Copyright © 2020 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett
In the summer of 1882, Henry C. Tryon left Denver, Colorado, and traveled west to Salt Lake City, Utah. By that fall, Henry C. Tryon painted a ship setting for the Salt Lake Theatre’s upcoming production of “Old Shipmates.” “Old Shipmates” starred Frank Mordaunt and featured a ship scene, a scene that did not tour with the company. Each theatre on the tour provided scenery from their stock. In Salt Lake City, Tryon painted a scene for the touring show to use at the Salt Lake Theatre.
Around this same time, Tryon also painted a Steamship setting for a production of “Not Guilty,” also at the Salt Lake Theatre. Of the production, the “Ogden Standard” announced, “On Monday night Watts Phillip’s thrilling sensational drama of ‘Not Guilty’ will be given with a strong cast, fine scenic and mechanical effects, embracing the new ship scene, recently painted by Henry C. Tryon of the Tabor Grand Opera House, Denver, and acknowledged to be one of the most realistic sets ever put upon the stage” (Ogden Standard, 30 Sept 1882, page 3). The settings included a rural setting, a ship scene and a quarry.
“Not Guilty” had been around for a while, having premiered at the Queen’s Theatre in London, over a decade earlier. The playwright was also an artist, with a pretty specific vision for the 1869 piece. For more about Watts Phillips, read “Watts Phillips: Artist and Playwright.” Here is a link to a free pdf of the book: https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=CB_zKT2aMrsC&hl=en&pg=GBS.PA11
In 1869 “Sharpe’s London Magazine” described the Phillip’s new production (Vol 34, Jan 1869, page 166):
“’Not Guilty’ the new melodrama at the Queen’s, possesses Anglo-Indian incidents connected with the dreadful mutiny of 1857; but there are more incidents relating to home life, including that convict-life which the stage too often holds up to the view, and which the convict-life is low, disgusting, and so unfit to be reproduced in dramatic pictures, that we wonder at its toleration by any audience. Before dismissing “Not Guilty,” we will admit that it possesses highly sensational elements, but protest against any phase of that terrible mutiny of the troops being represented by a man or two prowling about the side of a wall as British soldiers, and another man or two bobbing their heads up, now and then, on the other side of the wall as mutineers. The main incident in “Not Guilty” is founded on a fact recorded in a remarkable criminal trial: we allude to the fate of Silas Jarrett, the convict.”
“Not Guilty,” received unfavorable reviews when the show premiered in 1869. Even American newspapers reported that it was “rather roughly handed” and “a bad specimen of the worst class of plays” (“Buffalo Courier,” 1 April, 1869, page 4). However, the production was still running a year later, premiering in America at Niblo’s Garden in New York. On June 6, 1870, the “New York Daily” announced, “Another novelty will be the new military drama by Watt’s Phillips entitled ‘Not Guilty,’ which will be brought out at Niblos’s to-night with all the paraphernalia of war, love, murder, virtue, villainy, and every sensation that the stage is capable of” (page 7).
By June 13, 1870, “Brooklyn Daily Eagle,” reported, “Whatever may be the literary and artistic deficiencies of the play ‘Not Guilty,’ it is met with a decided popular success at Niblo’s. It is a succession of varied and exciting incidents, happening in three quarters of the globe, introducing Australians, Sepoys and English convicts. The interest never flags, there is so much life in every scene. This is why it attracts and pleases, and fills the house” (“Brooklyn Daily Eagle,” 13 June 1870, page 3). The failure of the production in London was now credited to poor production values. In New York, the “Brooklyn Daily Eagle,” reported, “Great preparations have been made for its proper production,” including 150 soldiers from the Garibaldi Guard and the Fifth Infantry Regimental band and drum corps (“Brooklyn Daily Eagle,” 7 June 1870, page 2). The increased spectacle immediately won popularity with American audiences. Niblo’s advertised the show as a “grand romantic military drama in four acts,” produced with new scenery, new mechanism, new properties, new uniforms, new overtures, &c., &c.” (New York Times, 9 June 1870, page 7).
“Not Guilty” was playing again at Queen’s Theatre in 1882; the same year that it was produced in Salt Lake City. Of the Salt Lake production, the “Deseret News” reported, “The Salt Lake Dramatic Combination will repeat the play of ‘Not Guilty,’ with its thrilling sensations and beautiful scenery, including the Great Steamship Scene, painted by Mr. Henry C. Tryon of the Tabor Opera House, on Saturday evening, October 28.” The Dramatic Combination was “composed of Messrs. McKenzie, Margetts, Graham, and Lindsay,” assisted by a full company and full orchestra (Ogden Standard, 30 Sept 1882, page 3). On October 29, 1882, the “Salt Lake Herald,” announced “the painting that has recently been done by the scenic artist, Mr. Tryon has added wonderfully to the attractive appearance of the stage and shows Mr. Tryon to be a scenic artist of the highest order. It is hoped that while he is here, the gentleman’s services will be secured to make other improvements which would not only contribute to the appearance of the interior but add to the stage effects and thus add materially to the pleasure of its patrons. What has been done so far has given a taste to the public for more – and the more the better.”
To be continued…
