Stanley Houghton
Stanley Houghton was an influential English playwright born on February 2, 1881, in Ashton-on-Mersey. He began his career in the cotton business, which exposed him to the social dynamics and values of early 20th-century England and inspired much of his writing. Houghton was a leading figure in the pre-World War II Manchester school of playwrights and was known for his satirical and farcical plays, often exploring themes of social class, gender roles, and the conflicts between generations. His most notable works include "The Dear Departed" and "Hindle Wakes," the latter of which gained significant acclaim and was performed extensively in England and America. Houghton sought to challenge Victorian norms, advocating for women's rights and questioning outdated societal standards. His writing was influenced by dramatic icons such as George Bernard Shaw and Henrik Ibsen, and he became recognized for his nuanced portrayals of everyday life and moral dilemmas. Tragically, Houghton’s life was cut short when he died of meningitis at the age of 32 on December 12, 1913, leaving behind a legacy that continues to resonate in contemporary theater.
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Stanley Houghton
- Born: February 22, 1881
- Birthplace: Ashton-upon-Mersey, Cheshire, England
- Died: December 11, 1913
- Place of death: Manchester, England
Biography
Stanley Houghton was born on February 2, 1881, in Ashton-on-Mersey, England. He was educated at a number of schools, but before turning sixteen joined his father, John Hartley Houghton, in the cotton business. At the warehouse, selling “grey cloth,” he learned enough about small community life and traditional turn-of-the-century values to inspire his writing. The stories of the people he worked and lived with served as a basis for many of his plots. He became the foremost member of the pre-World War II Manchester school of playwrights.
As a scholarly and gentle young man, he wrote satires, farces, and one-act plays. From 1901 to 1912, he acted in more than seventy amateur theater productions and formed a small luncheon club for the purpose of discussing literature and theater events. He also wrote theater reviews for the Manchester City News and the Manchester Guardian.
Under the patronage of Annie E. F. Horniman, who, having founded Dublin’s famed Abby Theatre, had moved to Manchester to form a repertory theater, Houghton was able to produce his first play. The Dear Departed opened at the Gaiety Theatre in 1908, and was greeted with enthusiasm. In 1912, he headed for London, where he gained wide attention in that same year with Hindle Wakes, a play about a young cotton-mill worker who becomes involved with the owner’s son during the one week a year that the mills shut down.
Houghton sought to bring his characters into the twentieth century and fought against Victorian hypocrisy, double standards, morals, puritanical values, parental authority, and outdated concepts regarding gender roles. He was a dramatist of rebellion, albeit gentle rather than radical action. One of his characters, the wife in Independent Means (1909), was a strong advocate of women’s rights, even the right to vote. She responded to her husband’s arbitrary edicts with a refusal to recognize that he had any authority over her. This same woman one day had to assume the role of main breadwinner in the household, completely destroying her husband’s long-held beliefs about the function of women. This work showed the clear influence of George Bernard Shaw and Henrik Ibsen. Houghton also liked to show interactions between social classes, inter-generational conflict, and the small-mindedness of people who failed to question outdated norms and standards of behavior. He often bucked social convention, and also questioned whether wisdom was necessarily a component of old age.
Hindle Wakes was brought before audiences in England, New York, and Chicago, Canada. It was performed more than eighteen hundred times, with the result that Houghton became much sought after. He was invited to join the Savage Club and the Dramatist’s Club, and even became the subject of a Max Beerbohm piece. He grew disenchanted with London, moving, as was the trend of the day, to Paris, where he enjoyed the literary life. While vacationing in Venice, he became ill and needed to return to Manchester. There he died, at thirty-two, of meningitis on December 12, 1913.