Dion Boucicault
Dion Boucicault, originally named Dionysius Lardner Boursiquot, was a prominent 19th-century playwright, actor, and director known for pioneering "sensation dramas" that combined melodrama with surprising mechanical effects and comic relief. Born around 1820, Boucicault was heavily influenced by his experiences in both England and France, where he became acquainted with various theatrical techniques. He gained recognition with his 1841 comedy, *London Assurance*, and went on to write notable works such as *The Colleen Bawn*, *The Shaughraun*, and *The O'Dowd*, often portraying Irish characters and customs in a favorable light, challenging the negative stereotypes of his time.
Boucicault's career was marked by extensive touring in the United States and abroad, where he engaged in theatrical management and advocated for copyright reform. His plays often included emotional narratives and spectacular effects, captivating audiences even with controversial themes, such as slavery in *The Octoroon*. Despite facing accusations of plagiarism, he maintained popularity until a significant failure in 1872 led to his disgrace in Britain. His legacy influenced later Irish playwrights and contributed to the evolution of dramatic storytelling in both theater and cinema, blending elements of comedy and drama in his works.
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Dion Boucicault
Irish-born American dramatist
- Born: December 27, 1820(?)
- Birthplace: Dublin, Ireland
- Died: September 18, 1890
- Place of death: New York, New York
Biography
Dionysius Lardner Boucicault (bew-see-koh), whose original name was Dionysius Lardner Boursiquot, was a popular dramatist, director, and actor who originated “sensation dramas,” melodramas featuring abundant comic relief and complex mechanical effects designed to surprise their audiences. He is also remembered for depicting the Irish and their customs favorably in such plays as The Colleen Bawn, The Shaughraun, Arrah-na-Pogue, and The O’Dowd. Boucicault was probably born in 1820, to Anne Darley and Samuel Smith Boursiquot, although some biographers suggest his father was Dionysius Lardner. Lardner later became young Boursiquot’s guardian and sent him to school in England, where he joined a touring theatrical company in 1837 or 1838 as “Lee Moreton.” Boursiquot also began experimenting with different spellings of his name, eventually settling on Boucicault.{$S[A]Boursiquot, Dionysius Lardner;Boucicault, Dion}{$S[A]Moreton, Lee;Boucicault, Dion}
Boucicault also began writing professionally under his acting name. After selling at least two plays, his first critical acclaim came in 1841 with London Assurance, a comedy of manners set in contemporary England, whose acclaim convinced Boucicault to write and act under his own name. In 1845 he married Anne Guiot, a French widow, and he lived in France until her death in 1848. In the meantime, Boucicault became familiar with French playwriting and production techniques.
In the early 1850’s, Boucicault acted with tragedian Charles Kean. He wrote two popular plays, The Corsican Brothers and The Vampire, for Kean’s troupe. During this time, Boucicault met (and perhaps married) actress Agnes Robertson, Kean’s ward. They traveled to the United States in 1853 to escape Kean’s disapproval.
Boucicault established himself in the United States, both managing theaters and touring extensively. He also joined a small group of writers who persuaded Congress to adopt a copyright law in 1856, even though he was often accused of plagiarism, as many of his plots were obviously inspired by other authors’ works.
However he derived his ideas, Boucicault usually pleased the public with his emotional stories and exciting scenes. For instance, shortly before the Civil War, The Octoroon (which dealt with slavery) was potentially controversial. However, it provided memorable special effects (including an exploding steamboat) and a tragic love story, and therefore played well across the United States. Similarly, most of Boucicault’s Irish dramas offended no one. For instance, in The Shaughraun, the plot tension results from the actions of criminals, while both English soldiers and Irish citizens soldiers are depicted favorably. The English are shown to be honorable, while the Irish were portrayed as romantic and courageous, rather than as the insulting stereotypes common in theater at the time. However, in Daddy O’Dowd, Boucicault rewrote the lyrics to “The Wearin’ of the Green” in a way that so angered his first English audience a riot nearly broke out. As a result, Boucicault was ordered by the government either to omit the song or to sing only its traditional lyrics.
Boucicault’s final break with the British public came in 1872 over his adaptation of a French extravaganza, Babil and Bijou. In partnership with the earl of Londsborough, Boucicault created a five-hour spectacle featuring intricate stage effects. He hired popular performers, composers, and lyricists as well as hundreds of extras and dancers. The show drew large crowds every night but could never recover the funds spent on the production. Critics accused Boucicault of wasting Londsborough’s money, so the writer left Britain in disgrace, never to return, except briefly while on tour, while Robertson began living in England without him.
Boucicault also toured New Zealand and Australia. In the latter country, on tour without Robertson in 1885, he outraged the public again by marrying a twenty-one-year-old actress named Louise Thorndyke and claiming that he and Robertson were never truly married (thereby disowning their five surviving children). Whether or not this was so, the British government granted Robertson an official divorce from him in 1889.
Boucicault’s sense of drama and reliance on expensive special effects helped create an appetite for such entertainment as would live on into early British and American cinema as well as stage. His influence via his “Irish plays” also helped shape the plays of younger Irish playwrights, many of whom were inspired not only by his nationalism but also by his combination of comedy and drama.
Biliography
Cullingford, Elizabeth Butler. “National Identities in Performance: The Stage Englishman of Boucicault’s Irish Drama.” Theatre Journal 49, no. 3 (October, 1997): 287-300. This study focuses on Boucicault’s presentation of the stage Englishman and stereotypes.
Fawkes, Richard. Dion Boucicault: A Biography. London: Quartet Books, 1979. A comprehensive life and times of Boucicault. The detailed narrative draws, in part, on a number of unpublished sources. The emphasis is on theatrical history and Boucicault’s place in it, rather than on the playwright’s character or the wider context of his work. Bibliography.
Fischler, Alan. “Guano and Poetry: Payment for Playwriting in Victorian England.” Modern Language Quarterly 62, no. 1 (March, 2001): 43-52. Boucicault’s remark regarding payment for his works forms the basis of this essay examining compensation issues in Victorian England. Boucicault’s prodigious production of plays and some of his business dealings are discussed.
Grene, Nicholas. The Politics of Irish Drama: Plays in Context from Boucicault to Friel. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999. An examination of the political and social views of Boucicault and Brian Friel, among other Irish dramatists.
Molin, Sven Eric, and Robin Goodfellow, eds. Dion Boucicault: A Documentary Life. 5 vols. Newark, Del.: Proscenium Press, 1979-1991. An ambitious attempt to characterize Boucicault’s life and times in terms of the contemporary documentary record. Each part deals with a particular phase of Boucicault’s prolific and protean career and has for its centerpiece a reprint of one or more of the playwright’s texts. Supplemented by memoirs, theatrical histories, and similar documentary sources.
Richtarik, Marilynn. “Stewart Parker’s Heavenly Bodies: Dion Boucicault, Show Business, and Ireland.” Modern Drama 43, no. 3 (Fall, 2000): 404-420. An analysis of Parker’s play Heavenly Bodies, which is a biography of Boucicault.