scene-painters including Clarkson Frederick Stanfield and Thomas Grieve . Even
13110-499: Was to become a persistent irritant to Pinero, was particularly waspish. Besides the shortcomings of the libretto, the uncomic, romantic style of the piece was not in keeping with the traditions of the Savoy or the expectations of its audience, and the opera closed on 16 July after 50 performances – the worst run for any of Sullivan's operas. Within a year of the disappointment of The Beauty Stone Pinero returned to successful form with
13225-450: Was used to Gilbert's skill and flexibility, quickly found his new collaborators inept: "gifted and brilliant men, with no experience in writing for music, and yet obstinately refusing to accept any suggestions from me as to form and construction". He later wrote in his diary, "heartbreaking to have to try to make a musical piece out of such badly constructed (for music) mess of involved sentences". The musical analyst William Parry describes
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